Author: Emily Sneider

Throughout this semester in African American literature, we’ve discussed many different concepts and ideas that are often present in Black literature. We’ve also made connections from these discussions to the mathematical patterns in fractal structures by studying Ron Englash’s book African Fractals. Our final class reading for this semester was The Water Cure by Percival Everett, which brought many of the concepts we’ve been talking about together into one place. In particular, the seed shape concept has been represented a lot in this book, and in many different ways. 

The Water Cure describes how Ishmael Kidder, the narrator, copes with the tragic loss of his eleven-year-old daughter, who was kidnapped and murdered. Kidder is separated from his daughter’s mother and is grieving her death on his own, with the occasional visits from his book agent. During the time after her death, Kidder may or may not be holding the person who may or may not have murdered his daughter in his basement and he may or may not be torturing said person. Everything described in this book may or may not have happened, but readers will never know the true events because of Kidder’s unreliable and chaotic narration. 

A lot of the material we’ve read and analyzed have been quite challenging for me to decipher because I had never encountered these texts or authors in any previous English class. As James Snead mentions in his essay “On Repetition in Black Culture,” traditionally European/Western culture sees culture as something linear and growing. While Black culture typically views culture as a circle, not aiming for growth but for an equilibrium. The schooling system in the United States, for a majority of the time, follows European cultural trends, so it’s not surprising that the content included in this course is very unfamiliar to me. In some ways, this book was very unsatisfying to read because it didn’t follow the structure that we’re used to reading. The plot of this novel follows a more circular path and there is also no defining end to the story (similar to how seed shapes have no defining end). Towards the end of the book, Everett repeats some fragments that were written in the beginning of the book, making it conclude in a familiar way to how it started. 

In my high school English classes, the curriculum was split up into different units; each one was separate and unrelated to the other, and we would typically read one book per unit. In this course, I enjoyed that we would always loop back to previous texts and concepts to identify how they connect to whatever we would be discussing in class. Relating old information and ideas to the new ones helped me to have a better understanding of both the old and new concepts. While working through The Water Cure, it was easier to follow along with how all over the place it was when it was reminiscent of something we’ve already read. 

According to African Fractals, fractal structures are built with a mathematical algorithm. Fractals undergo recursions, which is the output for a first iteration is the input for the next iteration, and so on. Fractal shapes and patterns are commonly found in a wide variety of things—in nature and in culture.

Earlier this semester, we discussed seed shapes in African fractals and how they are represented in Black literature. In my seed shape essay, I examined the importance of the concept context as a seed shape in literature and how it can benefit your understanding of a text. Knowing the context that something was written provides readers with a more direct understanding of the author’s purpose. In The Water Cure, knowing the context in which Percival Everette was writing this book is so very valuable to think of when reflecting on this novel. 

Before I began reading this book, I read the reviews on the back of the book and the description in the sleeve of the book. In the description, Everett provides readers with some context when he poses the question: “What are we to think in today’s America, when society seems to be rewriting all the rules?” While reading The Water Cure, I found it helpful to try to keep thinking about Everett’s question. What is the comparison between this book and modern American society? What is the comparison between this book and modern American politics?

Trying to come up with ideas of what this story could be symbolic of or in reference to helped me catch how frequently the phrase “The American Way” appeared throughout the book. This phrase occurred in places where Kidder was questioning what the correct way was to handle a problem, and “The American Way” was usually the option that included violence and guns. In a conversation with the Sheriff about some people growing marijuana have been coming onto his property, the Sheriff suggests, “I don’t see why you don’t just park yourself up there and shoot them when they come…It’s the American way.” (Everett 118) Of course, breaking the law and trespassing should have consequences, but being shot at is a bit extreme. “The American Way” is the idea that if someone hurts you, you have to get them back by hurting them even more. This is also reminiscent of how the United States responds to others in war.  

Another concept that is represented as a seed shape is identity. It is apparent throughout this book that with the grieving of his daughter, our narrator is experiencing somewhat of an identity crisis. Being a father to Lane is an important part to Kidder’s identity. In the book he questions if he can continue to call himself a father, “To say that I’m a father entails a necessary conjunction with a child, but given the negation of that child, am I to understand a negation of my fatherhood?” (Everett 85) Not only is Kidder coping with losing someone he loves and cares for in an extremely traumatic way, but he has also lost someone who his life partly revolves around, and he doesn’t know how to continue living without that person. 

Kidder also includes two self-portraits in this book, he is giving readers a visual example of how he views himself. Both portraits are very abstract and don’t really resemble a human face or body. The only human feature in the first drawing (page 30) is a pair of eyes among the squiggly shapes. On page 94, Everett writes, “Here I am again,” before another abstract self-portrait that doesn’t resemble anything close to a human face. This change shows how Kidder is drifting farther and farther from knowing himself. 

Identity has also been a very frequent concept in many of our previous course texts. Specifically, the concept of “two-ness” in one’s identity. For example, in Frederick Douglas’s Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas: An American Slave Written by Himself, he describes how a physical altercation with Mr. Covey, his slave master changed how he felt: “It rekindled the few expiring embers of freedom, and revived within me a sense of my own manhood. It recalled the departed self-confidence, and inspired me again with a determination to be free.” (Call & Response 302) He describes the differentia between his two selves—one who was free and one who was not. 

