The Homosexuality In Randall Kenan's The Foundations Of The Earth

In society today, there are a lot of trials and tribulations faced with adapting to the changes in the world. So far, one of the most controversial issues that is being faced recently is the subject matter of homosexuality. Lately, there has been a lot of conflict in the African societies where being a homosexual is denied. “Kenan uses the genre to reveal the archetypal depictions of racial, sexual, and gendered others a construction useful in the production of patriarchal dominance” (Wester). Kenan is known for his elaborate use of race and sexuality in his stories. He enjoys to write about his own personal experience because he is a homosexual African American man. In the story The Foundations of the Earth by Randall Kenan, he decides to give his readers insight on the current dilemma of someone being in the same situation. For example, The Foundations of the Earth tells a story about a black woman named Maggie Williams. Maggie struggles to believe that her own grandson, Edward, was a homosexual. The fact that Edward liked men was not the only thing she had to worry about because he
Maggie is a very religious person and Kenan portrays this trait of hers right off the bat. For example, in the beginning of the story Maggie Williams is at church bright and early Sunday morning like she is every time. The only difference in this one particular Sunday is the fact that her son came to visit her with a plus one. Maggie was first thrown off by the fact that the person he brought to church was a white man, but she was completely appalled when she found out his friend, Gabriel, had not been to church in around ten years. She feels like Gabriel is now the reason that Edward does not go to church as frequently as he should and the reason that he has barely come home to visit her. Maggie at this point is not Gabriel’s biggest fan at the moment but soon that will all