The dumping of the body
The play begins with a disturbing image presenting Lyle Britten coming on stage and dumping the body of Richard Henry, a black man he killed. The image is important because it shows the way the black community was treated by the white population. The white population had no respect for the lives of the black people and saw them as being disposable. They threw away the lives of black people and humiliated them in any way they could. This image is used here to transmit that particular idea.
Troubled man
An important imagery appears in the first act when Lyle described Richard and talks about him as being a drunk and a drug uses that came from the North. This image is important because it shows how the vast majority of the white population saw the black population. For them, the blacks were nothing more but dangerous and degenerate people that had to be kept away from the rest of the population.
Black man as sexual predators
In the beginnings of the second act, the narrator presents a group of white men and women celebrating a wedding anniversary and talking about the black population in their town. The women talks about the black men and how they are scared of them. The women portray the black men as sexual predators and express their desire to be protected by the white men. This image is important because it presents the way in which black men were seen and also how many people argued their actions.
Twenty dollar bill
When Richard enters Lyle’s store, he offers to pay with a twenty dollar bill the item he purchased. Considering those times, twenty dollars was a large sum of money. The image of the bill is important because it transmits an important message, namely how the black community was beginning to rise and have enough money to be put on the same level with the white people.
