“Nigger, you stepped on my shoe!” (Wilson 110) Levee screams right before plunging the knife into Toledo’s back. How can a pair of shoes trigger a murder? In August Wilson’s play, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Levee Green’s explosive personality tie to his black experience combining with a series of unfortunate events cause a pair of shoes to catalyze a deadly altercation resulting in the murder of Toledo.
Shoes are usually considered as a regular part of a daily wardrobe or the finishing touch to an outfit. However, the shoes symbolized a bigger part of Levee Green’s life. According to Levee, the shoes make the person. Leveen Green makes a late introduction because he was out purchasing a pair of new Florsheims for eleven dollars. The decision …show more content…
Levee bickers with Cutler about Mr. Sturdyvant wanting to them to play Levee’s version of “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” instead of the original. Levee believes that Mr. Sturdyvant and Mr. Irvin are the backbones of this operation. He is sure they will take his side. This argument created a chain reaction soon resulting in the demise of Toledo. In the midst of the argument, Slow Drag steps on Levee’s new shoes. This triggers an altercation between the bandmates about the importance of shoes. Levee makes fun of the shoes his bandmates are wearing. Cutler confronts Levee, “Any man who takes a whole week’s pay and puts it on some shoes--you understand what I mean, what you walk around on the ground with--is a fool! And I don’t mind telling you”(Wilson 40). The arguments continue when Ma Rainey arrives. Ma Rainey fires Levee after arguing about the versions of the song. Soon after, Mr. Sturdyvant rejects Levee and his music due to them being “not the right songs” (Wilson 107). This string of arguments leads Levee to pent-up his anger only to explode in the end. He is a ticking time bomb due to his explosive nature and when Toledo accidentally steps on his shoes, he detonates. To Levee, his shoes are the remains of himself. Levee takes the accident as another case of being stepped on. Therefore, he takes out his frustrations on Toledo by accidentally …show more content…
When he was a young boy, Levee witnessed a group of white men raping his mother. He tried to stop it but he failed. When his father returned, he sold their land and murdered each white man who took part in those acts. After observing his father, Levee thinks he completely understands how to deal with white men. Levee develops a God complex and believes he is right all the time. He disregards what his bandmates say and the opinions they give him. His lack of religious beliefs is also because of his traumatic family history. He does not believe in God because no one helped his mother when she was raped. He declares, “Cause if there’s a god up there, he done went to sleep” (Wilson 43) and “God don’t mean nothing to me [....] I ain’t scared of him (Wilson 47). He also jokes about selling his soul to the devil in return for wealth and popularity. His character and nature are rooted in his black experience. He argues and acts out because he thinks he’s had the worst luck and has experienced the worst. He retaliates to Cutler during an argument, “I ain’t knowed nothing but bad luck all my life. Couldn’t get no worse. [....] Hell, I eat it everyday for breakfast!” (Wilson 46). He is determined his experience and knowledge outweigh everyone
Shoes are usually considered as a regular part of a daily wardrobe or the finishing touch to an outfit. However, the shoes symbolized a bigger part of Levee Green’s life. According to Levee, the shoes make the person. Leveen Green makes a late introduction because he was out purchasing a pair of new Florsheims for eleven dollars. The decision …show more content…
Levee bickers with Cutler about Mr. Sturdyvant wanting to them to play Levee’s version of “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” instead of the original. Levee believes that Mr. Sturdyvant and Mr. Irvin are the backbones of this operation. He is sure they will take his side. This argument created a chain reaction soon resulting in the demise of Toledo. In the midst of the argument, Slow Drag steps on Levee’s new shoes. This triggers an altercation between the bandmates about the importance of shoes. Levee makes fun of the shoes his bandmates are wearing. Cutler confronts Levee, “Any man who takes a whole week’s pay and puts it on some shoes--you understand what I mean, what you walk around on the ground with--is a fool! And I don’t mind telling you”(Wilson 40). The arguments continue when Ma Rainey arrives. Ma Rainey fires Levee after arguing about the versions of the song. Soon after, Mr. Sturdyvant rejects Levee and his music due to them being “not the right songs” (Wilson 107). This string of arguments leads Levee to pent-up his anger only to explode in the end. He is a ticking time bomb due to his explosive nature and when Toledo accidentally steps on his shoes, he detonates. To Levee, his shoes are the remains of himself. Levee takes the accident as another case of being stepped on. Therefore, he takes out his frustrations on Toledo by accidentally …show more content…
When he was a young boy, Levee witnessed a group of white men raping his mother. He tried to stop it but he failed. When his father returned, he sold their land and murdered each white man who took part in those acts. After observing his father, Levee thinks he completely understands how to deal with white men. Levee develops a God complex and believes he is right all the time. He disregards what his bandmates say and the opinions they give him. His lack of religious beliefs is also because of his traumatic family history. He does not believe in God because no one helped his mother when she was raped. He declares, “Cause if there’s a god up there, he done went to sleep” (Wilson 43) and “God don’t mean nothing to me [....] I ain’t scared of him (Wilson 47). He also jokes about selling his soul to the devil in return for wealth and popularity. His character and nature are rooted in his black experience. He argues and acts out because he thinks he’s had the worst luck and has experienced the worst. He retaliates to Cutler during an argument, “I ain’t knowed nothing but bad luck all my life. Couldn’t get no worse. [....] Hell, I eat it everyday for breakfast!” (Wilson 46). He is determined his experience and knowledge outweigh everyone