Brothers and Keepers by John Edgar Wideman

First published: 1984

The Work

Brothers and Keepers, John Edgar Wideman’s most popular novel, is a psychologically realistic portrait of two brothers. Although they grow up in the same environment, Homewood, these brothers travel diverse paths. Wideman is a black star pulsing brilliantly in a white universe; his brother, Robby, sinks into a life of crime and drug addiction. Robby’s path leads to his serving a life sentence without parole for taking part in a robbery in which a man was killed. Brothers and Keepers is a novel of tragic dimensions, grave despair, and spiritual survival.

This novel had to be written as much for Wideman as for Robby. It is a homecoming for Wideman—a return to the community of brotherhood, concern, and understanding. In part 1, “Visits,” readers learn that although Wideman never sees his color as an obstacle to his own success, he views Robby as a black victim of society’s ills: “A brother behind bars, my own flesh and blood, raised in the same house by the same mother and father; a brother confined in prison has to be a mistake, a malfunctioning of the system.”

In the second part of the novel, “Our Time,” Wideman describes his growth and maturation while he spends time with his brother on visits to the prison. Wideman is seen as searching for his own identity while he searches for reasons for Robby’s fall from grace. Learning that he needs as much help as Robby does, Wideman gains respect for Robby’s intelligence. Wideman also learns the truth about the foiled robbery attempt.

In the final section, “Doing Time,” a spirituality operates to bring harmony to the two brothers. Especially moving is Robby’s graduation speech as he receives his associate degree, and his promise to Wideman that he will “forever pray.” From a sociological point of view, it is interesting that prison can rehabilitate someone like Robby and motivate him to work on his education. It is an equally moving experience to see Wideman connect with his own identity and return to his roots. Wideman learns that he cannot escape genetics or the ghetto. Until Robby is free, Wideman is not free.

Bibliography

Bidinger, Elizabeth. The Ethics of Working Class Autobiography: Representation of Family by Four American Authors. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 2006. Discusses representations of class and domesticity in Brothers and Keepers and compares the book to novels by Russell Baker, Agate Nesaule, and Bobbie Ann Mason.

Bonetti, Kay. “An Interview with John Edgar Wideman.” Missouri Review 9, no. 2 (1986): 75-103. Extensive interview in which Wideman discusses his work, childhood, education, literary influences, African American vernacular, African American literature, and American culture in general.

Brown, Chip. “Blood Circle.” Esquire, August, 1989, 122-132. Biographical profile of the author focusing on his reaction to a murder committed by his sixteen-year-old-son Jacob in 1986. Discusses Jacob’s case in relation to Robby’s and explores its effects on Wideman.

Coleman, James W. Blackness and Modernism: The Literary Career of John Edgar Wideman. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 1989. The first book-length study of Wideman’s work. Analyzes Wideman’s major fiction, from A Glance Away through the novel Reuben (1987), from the perspectives of modernism and postmodernism. Makes several references to the relationship between the author’s fictional characters and those in Brothers and Keepers. Includes a 1988 interview with Wideman.

Lehmann-Haupt, Christopher. Review of Brothers and Keepers, by John Edgar Wideman. The New York Times, October 29, 1984, p. C21. Negative review that criticizes Brothers and Keepers as being “angry and ideological” with a weak ending. Concludes that Wideman’s portrait of Robby and charges of racism are a “cop out.” Refers to the author as a “guilty liberal” who has not fully acknowledged the role of his own success in Robby’s demise. The sole point of praise is for Wideman’s skill at storytelling.

Reed, Ishmael. “Of One Blood, Two Men.” The New York Times Book Review, November 4, 1984, pp. 1, 32. Lauds Wideman for his use of diverse linguistic styles and his critique of the American prison system. Compares Brothers and Keepers favorably to Claude Brown’s autobiography Manchild in the Promised Land (1965) and James Weldon Johnson’s Autobiography of an Ex-Coloured Man (1912). Reed argues that the strength of the book lies in its “intimate portrayal of the lives and divergent paths taken by two brothers,” thus raising it above a mere sociological tract.

Rosen, Judith. “John Edgar Wideman.” Publishers Weekly 236 (November 17, 1989): 37-38. Interview conducted shortly before the publication of Wideman’s short-story collection Fever. Details his method of composition and his beginnings as a professional writer. Wideman also discusses the interconnections between racial prejudice and language.

TuSmith, Bonnie, and Keith E. Byerman, eds. Critical Essays on John Edgar Wideman. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 2006. Collection of essays on a wide range of issues in Wideman’s work, including a piece on self-knowledge in Brothers and Keepers by Eugene Philip Page.

Yardley, Jonathan. “The Prisoner Within.” The Washington Post Book World 14 (October 21, 1984): 3. Review praising Wideman for his ability to evoke sympathy for his brother while never excusing his criminal actions. Claims that Brothers and Keepers is “guaranteed to shock and sadden.”