If Beale Street could talk :)
In this part of the book, there was a flashback to months prior, when Fonny was still with his freedom. He’d brought Tish to his house and told her that he wanted to marry her. Other things happened that I refuse to acknowledge because >u<...They confessed their love for one another, with Fonny explaining that although he had a profession that was sure to frustrate him beyond all means, hIs love for her would trump his feelings of vexation. She returned the sentiment, later even telling her father that she would not never say something of the sorts if she didn’t mean it. The morning after their horizontal polka: adventures in sexcapades, Fonny walked her home and actually entered the household. He respectfully approached Tish’s family and apologized for keeping her so late, then told them of his plans to marry her. Well, he asked her father for permission after telling Tish’s sister, and was taken to another room to have a lengthier discussion. Her father asked (while they were all still together) what would Fonny do if he was in his shoes. Fonny said, “I’d ask my daughter. If she tells you she don’t love me, I’ll go away and I won’t never bother you no more”, and Tish’s father did just that. She professed her love for him and her father accepted, pulling Fonny aside to discuss further.
When they returned, Tish’s father held Fonny’s hand and led him to her, grabbing her hand and telling them to take care of each other.
This is such a beautiful section. We have witnessed the trope of an overbearing father who tolerates no nonsense and lives by the book. We’ve seen love stories where one chases after the other and begs and begs while the other wavers until they finally say yes. But this display was incredible, first off we have a father with two beautiful young daughters which already would realistically put him on edge. He wants to protect them, it is his job as their father. But, having known Fonny since he was a young child, he holds a certain level of compassion and understanding towards him. Her mom even remarked a paragraph or two earlier, that he was family and to stop referring to her as “Mrs”. They both understand that even though Fonny is a boy, he has the best intentions for Tish. It is obvious that Tish’s father has good reason to trust Fonny, but it is still refreshing to see the amount of faith he has for the boy, and the love he gives him.
It is also beautiful because it is easier to find literature with a black father figure who embodies all of the negative stereotypes that are cast onto the black community. One who is abusive, or a drunk or doesn’t give or receive affection, or doesn’t regard his wife as a person with value rather than an entity for him to find “pleasure” in, or distant. It is so easy. That’s why this is so refreshing; my own “father thinks affection and any gesture of love is too feminine and wouldn’t allow me to cry growing up. Too many times we are presented with incredibly hyper-masculine behavior in media and literature therefore that turns into the expectation, especially with black men. They have to be hyper-aggressive, they have to be big and assertive. That’s not what you honestly want to experience in a household. The sweetest gesture in the entire section for me was when Fonny got so excited that he kissed Tish’s father and he just reciprocated the love by being encouraging rather than recoiling and being harsh towards Fonny. That was beautiful to me.
