Yes, Mrs. Bains. You got something for me?”
“Well, that’s what I come to talk to you about. You know Cency left all them babies with me. And my relief check ain’t no more’n it take to keep a well-grown yard dog alive —half alive, I should say.”
“Your rent is four dollars a month, Mrs. Bains. You two months behind already.”
“I do know that, Mr. Dead, sir, but babies can’t make it with nothing to put in they stomach.”
Their voices were low, polite, without any hint of conflict. “Can they make it in the street, Mrs. Bains? That’s where they gonna be if you don’t figure out some way to get me my money.”
“No, sir. They can’t make it in the street. We need both, I reckon. Same as yours does.”
“Then you better rustle it up, Mrs. Bains. You got till”—he swiveled around to consult the calendar on the wall—“till Saturday coming. Saturday, Mrs. Bains. Not Sunday. Not Monday. Saturday. (Morris 46-47)
In this part of the passage, Mrs. Bains goes looking for compassion in Macon after she has two months of rent overdue and can barely make ends meet to feed her grandchildren. Thought she went in looking for a solution to avoid eviction, Macon gave her no support but a deadline that she needs to meet in order to continue to live in her home with her grandchildren. Throughout this scene Morris builds on this idea of Marxism and the different rights citizens are given based on their ethnicity and economic status.
Mrs. Bains begging Macon depicts that capitalism has taken over the country. During this time period when both Macon and Mrs. Bains are being segregated due to their skin color, Macon turns his back towards his people and only cares about his money as we can see from his dialogue when he continues to use the repetition of the phrase “my money.” Macon’s constant use of “my” shows how he feels great ownership and possession towards the money Mrs. Bains owes him. He isn’t being humane and understanding when he gives her a quick deadline and states that the consequences of her failing to make the payment will be eviction. Adding on he constantly repeats the word “not” which shows that he will make no exception and is not willing to negotiate with Mrs. Bains about the money. Similarly, in their conversation Macon puts Mrs. Bains on the spot when he asks if her grandchildren would be able to live on the streets without a roof if she doesn’t make the payment. Macon is only looking at sleep in part of Maslow’s hierarchy because he is the owner of their shelter and is wanting more money. He is trying to get put food underneath shelter. Macon is showing his capitalist ideas by overusing the small power he is given by owning property amongst other blacks. During this time period it didn’t matter whether you have property or not if you were black but the only way to feel powerful in this powerless time period was to suppress your own kind. The only way Macon could feel powerful in his society was to take advantage of his people and push them into an extreme situations.
The tone of the conversation was “low, polite” which shows how he was emotionless about the situations. For Macon the money in his hand was what mattered the most instead of helping Mrs. Bains who was helpless and was struggling to live. Macon was pushing Mrs. Bain down in the social class due to her only getting “relief check” that was just enough to feed the children and didn’t pay her rent. Macon wants to feel superior in his society amongst the people he lives since he cannot go higher in the social pyramid amongst whites. Also in part of their conversation
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