The People Could Fly: American Black Folktales

Fiction | Short Story Collection | Middle Grade | Published in 1985

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

Beta

Discussion Questions

Themes

Teamwork and Community

The theme of teamwork and community links many of the stories in Part 1. In “He Lion, Bruh Bear, and Bruh Rabbit,” the little animals form a community and discuss how they should reply to the odious he Lion. The narrator says, “The little animals held a sit-down talk, and one by one and two by two and all by all, they decide to go see Bruh Bear and Bruh Rabbit” (6). The little animals reach a consensus, and as a unified group, they team up with the bear and rabbit, who, through violent Man, teach the lion to behave considerately. They illustrate how teamwork and community can solve issues and create positive change.

Tappin changes the fortunes of his community by teaming up with the eagle and king of the underworld to counter the famine. Tappin misuses the spell and dipper, and things take a turn for the worse. If a creature is overly keen on serving their community, they can expose it to harm. Rather than hurt the deer, the alligator teams up with the deer in “Bruh Alligator and Bruh Deer.” Their bond gives the alligator food and the deer protection. As in the other stories, teamwork is shown to transcend species.

In “Bruh Alligator Meets Trouble,” the alligator has a community—a family that comes looking for him when he goes looking for Trouble. Sis Alligator and the little alligators arguably would have been better off not to follow Bruh Alligator. Wolf would have been better off had he not insulted the birds. As he tells Aunt Fish-Horse, “The birds loan me feathers. I fly to the dance and after while, they take their feathers back. Then they left me all by myself out here” (43). Creatures shouldn’t take a community for granted—it can disappear.

In Part 2, teamwork and community continue to transcend species, with Anton working with animals and the wind to marry the girl in the moon tower and Manuel teaming up with a witch to fool the king, queen, and princess. Ironically, Little John and Big John become a team, as the latter’s abuse benefits the former. Wiley and his mother collaborate to defeat the Hairy man, with Wiley listening to his mother’s guidance. She tells him, “‘You just do what I say.’ Wiley replies, ‘[I]t doesn’t sound just right somehow, but I’ll try it’” (96). Trust and faith are essential elements of teamwork.

The lack of teamwork and community in Part 3 makes the stories particularly menacing. Without a reliable network of people, devils and supernatural threats prosper. The man in “The Peculiar Such Thing” has no one to help him combat the strange creature, Little Eight John rejects and harms his family/community, and Jack has no one to help him confront alcoholism. Arguably, John, a man who “[knows] his prayers” (133), works with God to survive the creepy cats in “Better Wait Till Martin Comes” (133). In this sense, spiritual connections count as a community.

Additionally, partnerships do not always equate to teamwork, demonstrated by John de Conquer’s union with the Devil’s daughter. Though they happily marry, John and the Devil’s daughter aren’t a team when it comes to tackling the Devil. John gets himself into messes, and the Devil’s daughter comes to his rescue. The dynamic is less of collaboration and more dependent on the Devil’s daughter’s magical resources.

In Part 4, “Carrying the Running-Aways” and “The People Could Fly” spotlight teamwork and community. In the former story, the nameless narrator works with Rankins and others to free enslaved people. In the latter story, Toby aids the enslaved people who can fly and prompts them to take off to the land of Freedom. Teamwork and community continue to transcend species, with human Jim working with the turtle to gain freedom. Some enslaved people acquire freedom independently, like Nehemiah and the nameless enslaved person in “The Riddle Tale of Freedom.” Good things can happen absent teamwork and community, but minus others, the impact is limited. The narrator in “Carrying the Running-Aways” and Toby free countless people, but Nehemiah, Jim, and the nameless person in “The Riddle Tale of Freedom” only free themselves.

Intelligence Versus Thick-Headedness

In Part 1, the theme of thick-headedness versus intelligence can be fluid. He Lion starts stubborn but modifies his bombastic behavior after the encounter with violent Man. The dynamism of he Lion’s character comes from his transformation from an obtuse creature to an aware and considerate creature. In “Doc Rabbit, Bruh Fox, and Tar Baby,” the rabbit and the fox take turns one-upping each other. The rabbit tricks the fox with the strange “[w]hooo-hooo, whooo-hooo, whooo-hooo” call (13), but the fox catches the rabbit with the tarred baby rabbit. In the battle of wits, the rabbit wins, convincing the fox to throw him in a briar patch.

