Editor’s Note
Abstract The typescript of “Monrovia” is undated. The story’s lyricism and setting are reminiscent of the White Island section of “Winter on Earth,” which appeared in The Second American Caravan in 1928. However, the setting also suggests the Pacific coast around Carmel, California, where Toomer liv...
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| Format: | Book Part |
| Language: | unknown |
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Oxford University PressNew York, NY
1993
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| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780195083293.003.0014 https://academic.oup.com/book/chapter-pdf/52540955/isbn-9780195083293-book-part-14.pdf |
| Summary: | Abstract The typescript of “Monrovia” is undated. The story’s lyricism and setting are reminiscent of the White Island section of “Winter on Earth,” which appeared in The Second American Caravan in 1928. However, the setting also suggests the Pacific coast around Carmel, California, where Toomer lived with his new wife, the writer Margery Latimer, in 1932. That same year Margery died in childbirth, and it is tempting to read “Monrovia” with its narrative of overcoming sorrow caused by the death of a loved one as Toomer’s working out his own loss through his writing. At any rate, speculation aside, “Monrovia” does contain a theme of recurring importance to Toomer: the development of an independent, whole, and creative personality that is a meaningful part of the community at large. Monrovia’s story illustrates this. While Toomer certainly did not generally write children’s literature, he was interested in the importance of traditional legends and fables for psychic growth, and he felt that children who had not been exposed to such literature would grow up to be less than fully developed adults. With its fairy-tale quality, “Monrovia” may also reflect the influence on Toomer of his Uncle Bismarck, his mother’s brother; when Toomer was a child, one of his favorite pastimes was to listen to Bismarck read him folk tales, fables, and myths. |
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