39 pages • 1 hour read
Susan Carol McCarthyLay That Trumpet in Our Hands
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2002A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Themes
Good Versus Evil
An overarching theme of the novel concerns the conflict between good and evil. This conflict manifests primarily through the interactions between the Klansmen who commit racist acts and the people in the community who fear and detest the Klan. The tendency of the Ku Klux Klan to commit evil is established at the outset of the novel when Marvin, a Black teenager, is brutally murdered. The Klansmen’s potential for evil is reinforced when Reesa, her brothers, and her grandmother overhear a group of Klansmen discussing their murder of Reesa’s friend in coarse and cruel language. As killings, beatings, and bombings take place with terrifying regularity, the presence of evil in the McMahon’s community begins to take an emotional and psychological toll on the people.
In contrast to the evil personified by the members of the Ku Klux Klan is the heroism of Warren McMahon and other members of the community who oppose discrimination of any form. Warren and his supporters like Luther and Robert risk their own lives to seek justice for Marvin and for others who are unjustly killed or mistreated in some way. The Christian undercurrents of the novel emphasize that God is on the side of the people who try to live as ethically and generously to others. Ultimately, Warren’s efforts to make peace in his community are successful, and he is lauded for his bravery and his commitment to doing right.
The Bond Between Families and Communities
Another theme of this book concerns the bonds that exist between members of families and communities. In both group contexts, members bond together to stay safe and to fight threats. Warren, as the head of the McMahon household, links his family with the Black community through his friendship with Luther. Armetta strengthens the link when she comes to work temporarily for the McMahon family and comforts Reesa about the death of her own son Marvin, who is also Reesa’s close friend. Sal and Sophia are members of another group with whom the McMahons are linked, the Italian Catholics. When Sal and Sophia decide to leave Central Florida and escape the discriminatory threats to their well-being they have received, Warren and their Black customers come together to buy the goods in their store and minimize their financial ruin.
One community whose bonds exist to hurt other people is the community of Klansmen who threaten the peace of the community with their hatred. Like the other groups, they also cling to each other for safety; they are protective of their own group identity and the secret violence that they exact on people different from them, so much so that Luther advises Warren to travel with his family when he is under threat from the Klan. According to Luther, the Klansmen are less likely to act violently if witnesses are present, revealing their deep fear of reprisal.
Racism and Segregation in the American South
The theme of racism and segregation in the American South is pervasive throughout the entire novel. The reader’s understanding of main plot events which include several murders of Black people, the Central Florida setting, and the characters of different cultural backgrounds is impacted by this theme; by the end of the novel, when Warren comes to an agreement with the Klan leader, the message is clear: racism is wrong and societal change is underway.
Because Reesa’s family is not racist, she is dismayed to learn about the depth of some people’s hatred toward minority groups like Black people, Jewish people, Italian people, and Catholic people. Her youthful optimism is compromised by Marvin’s death at the hands of the Ku Klux Klan, but it regains its strength as she observes people like her father fight against the oppressive forces of racism in their community. Details in the novel provide a historical backdrop against which Reesa can learn and gain a deeper awareness of the world around her. Her neighbor’s “whites-only” flower garden, the conversations at Miz Lillian’s beauty salon, and especially the many crimes against Black people and other minority emphasize the setting of the novel and the harsh realities of living in a segregated society.
