Rainbow Jordan by Alice Childress

First published: 1981

Type of work: Social realism

Themes: Coming-of-age, family, race and ethnicity, and sexual issues

Time of work: The school year of 1980

Recommended Ages: 13-15

Locale: An urban center in the United States

Principal Characters:

• Rainbow Jordan, an unusually insightful, independent fourteen-year-old, who craves the love of a family she will never have
• Katherine Jordan, her mother, who is undependable and, at times, physically abusive, as she feels trapped by her teenage daughter
• Josephine Lamont, Rainbow’s foster mother, a seamstress, who struggles with personal loss while she works to give Rainbow a home

The Story

Rainbow Jordan is an effective character study developed through a trio of alternating narratives. Rainbow Jordan, her mother Katherine Jordan, and her interim guardian, Josephine Lamont, each share intimate details of their lives, giving attention to the way their lives impinge on one another. These detailed portraits of African-American women at different stages of life show loneliness, hardship and courage from different perspectives. While all three portraits are richly drawn, the combined effect particularly highlights a short but pivotal period in Rainbow’s life.

Rainbow was born to teenage parents. Her father, Leroy Jordan, abandoned the home when Rainbow was very young, leaving her alone with her mother, Katherine, herself an orphan with no education or skills, who fails to make her daughter’s needs a priority. Although Katherine realizes that she is failing as a parent, she is consumed by the complexities of her own life. Her frustrations erupt in bouts of physical abuse, and she frequently leaves for days at a time when she works out of town or moves in with a new boyfriend. On one occasion when Rainbow is five years old, the family’s apartment catches on fire; discovered alone when rescued by the fire department, Rainbow, from that time forward, moves in and out of foster homes.

Again abandoned and facing eviction, Rainbow, now fourteen years old, is escorted by Mayola, her social worker, to her current foster family. Under the caring, watchful eye of Josephine Lamont—a woman in her late fifties, struggling with the dissolution of a twenty-year marriage caused by her husband’s deserting her for a younger woman—Rainbow discovers a haven, a role model, and a confidante. Both Rainbow and Josephine have been abandoned, and each tries to cover up her embarrassment and disappointment to protect herself from the criticism and judgment of outsiders. Each struggles with problems unique to her age and station in life, yet living together affords the two of them the support they need to cope with their problems. While living with Josephine, Rainbow faces her true feelings about her mother’s behavior and her physical and emotional maturing as a young woman.

Soon after her arrival, Rainbow begins to menstruate. This occasion brings Rainbow and Josephine closer together as they discuss the nature of right and wrong and public attitudes toward gender and sexuality. While Rainbow struggles to determine her own values, she is pressured by her girlfriend Beryl and her boyfriend, Eljay, to “join the club” and become sexually active. When Eljay leaves her for a new girlfriend, she decides to overcome her reluctance in hopes of rekindling their romance. Her plans for their sexual encounter are shattered, however, because Eljay arrives at her apartment with his new girlfriend. Through this experience, Rainbow learns to understand and sympathize with Josephine’s heartbreak, and Josephine becomes more sensitive to Rainbow’s intense feelings of displacement.

Josephine helps Rainbow cope with pressures from school officials regarding the whereabouts of her mother. Rainbow, who has attempted to keep her family situation a secret, realizes that honesty is the best policy, and, with Josephine’s support, decides to tell school officials that she lives with a foster parent. Rainbow realizes that longing for her mother’s love will not make it a reality, and she comes to the understanding that trust and love must be earned. As the two women walk to school for Rainbow’s parent conference, Josephine and Rainbow agree to remain together for several months to give Rainbow’s mother a chance to repair her life.

Context

Childress’ literary career has included successes in theater and dramatic literature as well as young adult literature. Her best-known novel, A Hero Ain’t Nothin’ but a Sandwich (1973), and Rainbow Jordan both address the struggles of young people overcoming the hardships of urban life. In both works, the author uses an episodic structure and multiple points of view to illuminate particular social problems or personal struggles. Her characters are drawn without bias or prejudice. Even characters who are villainous are presented without judgment. This approach seems particularly effective because people seldom see themselves as evil; they see themselves as being trapped by circumstance.

The author’s background in theater has influenced the writing of her novels. The chapters are like scenes in a play, and the first-person accounts are much like monologues. The novels’ settings are described through the eyes of her characters. In addition, Childress’ work as a playwright has honed her skills in capturing the subtleties and power of dialect. Her singular gift for creating first-person accounts using the African-American idiom captures the rhythmic and poetic qualities of this language. In Rainbow Jordan, considerable information is shared about the characters by their speech patterns.

Addressing the idea of the quiet hero is not unique to Childress and can be seen in other works such as A Day No Pigs Would Die (1973), Zeely (1967), and Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry (1976). Addressing the issues and concerns of African Americans is also not unique to this writer and can be seen in the novels of Virginia Hamilton and William Armstrong, among others. What is unique is that Rainbow Jordan uses first-person accounts to give the reader an exceptionally poignant view of each character’s life. Each woman is made more vivid because she is seen from three vantage points. When taken together, the narratives create a compelling slice of life.