The Treasure of Lemon Brown

“The Treasure of Lemon Brown,” an example of realistic, urban fiction, highlights Myers’s focus on the experiences of young Black men. Like many of the author’s other protagonists, Greg Ridley is a teenager from Harlem. Myers utilizes third-person limited narration, allowing the reader access to Greg’s thoughts and emotions but not those of the other characters. This access to the teenager’s inner world keeps the story rooted in the young man’s experiences and heightens narrative suspense during key moments in the plot, such as when Greg “feel[s] his temples throb” as the thief approaches his hiding place (41). Myers’s work often draws inspiration from historical figures and events, and the fictional Lemon Brown is modeled after famous Delta Blues musicians like Robert Johnson. The author’s use of dialect lends authenticity to the characters’ voices. For example, Lemon Brown’s voice helps define the elderly Southern man as someone who’s traveled widely and whose life experience has given him important insight to share with Greg, introducing The Importance of Intergenerational Wisdom as a central theme of the story.

Throughout his narrative, Myers explores the enduring strength of family bonds with particular attention paid to