29 pages • 58-minute read
The Treasure of Lemon Brown
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Themes
The Love Between Fathers and Sons
At its heart, “The Treasure of Lemon Brown” is a story about the love between fathers and sons. Although Lemon Brown’s work as a traveling musician required him to be away from his son for long periods, his devotion to his family shines through the effort he put into supporting them: “I used to travel around and make money for to feed my wife and Jesse–that’s my boy’s name. Used to feed them good, too” (60). The pride Lemon Brown takes in his ability to provide for his family with his music underscores the connection between his music and his family—the two most central elements of his identity.
Lemon Brown’s treasure acts as a symbol of the love between him and Jesse, imbuing the harmonica and the newspaper clippings with priceless value. Lemon Brown gave Jesse these objects hoping to teach his son “who [his father] was, and what [Jesse] come from” (60). While the narrative contains few details about Jesse, the fact that he carried his father’s treasure with him while he fought in the war overseas emphasizes the bond between them. Jesse’s death “[b]roke [Lemon Brown’s] heart” and contributed to the decline of his career (60). After his son’s death, Lemon Brown retrieves the treasure that he hoped would give his son the courage and confidence to make his own way in the world, and carries it himself as a reminder of his son, giving him the strength to keep going despite the hardships he faces.
The bond between Lemon Brown and Jesse pushes Greg to consider his relationship with his father in a new light. The short story was originally published in Boys’ Life magazine, and the protagonist’s frustration with his father reflects a common tension between parents and children just beginning to come of age and assert their independence. At the beginning of the story, Greg feels that his father is unfairly strict and gives tedious lectures, but Lemon Brown’s perspective on the importance of father-son relationships helps Greg understand his father better and develop more empathy for him. For example, Greg begins to understand the depth of a parent’s love for their children when he sees that Lemon Brown is willing to face three violent thieves rather than surrender the treasure that links him to Jesse. He asks Lemon, “You really think that treasure of yours was worth fighting for?” Lemon replies, “For a big-headed boy you sure do ask the foolishest questions” (60). As a parent who’s lost his only son, there’s nothing more important to Lemon than preserving the symbol of their bond.
The symbol of the treasure also allows Myers to explore the idea of personal values. Seeing how much Lemon Brown loves his deceased son helps Greg understand his own father’s love for him. To Greg’s father, education is a treasure, in part because he had to leave school early and he wants his son to make the most of his opportunities. Greg’s new appreciation for his father’s perspective gives the story a happy ending that implies their relationship will improve thanks to Greg’s encounter with Lemon Brown.
Music as a Cultural and Personal Legacy
Drawing upon the rich history of the Delta Blues, the short story celebrates music as a cultural and personal legacy. The narrative is set in Harlem—a neighborhood of great significance to American history and art thanks to its flourishing music scene, particularly during the Harlem Renaissance and the Jazz Age of the 1920s and 30s. As a former traveling musician, Lemon Brown introduces Greg to the Delta Blues and the role of music in Black Americans’ legacy. As an important means of cultural expression, the Delta Blues brought Black communities together and gave voice to social issues that affected Black Americans, such as poverty, injustice, and systemic racism. Lemon Brown’s hyperbolic claim that “the dead would commence to rocking with the beat” when he played at funerals underscores the cultural role of blues music as a way to navigate struggle, hardship, and grief by creating beauty out of pain (40).
Music represents a fundamental aspect of Lemon Brown’s personal legacy and livelihood, sustaining him both physically and emotionally. Blues songs explore themes of the personal hardship and adversity that historical blues performers experienced in their lives and channeled into their songs. Lemon Brown’s resilience in the face of personal tragedy aligns with the ethos of the blues. Although decades have passed since he last performed, the elderly singer still takes pride in his identity as Sweet Lemon Brown. He seeks to preserve his legacy by holding onto his treasure—cherished newspaper clippings representative of his time as “a blues singer and harmonica player” and the instrument with which he gained acclaim (60). The personal legacy of music that he shared with his son keeps their bond alive for him even after his son has passed away.
Myers situates Lemon Brown within a rich legacy of Black American musicians, underscoring the importance of music as a lasting legacy. Lemon Brown gives the clippings and his harmonica to his son before he goes off to war because he wants Jesse to understand his family legacy and believe that he can “do something too” (60). When Greg questions whether the treasure is valuable enough to justify the risk Lemon Brown takes to protect it, the elderly man answers, “What else a man got ’cepting what he can pass on to his son, or his daughter if she be his oldest?” (60). For Lemon Brown, a personal legacy is not only about claiming something for oneself but about having something to leave for future generations. Myers suggests that although Lemon Brown’s son is gone, his legacy lives on through the lessons Lemon Brown passes on to Greg and the ongoing influence of the blues.
The Importance of Intergenerational Wisdom
Myers demonstrates the importance of intergenerational wisdom through Greg’s encounter with Lemon Brown and the ways it transforms Greg’s perspective. The primary lesson that Greg’s father seeks to instill in him is the value of education. He wants his son to benefit from the resources the previous generation was denied. He notes that he “had to leave school when [he] was thirteen […] a year younger than [Greg is] now” (34). The disagreement between Greg and his father over grades and extracurricular activities represents a classic example of intergenerational conflict. The teenager sees the adult as an enforcer of strict expectations and a tiresome lecturer, while the adult views the teenager as someone who fails to apply himself and doesn’t appreciate the opportunities he has, which were unavailable to previous generations. Myers suggests that Greg’s closeness and familiarity with his father make it difficult to break out of an established dynamic: “His father had been a postal worker for all Greg’s life, and was proud of it, often telling Greg how hard he had worked to pass the test. Greg had heard the story too many times to be interested now” (40). It takes an outside voice to disrupt Greg’s set perspective on his father and their relationship.
Greg’s meeting with Lemon Brown acts as the inciting incident that changes the way the protagonist thinks about the world and his family. Because the elderly man’s life story is striking and new to Greg, the teenager is more receptive to the lessons his narrative offers. For example, hearing about how Lemon Brown’s heart broke when Jesse was killed in the war teaches the boy not to take his loved ones for granted or underestimate his father’s love for him. Lemon Brown also models courage and determination, telling him: “When you get as old as me all you say when something hurts is, ‘Howdy, Mr Pain, sees you back again.’ Then when Mr. Pain sees he can’t worry you none, he go on mess with somebody else” (60). The elderly man’s resilience pushes Greg to put his own grievances in their proper perspective.
Lemon Brown defies Greg’s initial expectations of him, teaching the young man not to judge people based on their socioeconomic status. When Greg dismisses his claim that he has something precious, Lemon Brown replies, “Every man got a treasure. You don’t know that, you must be a fool!” (36). This piece of wisdom urges the protagonist to interrogate assumptions about people’s worth that rely on markers of material success or value. Myers’s story highlights the ways that differences in perspective create friction between younger and older generations and models empathy and understanding as critical to bridging that divide.
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