In “Bruh Lizard and Bruh Rabbit,” the latter titular character demonstrates his lack of thought when he loses control of Sword. In “Bruh Alligator Meets Trouble,” the alligator’s vapidity puts him in a dangerous situation. The wolf falls for the nephew’s trick and loses his life to Aunt Sea-Horse. Part 1 demonstrates how thick-headedness produces precarious situations and harm for the animals.

In Part 2, Manuel’s and Anton’s intelligence helps them complete their missions, with Anton dethroning the moon tower king and Manuel tricking the obtuse royal family. Little Daughter outsmarts the wolf with her lulling song and misleading claim, “Oh, no, dear wolf, what occasion have to move?” (63). Wiley and his mother outsmart the predatory Hairy Man. People in power and threatening creatures are vulnerable. If a character has sense, they can overcome malicious characters.

Many of the characters in Part 3 lack sense. About the nameless man in “The Peculiar Such Thing,” the narrator says, “This fellow, like he had no sense, cooked the great, big, long tail” (117). As with the animals in Part 1, the humans who can’t get away from their thick-headedness get in trouble. John’s stubborn insistence that he works for the Devil puts his life in danger, and the Devil’s daughter must save him. Little Eight John’s dense attitude toward his mother ends his life and nearly destroys his family. Jack can be wise—he tricks the Devil twice—but his alcoholism impairs his judgment.

When a person has smarts in Part 3, they can survive evil. In “Better Wait Till Martin Comes,” John endures the terrifying cats because “[s]omething tells him to keep still and say his prayers” (135). He uses his head and faith and keeps his life.

Throughout Part 4, the enslaved people continually demonstrate intelligence, and the enslavers and the people working for the enslavers reveal a lack of imagination and sense. As the narrator notes in “How Nehemiah Got Free,” “In slavery time, there was smart slaves and they did most what they wanted to do by usin just their wits” (147). In Part 4, the enslaved people showcase their wits and agency. They free people via the Underground Railroad, free themselves via riddles or magic, or, as John does in “The Most Useful Slave,” stay out of trouble by letting enslavers think he’s a prophet. The terrible trauma of the slavery system doesn’t destroy people’s minds. They hang on to their smarts, and their intelligence helps them carry on.

Confronting Power

In Part 1, power is diffuse, and the animals confront multiple forms of power depending on their circumstances. In the first story, the little animals work with the bear and rabbit to confront the powerful he Lion, who confronts the more powerful Man, who humbles the lion. Thus, one way to confront power is by showing the applicable power that they’re not that powerful—there exists something more powerful out there. Later, Tappin loses his confrontation with the powerful cowhide that “beat and beat. It beat everybody—it beat the king, too” (25).

In “Bruh Alligator and Bruh Deer,” the titular characters join together to confront the power of “the white owners” and their hunting dogs that are “so swift” (26-27). Another way to confront power comes via teamwork. In Part 1, confronting power alone doesn’t produce optimal results. In “Bruh Lizard and Bruh Rabbit,” the rabbit fails to confront the powerful lizard and loses his crops. The alligator insists on meeting Trouble alone and gets badly burned, while Wolf isolates himself from the community and loses his life to Aunt Fish-Horse.

In Part 2, magic and animals help Anton and Manuel bring down the powerful characters in their stories. Teamwork continues to be a solid means to upend authority. Wiley and his mother use wit, magic, and each other to dispel the Hairy Main.

Sometimes, a person doesn’t need to confront the powerful—the powerful destroy themselves due to their lack of awareness. Big John’s abuse backfires and benefits Little John and leads to Big John’s death. In “Papa John’s Tall Tale,” the powerful pumpkin seed grows “house high” (77), and there’s no way for Jake to confront it—he must run.

In Part 3, the best way to confront power is via magic or faith, with the Devil’s daughter using her supernatural resources to escape her father and John using “his prayers” to resist the demonic cats (135). Minus intelligence and sense, overcoming evil powers fails in Part 3. The man in “The Peculiar Such Thing” loses his battle with the mysterious creature, Jack loses his battle with the Devil, and Little Eight John’s mother wipes him away like a grease stain.

The enslaved people in Part 4 have intelligence, imagination, courage, and magic on their side, so they can confront the powerful enslavers and their subordinates. In the first story, the enslaved people work with free people to create a network to liberate the enslaved people. In the last story, Toby looks after the overheated enslaved people, as he “crie[s] out to the fallen and reache[s] his arms out to them” (170). In Part 4, community and teamwork lead to successful confrontations with the oppressive slavery system, yet teamwork and community aren’t essential. Enslaved people can also confront the system on their own by tricking or stumping their enslavers. In Part 4, confronting power can happen as a group, individually, or, in Jim’s case, with a musical, magical turtle.