Cross Creek: African-American Characters

Cross Creek by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings highlights many literary themes and societal issues, including racism. Perhaps, the best way to analyze racism as a theme in Cross Creek is to examine the individual African-American characters of the novel.

Martha Mickens stands out in the book as one of the most important African-American characters because of her connection to Rawlings. Martha Mickens, first mentioned in chapter one, is described by Rawlings as "perhaps the shuttle that has woven our knowledge, carrying back and forth, with the apparent innocence of a nest-building bird, the most revealing bits of gossip; the gossip that tells not trivial facts, but human motives and the secrets of human hearts" (13).

Martha, the matriarch of the Mickens family, is, in fact, a permanent fixture of Cross Creek, owing to the fact that she and her husband, Will, have lived and worked in Cross Creek for years. Martha and Will, inherited by Rawlings from the previous owners, are the parents of Lil' Will, Sissie, Estelle, Adrenna, and Zamilla. Martha Mickens serves as both a tenant and maid to Rawlings when necessary. It is also interesting to note that Rawlings describes her in mythic terms, such as "a nurse to all of us, black or white, who fall ill . . . [she is] midwife and layer out of the dead . . . she is the only one who gives advice to all of us impartially . . . [Martha] is a dusky Fate, spinning away at the threads of our Creek existence" (25).

However, Rawlings fails to conceal the racist viewpoint with which she describes Martha: "she is well-bred . . .breeding is after all a matter of manner, of social adjustment, of exquisite courtesy . . .perhaps [Martha] is descended from old African kings and queens" (33). This statement seems to suggest that the reason for Martha's worth as a human being must stem from previous wealth or social stature; Rawlings is implying that this is the only suitable reasoning behind an African-American's worth or intelligence. More importantly, Rawlings's racist viewpoint is again emphasized by her remarks connecting blacks with dogs: "we live a leisurely life, but while our dogs lie, as we, in the sun, they are also expected to serve us, as the Negro serves" (39).

Beatrice ('Geechee) serves as another focal point within the novel for African-American characterization. Again, Rawlings seems unable to comment upon someone of color without making statements that can be construed as racist. For example, Rawlings says: "as the weeks passed I bought her a cautious cheap uniform or two . . .[yet] even in their white formality she seemed always about to burst into a belligerent dance tearing her garments from her, prancing naked in savage triumph" (92). 'Geechee is compared to an animal and it is implied that her "savage" propensities are the mark of her race. Within Cross Creek, 'Geechee is employed by Rawlings as a combination maid/cook, and has no relatives barring her husband, Leroy.

However, Rawlings also describes her personal feelings of despair when 'Geechee succumbs to alcoholism and leaves: "no maid of perfection-and now I have one-can fill the strange emptiness she left in a remote corner of my heart" (104). Taking this statement at face value suggests that Rawlings does, at some point, regard 'Geechee as a person instead of as chattel.

Georgia is yet another African-American character at Cross Creek who again shows the racist overtones of both the novel and its author. For example, Rawlings introduces Georgia in chapter nine, labeled "Catching One Young:" "I bought Georgia of her father for five dollars . . . the surest way to keep a maid at the Creek, my new friends told me, was to take over a very young Negro girl and train her in my ways" (85). These words cannot be misconstrued as anything less than abject racism. From Rawlings's own words, it is difficult to ascertain whether she is referring to an animal or a person. Furthermore, Rawlings's subsequent comments repeat and emphasize the societal norm of racism and blacks as property: "two months of life with her made me wonder why he had not given her to the first passing gypsy caravan, or drowned her decently . . . it is possible that in catching one young, I had picked from too early a litter" (85). In Rawlings's own estimation, apparently there is little difference between an animal and an African-American; socially, they are equals. Georgia's character within the novel appears as quickly as she disappears, having failed to meet Rawlings's requirements for a maid.

Idella Parker is perhaps the most important African-American character in Cross Creek, if only because she served as Rawlings's maid for thirteen years. Again, traces of racism are found in regards to Rawlings's interaction with Parker and others. And, yet again, evidence to the contrary is also found. For example, Parker states: "[blacks] sat in the back sets on public buses and separate cars on trains, and we sure didn't sit up front in a white lady's car . . . and here was this white lady I didn't really know, telling me to sit up front with her like it was an everyday thing" (Parker 19). This instance proves that, at times, Rawlings was more than willing to disregard societal views on racial interaction, but such was not always the case. In a chapter Parker entitles "Feeling Left Out," Parker says: "this whole mess made me mad, partly because of the drinking, but mostly because of the way Mrs. Rawlings and her guests made fun of us black people right to our faces, and supposed that we were too stupid to know it" (Parker 80-81).

Furthermore, when Zora Neale Hurston pays Rawlings a visit, Hurston sleeps in Parker's bed, in the servant's quarters, instead of in Rawlings's home, proving again that Rawlings is of perhaps two minds regarding racism. Idella comments: "no matter how much she respected Zora's writing ability and enjoyed her company, Zora was still colored, and would always be treated as such by white people . . . as liberal as Mrs. Rawlings was about the poor treatment of blacks by whites, she couldn't bring herself to let a black woman sleep in the house" (Parker 88).

On the other hand, when Idella herself needs an operation, Idella recalls Rawlings's selflessness: "next thing you know, [the doctors] found out her blood matched mine, and there she was, donating her blood for my operation" (Parker 91).

These four characters in Cross Creek interact with Rawlings intimately, and, in each case, strong overtones of racism are present. Rawlings seems capable of both racism and the opposite at times, and Cross Creek is a reflection of this fact. Based on this information, it is then left to the reader to ascertain the exact amount of racism implicit within the novel and in Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings herself.

--Meshall Jones

Works Cited

• Parker, Idella. Idella: Marjorie Rawlings's "Perfect Maid." Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 1992.
• Rawlings, Marjorie Kinnan. Cross Creek. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1996.