Analyis of the "The Son In The Afternoon," by John A. Williams

"The Son In The Afternoon," by John A. Williams is a story about a black man's jealously of a white boy. In the story Wendell is a black man. He has a job as a scripted writer. After work he goes to pick up his mother, who is watching a young white boy, named Ronnie. Wendell turns to be very jealous of the boy, because he believes that his mother gives the boy more attention than she gave himself. In spite of this, Wendell hugs the boy's mother in front of the boy. This ultimately turns that young boy against his mother. Williams's story reveals how jealousy can make adults childish and immature.

In the story the main character is Wendell who is very jealous of Ronnie. During the story Wendell is a very jealous and bitter character. He says, "We never had the physical attention, all of this Ronnie was getting." He also says, "When Ronnie was in the hospital the month before, Nora got me to run her way over to Hollywood every night to see him. I didn't like that worth a damn." These statements show how incredibly jealous Wendell is. This jealousy leads him to act very immature towards that young boy.

The central conflict of the story is external between Wendell and the young white boy. Wendell is jealous of Ronnie, because he fells that his mother spends more time with Ronnie than she had ever spent with him. Wendell says, " Ronnie only had my mother. But somehow when six of us, her own children, were growing up we never had her." This shows how Wendell fells upset that the boy get more attention from Wendell's mother more than Wendell did. For this reason, Wendell hugs the boys mother to make the boy fell jealous too. By doing this Wendell gives an example how he results to childish games, because he is jealous of the boy.

The story is written in a limited omniscience narration. The author reveals only the main character's thoughts and feelings. The author does this to show Wendell's jealousy of the white boy. Wendell explains to the audience, "Ronnie's head bobbed gently on Nora's shoulder. The only time I got that close to her was when she trapped me in a bear hug so she could whale the lights out of me." Wendell also tells how Ronnie called his mother names, but he had never done such a thing. This shows the audience that bitterness, and jealousness Wendell has for the boy. The thoughts from Wendell that the author brings out show how he become immature strictly out of jealousy.

The story is set in Santa Monica, California. Here Wendell's mother works for a very wealthy architect. The audience knows that the summer season is upon city. The reader can tell this when Wendell says, "It was hot." Also, when Wendell explains how white people are at the beach getting tans, as they do every summer. The most important part of the setting is white rich neighborhood that surrounds them. Wendell says, "I use to tease her about liking to be around those white folks." The audience can tell that Wendell does not like this white neighborhood setting. The white neighborhood setting helps Wendell become jealous, and to act immature.

The author uses repetition and symbolism to convey the central idea. The author repeats the words, "little bastard" many times in the book. This shows the anger and jealousy that Wendell had. The author also uses symbolism. Wendell says, "There you are little bastard." This represented how Wendell felt he had won the conflict between Ronnie, and himself. This also shows how through jealousy Wendell only succeeds in becoming more immature.

The author creates tone through the main character Wendell. As Wendell's mother comforts Ronnie, Wendell becomes more jealous and immature. After Wendell yell's at Ronnie he walks out side and hits it with a rock. This shows is a very immature acted by Wendell. Also, at the end of the story Wendell flirts with Ronnie's mother. He then hugs her in front of Ronnie. He did this because he was jealous of Ronnie, and he could only find childish ways to deal with his.