Oral Presentation – Character Trait Wil

In the play Flyin' West and other plays by Pearl Cleage there is a particular colored man named Wil that helps out the three women in the play and shows that not all colored men are the same especially compared to Frank, Minnie's husband. Character traits that describe Wil are: respectful, dependable, polite, and a concerned man for all.

Wil is described as a dependable man because he has the responsibility of maintaining the lands of Miss Leah and Mr. Baker. Miss Leah because she is getting old, she cannot maintain the land alone, and she is living with Fannie and Sophie. Mr. Baker's land because his wife just had a baby and they are trying to get the baby healthy before they come back to the country so he can survive. A concerned man can describe Wil because he does not want Miss Leah to move back to her home alone, he is worried that something might happen to her since she is so frail.

 The respectful side of Wil would be that him and Fannie are starting to have a liking for each other and one day as they are walking, talking, and picking flowers Wil attempts to put his arm around Fannie's waist but he hesitates. He hesitates because he does not want to upset and disrespect Fannie. Wil also says some very respectful words to Fannie that show the type of man he is "that a colored women is a precious jewel deserving of my respect, my love and my protection."

Wil is also described as being polite. Polite in a sense that he helps Fannie, Minnie, and Sophie pick up the dished after dinner and Frank is just sitting down putting in his two sense "If they make him do women's work too?"

These characteristics of Wil are very different than to any other colored man. Most colored men would not have the respect for a woman not to put their hands where they are not wanted and to just be very demanding of a woman. Also most colored men would not help out put dishes away after dinner or for any other reason. Wil is a very different person, maybe it is because of the way and of where he grow up that changed his prospective on what men and women are "supposed" to do according to society.

 

Flyin West and other plays - Journal Blog

1. What is this about?

In the play Flyin West and other plays by Pearl Cleage, Act 1 through Act 2 Scenes 1 and 2, there are two major feuds happening, one is between Frank and Minnie's family and the other is Sophie trying to convince the colored folks not to sell their land to the white people. Sophie is trying to pass a law that permits any colored person to sell their land to white people because she wants the land/town to be colored only. The feud of Frank is that Sophie really dislikes him because of the way that he got married to her sister to fast, he and Minnie moved to London, and that he is ashamed of being colored. Frank is a very abusive man and abuses Minnie on a daily bases and on one of those days Minnie's family was a witness to it.

2. What do you like about it? (What do you dislike about it?)

In this play I really like the fact that Sophie wants to be an independent woman, especially a colored woman that owns her own land. She stands up in what she believes in, has plans for the town of Nicodemus, and wants colored to understand that colored people should have a place of their own. I really dislike about the play or I should say the character of Frank. He is a real arrogant man that really does not know where he belongs and he does not have a sense that he is colored like everyone else even though his father was white.

3. What 2 NEW vocabulary words do I need to look up? (List words and give correct definition or synonym.)

Pickaninnies - was the dominant racial caricature of Black children for most of this country's history. They were "child coons," miniature versions of Stepin Fetchit. Picaninnies had bulging eyes, unkempt hair, red lips, and wide mouths into which they stuffed huge slices of watermelon. They were themselves tasty morsels for alligators. They were routinely shown on postcards, posters, and other ephemera being chased or eaten. Picaninnies were portrayed as nameless, shiftless natural buffoons running from alligators and toward fried chicken.

Speculators - a person who trades derivatives, commodities, bonds, equalities or currencies with a higher-than-average risk in return for a higher-than-average profit potential. Speculators take large risks, especially with respect to anticipating future price movements, in hope of making quick, large gains.

4. What situations, or characters, or conflicts, or themes/messages do I have a comment or reflection or a question about?

The character that I have a comment on is Frank. He is a really awful man that has no respect for anyone, he believes that he is different from everyone because he is half white, but the truth is that he is like everyone else there in Nicodemus just that he is a lighter colored man. Frank needs to accept the fact that he is not pure white and that his wife is colored. London is very different then Nicodemus, Kansas and he needs to get used to it especially because him and Minnie will not be able to travel back to London for the reason that his fathers' children stopped sending him money because the father died. The situation also that I want to reflect on is the fact that Minnie lets Frank treat her anyway he pleases, maybe it is the era but I would not let anyone especially a man treat me the way he treats her; emotionally, physically, and mentally. She needs to stand up for herself; follow the foot steps of her sister Sophie.