To Hell with Dying

“Mr. Sweet had been ambitious as a boy, wanted to be a doctor or lawyer or sailor, only to find that black men fare better if they are not.”

This quote gives Mr. Sweet background and depth while also evoking empathy for Mr. Sweet in his childhood dreams being shorted because of his race. The words “only to find” emphasize the innocence of Mr. Sweet in his childhood. The reference to his ambition asserts a contrast to the innocence of childhood and the evil of segregation, as it took away Mr. Sweet’s dream. This helps partially explain the severe depression he struggles with throughout the story.

“He had great respect for my mother for she never held his drunkenness against him and would let us play with him even when he was about to fall in the fireplace from drink.”

The narrator acknowledges the danger of playing with Mr. Sweet while he is drunk. However, comments on Mr. Sweet’s respect for her mother to continue to let them play together. This suggests that the mother sees past Mr. Sweet’s faults or potentially acknowledges the importance of these occasions to him emotionally. In contrast, Mr. Sweet respect for her mother for allowing this suggests that he either did not see the danger himself in playing while drunk or acknowledged the risk she was taking and appreciated it.

“We never felt anything of Mr. Sweet’s age when we played with him.”

This line expresses the casualness of their relationship and acts as a reflection of its unusualness. From the point of view of the child, it is common sense for them to play together, as their relationship is defined by connection and enjoyment rather than age difference.

“It was from one of these songs that I heard that he had had to marry Mrs. Mary when he had in fact loved somebody else (now living in Chi-ca-go, or De-story, Michigan). He was not sure that Joe Lee, her ‘baby,’ was also his baby.”

This provides another reason for Mr. Sweet’s sadness and dissatisfaction in life, as he lost his true love and he’s unsure of the fidelity of his wife. The narrator expresses a childlike understanding of the places in his song by writing them in the way he would’ve sang them, but “De-story” also shows Mr. Sweet’s inexperience with wider America, as he is calling the city of Detroit by the wrong name.

“The doctor was bending over the bed and turned back to tell us for at leas the tenth time in the history of my family, that, alas, old Mr. Sweet Little was dying and that children had best not see the face of implacable death (I didn’t know what ‘implacable’ was, but whatever it was, Mr. Sweet was not!).”

The exclamation of the child narrator evokes a sentiment of panic and defiance toward the doctor. The doctor is depicted as a stranger, defined by his profession rather than being called a neighbor, even though he has attended to Mr. Sweet numerous times. It is unclear if the doctor genuinely believes the man is dying or is acting out a routine to encourage the children to revive him. If the latter, it shows the communal desire to uplift Mr. Sweet through his relationship with the narrator and her family. Nonetheless, the narrator expresses a childlike belief in the seriousness of the situation and a defensiveness of Mr. Sweet.

“One of the neighbors knocked on our door and called my father and said that Mr. Sweet was sinking fast and if he wanted to get in a word before the crossover he’d better shake a leg and get over to Mr. Sweet’s house.”

The use of colloquial language such as “sinking fast,” “crossover,” and “shake a leg” not only helps offer authenticity to the setting and characters, but it also suggests the neighbors were softening the death of Mr. Sweet for the children by acting more casual. ”Crossover” being euphemistic slang for death is less serious or frightening, but the lack of intensity may also imply that the neighbors knew Mr. Sweet wasn’t actually on the brink of death.

“His eyes would get all misty and he would sometimes cry out loud, but we never let it embarrass us, for he knew that we loved him and that we sometimes cried too for no reason.”

The children’s empathy and reading of Mr. Sweet’s emotion demonstrates an earnestness and innocence that is implicatively lost in adulthood. The children recognize “cry out loud” as something normal, as children often do; meanwhile, adults have to leave the room, for they may have been embarrassed by Mr. Sweet crying. Additionally, the parents leave the room to create space for them to relate to each other, which reaffirms the bond between the children and Mr. Sweet and the story’s critique in the limits of adulthood on human emotion.

“What [my brother] would do while I talked to Mr. Sweet was pretend to play the guitar, in fact he pretended that he was a young version of Mr. Sweet, and it always made Mr. Sweet glad to think that someone wanted to be like him.”

Despite the limited information given about the narrator’s brother, his relationship to Mr. Sweet reflects a similar one to the narrator. The admiration the brother has for Mr. Sweet is demonstrated by playing his guitar, an act of mimicry and adoration that is not shown toward the children’s father. For Mr. Sweet to be glad “that someone wanted to be like him” suggests an estrangement from his own son.

“It did not occur to us that if our father had been dying we could not have stopped it, that Mr. Sweet was the only person over whom we had power.”

Knowing it took the act of kissing and tickling to revive Mr. Sweet and acknowledging that they did not have the same relationship or “power” with their father demonstrates the emotional barriers between her and her father. It also exhibits Mr. Sweet’s unique struggles with depression and his ability to be emotionally vulnerable. Gender and age subtly act as a socially constructed limitation to emotional intimacy.

“The air was heavy sweet and very peaceful.”

When revisiting Mr. Sweet’s house before he dies, by using a short sentence while the rest of the story is written with longer sentences, the author creates a sense of significance in the coming events. It foreshadows Mr. Sweet’s actual death, as the air is described as sweet, like Mr. Sweet; peaceful, as death is to be at peace; and heavy, referencing the emotionally weighted scene about to occur.

“The closed, wine-stained lips twitched a little then parted in a warm, slightly embarrassed smile.”

The alcoholism Mr. Sweet suffered from that “stained” his adulthood is represented through the “wine-stained lips,” which is overlooked by the narrator for his warm demeanor. The slight embarrassment contrasts his lack of embarrassment when he was vulnerable after his revival at age seven. This indicates a loss of innocence and openness now that the narrator is an adult.

“Even at twenty-four how could I believe that I had failed? That Mr. Sweet was really gone?”

The narrator’s mindset here shows the residual childlike belief that she is responsible for Mr. Sweet’s well-being and thus responsible for his eventual death, even though she’s aware her revivals were never literal. Her feelings of responsibility for this member of the community are clear, and the loss of this significant emotional bond that was tied to her youth and innocence signals a somber transition into adulthood.

“Soon I found I felt my father pushing something cool into my hand. It was Mr. Sweet’s guitar.”

It takes a moment for the narrator to realize what her father is doing, and he has to press the instrument into her hand, because of her state of shock. Like in his repeated efforts to urge his children to foster an emotional connection with Mr. Sweet by reviving him, the father again guides the narrator to relate to the man and honor their connection. The coolness of the guitar is calming and helps her refocus on her memories of him. Again, the brief, direct sentences help add a sense of immediacy and importance to events occurring.