Literature Annotations

Bontemps, Arna W.
A Summer Tragedy
Genre Short Story (8 pp.)
KeywordsAging, Death and Dying, Disability, Disease and Health, Freedom, Human Worth, Illness and the Family, Individuality, Love, Society, Suicide
Summary

The short story considers the final afternoon in the lives of Jeff and Jennie Patton, a frail elderly couple, who have spent their lives as poor sharecroppers, barely able to make ends meet for themselves and their children. While neither is seriously ill, the severities of farming and aging have guided them toward a mutual pact. Today they will put on their finest clothes and then, drive down the dirt road past their neighbors toward a cliff--and death.

The simple story is gripping as readers discover what this couple is about. While they have been defeated by their tight-fisted landlord and by age, their spirits are indomitable. With charm and pathos, the couple fulfills the pledge they made to one another when no other alternative seemed appropriate.

CommentaryBontemps’s story is exceptionally powerful in its portrayal of the journey taken by this decisive couple.
SourceThe Old South: "A Summer Tragedy" and Other Stories of the Thirties
PublisherDodd, Mead
Edition1973
Place PublishedNew York
Alternate SourceOn Doctoring
Alternate PublisherSimon & Schuster
Alternate Edition1995, 2001
Alternate EditorsRichard Reynolds & John Stone
Place PublishedNew York
MiscellaneousFirst published: 1933
Annotated by Nixon, Lois LaCivita
Date of Entry 04/29/94
Last Revised 03/05/02