The Evening Sun - Essay Example

Nancy is a black woman married to a violent man called Jesus. In the story, both Nancy and Jesus acknowledge that cheating is a grievous evil that can lead to dire consequences. However, in the story Nancy is in crisis because she is pregnant with a white man and not her husband. In addition, the husband understands the problem and has vowed to “cut her throat’ using a razor. Nancy does recognize that she has erred, and the ultimate punishment for her unfaithfulness is death (Towner and Carothers 56).

She does not fear the punishment, but the acceptance of death as her final destination is the challenge. She has accepted the fate of black women in the society because it was not by choice that she became pregnant, but by force because the white men took advantage of her. Even the Baptist deacon, Mr. Stovall, does not pay her for raping her and even knocks her teeth off, which indicates the level of personal challenge and moral decadence (Faulkner 447). The story revolves around the focus of the different individuals including the focus of personal struggle.

Jesus is depicted as a violent husband and cannot even assist his wife the chores that she undertakes. For instance, other husbands offer to carry and deliver the clothes washed to the owners. In view of personal responsibility, Jesus does not support his wife in her duties, but is relentless in expecting the wife to remain faithful. The knowledge of the unfaithfulness of the wife is brought out when he states that he will rip open the “watermelon” (Faulkner 449). The violent confrontation between husband and wife leads to the last decision which is murder.

In acknowledging the husbands desire for revenge for unfaithfulness, Nancy does not take any action to counter the desire for revenge by her husband. In fact, she decides to accept her fate. Her behavior reveals the acceptance of personal responsibility for actions that are avoidable and unavoidable. However, the understanding of the husband is limited because there is no communication between the wife and him considering the events leading to her pregnancy. Personal responsibility is depicted in the action of Nancy and Quentin (Towner and Carothers 36).

Nancy focuses on the aftermath of unfaithfulness while Quentin focuses on the responsibilities undertaken by Nancy. The crucial question asked by Quentin is; “who will do our laundry?” He does not consider the life of challenge of Nancy and does not know what challenges awaits Nancy including the murder by Jesus. In dealing with the challenge, he accepts that Nancy must die, and her death is insignificant. The most salient issue is the laundry work. Nancy washes the clothes and is considered washerwoman by the children.

As such, the importance of Nancy to the family is washing and cooking for the family and nothing else. Therefore, her death will affect washing and cooking when their mom is sick. The family is not concerned by the impending death of Nancy and do not consider it serious (Towner and Carothers 78). The focus of the family is on everyone taking his or her personal responsibility. In fact, Quentin’s father is the only person trying to support Nancy by escorting her after realizing the challenge she is facing.

However, he does not do anything else except escorting her which leads to her death because Jesus was lurking behind the house waiting for her to come back (Faulkner 36). The depiction of carelessness in