The Water Cure partly acted as a summary for this course because it touched on so many of the topics we have learned about and many of the readings from this semester. Through class discussions and personal reflections on the book, I’ve learned how creating connections to something you already know about makes learning and understanding a lot easier and more interesting. 

Fractals are patterns of shapes created by a mathematical algorithm, these structures are repeatedly building the same shape onto itself, and they have no defining end. As mentioned in “African Fractals” by Ron Eglash, fractals undergo recursions, which is the output for a first iteration is the input for the next iteration, and so on. These structures can either follow a seed shape or a base shape. The seed shape fractal can be visually represented by the Koch curve, where the seed shape undergoes a recursive replacement process. Fractal shapes and patterns are commonly found in a wide variety of things—in nature and in culture.

Fractals are intentionally designed in some places, and randomly appear in others. In African culture, fractals are used in architectural design to create a divide between sacred and everyday buildings/structures. For example, according to “African Fractals”, an aerial photo of Ba-Ila settlement in southern Zambia reveals that the whole settlement has the same shape; “it is a ring of rings.” Fractal structures are also seen in naturally occurring things, such as the structure of human lungs and the way roots travel in soil. 

Fractals appear very frequently across many different aspects of culture. Some cultural artworks include fractal patterns, like a couple kinds of quilt designs. Even though they are composed of mathematical algorithms, fractals structures can be observed in literature as well. In African American literature, fractals take form as concepts—a concept that is repeated and built upon. In class we’ve discussed ‘seed shapes’ (concepts) that we’ve noticed present throughout many of our course texts; some are more commonly seen than others and some are more important than others. 

In this course, African American literature, the author’s context in their writing is a really important seed shape that we have to think about when approaching our course texts, and for just reading in general. Thinking about the context something was written in when reading is useful to your comprehension of the text because it can help explain why something happened, a decision was made, etc… (in fiction or non-fiction). 

We can observe the importance of this seed shape in our course text, “Bloodchild” by Octavia Butler. The story takes place on an alien planet that humans, or “Terrans”, are living on. The planet is dominated by the “Tlic” which are an insect species. Unable to reproduce on their own, they depend on using the bodies of human men to carry and birth their young, in order to keep their species’ survival. “Bloodchild” is narrated by the main character, Gan, a human boy living on the planet. The story begins, “My last night of childhood began with a visit home,” because Gan is now approaching the age of being able to carry one of the Tlic’s young, and first witnesses a birthing process: it is so disturbing and violent. Gan struggles with a crisis when he begins to question why they are complicit with continuing this tradition. At the end of the story, Gan is forced to have the Tlic eggs implanted into him, and he will have to live through the horrifying act he just observed. 

This story is actually often misinterpreted to be about slavery. This kind of mistake typically comes from generalizing—because the author is a black American, people will just assume they must be writing about slavery. Octavia Butler addresses the readers and writers who interpreted “Bloodchild” this way in her afterword, where she describes what the story is actually about. It’s about so many things: it’s about love, coming of age, colonialism, and gender. Authors will write an afterword for their work, providing readers with more context and information when trying to understand ideas and make connections in the reading. 

Paratext is material that surrounds but is separate from any piece of writing (poem, story, essay, etc…). The paratext basically ‘sets the tone’ for the text, giving readers an idea of what the writing is going to be about. It’s another mode in which authors can tell something important to their readers. In W.E.B. Dubois’s writing, he includes a song as a paratext, including some lyrics and the music notes on a staff. He describes each of these phrases as, “a haunting echo of these weird old songs in which the soul of the black slave spoke to men.” Chapter III of Dubois’s book recalls some of the events of Mr. Booker T. Washington’s career. The paratext song for this chapter says, “From birth till death enslaved; in word, in deed, unmanned! Hereditary bondsmen! Know ye not who would be free themselves must strike the blow?”. These lyrics describe the intense and dark emotions expressed when wanting freedom. This idea relates to what is said in this chapter, Mr. Washington acted as a mediator between the South and the North for the discussion of what civil rights Freedmen should get. While the North was much more progressive than the South, Mr. Washington was able to find a way the two sides could compromise. 

In James Snead’s essay “On Repetition in Black Culture”, he describes some of the differences between “Black culture” and “European culture”. First, in European culture, culture is viewed as linear; something with consistent growth. On the contrary, Black culture believes culture to be like a circle, and being able to achieve an equilibrium. This difference between cultures exists in economical opinions. Because European culture pushes the idea of accumulative growth, that perspective prefers to see the economy be linear. 

Since “European culture” cultural norms dominate the United States, in general, but specifically the school systems, it’s especially important for American students to be careful and considerate readers of writing from authors of all cultures. It’s very important to be understanding and open-minded of the perspective and intent of the authors when studying all kinds of literature. We should be applying this same mindset when reading African American literature.