John Wideman’s Our Time tells the story of two brothers and the differences between them. John, the author and primary narrator, is a successful author and teacher. The primary focus of the story his brother Robert, who is younger by ten years. Robert or “Robby”, spent much of his young adult life on the streets addicted to heroin until being jailed for a robbery. Wideman illustrates how differently each brother develop using place. Much of the story is set in the Pittsburgh neighborhoods of Shadyside and Homewood, with mentions of the Garfield neighborhood as well. The contrast between Shadyside, Homewood, and Garfield, represents the societal divide in terms of race and class and create conditions for both John and Robby to develop in such
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It filled him with a desire for success in getting over on “the Man”. Many years later as an adult, Robby begins to commit robberies to raise money for heroin. In prison Robby expresses that, “Robbing white people didn’t cause me to lose no sleep back then. How you gon feel sorry when society is so corrupt, when everybody got their hand out or got their hand in somebody else’s pocket and ain 't no rules nobody listens to if they can get away with breaking them? ...I’m sorry about that and I’m damned sorry that guy Starvos got killed…as far as robbing white people, ain’t no way I was gon torture myself over that one” (Wideman 447). Robby’s words show that while he does regret committing a murder and causing pain to his family, he believes that the systemic racism and societal injustices of the time is much more important issue. He sees himself as a victim of the world he lived in, and saw that the only way out was to play the …show more content…
Through his descriptions of place he is able to help the visualize the story in a better way. However, what makes Wideman’s work great is that he uses more than imagery to develop place, but rather complements it the history and culture of the location in comparison to other places. By contrasting the two Pittsburgh neighborhoods of Shadyside and Homewood over the lifetime of his family, Wideman is able to convey how strong of a factor environment is in the maturation of a person. Despite being raised in the same family, John and Robert Wideman took very different paths in life resulting from the impact place had on their
It filled him with a desire for success in getting over on “the Man”. Many years later as an adult, Robby begins to commit robberies to raise money for heroin. In prison Robby expresses that, “Robbing white people didn’t cause me to lose no sleep back then. How you gon feel sorry when society is so corrupt, when everybody got their hand out or got their hand in somebody else’s pocket and ain 't no rules nobody listens to if they can get away with breaking them? ...I’m sorry about that and I’m damned sorry that guy Starvos got killed…as far as robbing white people, ain’t no way I was gon torture myself over that one” (Wideman 447). Robby’s words show that while he does regret committing a murder and causing pain to his family, he believes that the systemic racism and societal injustices of the time is much more important issue. He sees himself as a victim of the world he lived in, and saw that the only way out was to play the …show more content…
Through his descriptions of place he is able to help the visualize the story in a better way. However, what makes Wideman’s work great is that he uses more than imagery to develop place, but rather complements it the history and culture of the location in comparison to other places. By contrasting the two Pittsburgh neighborhoods of Shadyside and Homewood over the lifetime of his family, Wideman is able to convey how strong of a factor environment is in the maturation of a person. Despite being raised in the same family, John and Robert Wideman took very different paths in life resulting from the impact place had on their