Plot Summary
Black Man and White Woman in Dark Green Rowboat
Russell Banks
Black Man and White Woman in Dark Green Rowboat
Fiction | Short Story | Adult | Published in 1970
Plot Summary
"Black Man and White Woman in Dark Green Rowboat," a short story by American author Russell Banks, published in his short fiction collection Trailerpark (1981), revolves around a conversation between the two unnamed title characters in which they discuss, in a roundabout way, the subject of a secret abortion. The reader must deduce the true meaning of the dialog and the nature of the relationship between the two characters not by what they say to one another—but by what they are not saying.
The day dawns in a typical American trailer park. The park's denizens begin their usual routines. The narrator of the story discusses the heat on this particular summer day—the third day of an August heat wave—as it beats down on the small, largely silent community of trailer-dwellers. An old man greets the morning by going for a swim in the nearby lake. Other residents rise and get ready for their jobs in town—those who have jobs, anyway—all moving "slowly, heavily, as if with regret."
Down at the lake, another old man sees a young black man preparing to launch a rowboat for a day of fishing. The old man advises him that fishing won't be easy today; the heat will be brutal, and the fish won't feel much like biting. Undeterred, the young man finishes preparations on the rowboat and waits for someone to meet him there.
Back at the trailer park, a young, blond, white woman leaves the trailer she shares with her mother, who is the manager of the park. She goes down to the lake, where she meets the young man at the boat and climbs in. As he pushes the boat into the water, she rubs suntan lotion into her arms and legs.
At first, the young man and woman remain silent, with only the sounds of the lake hanging in the air between them. Finally, the young woman speaks. She informs the man that she revealed a secret to her mother. This secret involves the young woman and the young man.
The young man worries. He fears that now that her mother knows about their relationship, awful things are bound to happen. The young woman tries to reassure him. She tells him that her mother does not have a problem with their relationship. Her late father, she admits, would have had an issue with his daughter dating the young man because the young man is black, but that's nothing to worry about now. The young man, however, is skeptical.
They continue their conversation, but instead of addressing the major issues between them head-on, they instead focus on mundane things. The reader learns, by reading between the lines of what the characters discuss with one another, that the young man and woman have an intimate relationship, and the young woman is going to have an abortion later that day.
The young man cuts himself on some fishhooks in his tackle box. He looks "in rage" at the young woman, and she offers him some mild words of comfort. She reads a magazine while he fishes.
Failing to catch any fish, the young man announces that they should return to the trailer park. As they approach the shore, the young woman expresses her concern that the boat might run aground. For the most part, the young man ignores her. He looks off toward the trailer park in the distance, which is blurry and indistinct. He tells the young woman that he wishes he could just leave her in the rowboat on the lake.
Nevertheless, he doesn't. They return to the trailer park, which remains in the same state they left it: oppressively warm and eerily quiet. The story ends with the line, "It was very hot, and no one said anything."
While these closing words could describe the overall mood of the story, they hint at the many layers roiling beneath the surface of such normal, everyday occurrences as trailer park life and a brief fishing jaunt out upon the lake and back. The intensity of the heat suggests oppression, which is also indicated by the couple's reluctance to say anything outright and by the racism of the young woman's father. "No one said anything" points to the silence that seems to literally and figuratively encompass life in the trailer park, preventing the couple from discussing frankly the matter of the impending abortion or their feelings for one another. Even while the young man more fully experiences the emotions behind his responses—anger, frustration, regret—he ultimately returns to a place of silence, too. "Black Man and White Woman in Dark Green Rowboat" is, in the end, a commentary on the price of staying silent, how it disconnects us from each other and the fullness of our own experiences, and how it robs us of our opportunities and our humanity.
The day dawns in a typical American trailer park. The park's denizens begin their usual routines. The narrator of the story discusses the heat on this particular summer day—the third day of an August heat wave—as it beats down on the small, largely silent community of trailer-dwellers. An old man greets the morning by going for a swim in the nearby lake. Other residents rise and get ready for their jobs in town—those who have jobs, anyway—all moving "slowly, heavily, as if with regret."
Down at the lake, another old man sees a young black man preparing to launch a rowboat for a day of fishing. The old man advises him that fishing won't be easy today; the heat will be brutal, and the fish won't feel much like biting. Undeterred, the young man finishes preparations on the rowboat and waits for someone to meet him there.
Back at the trailer park, a young, blond, white woman leaves the trailer she shares with her mother, who is the manager of the park. She goes down to the lake, where she meets the young man at the boat and climbs in. As he pushes the boat into the water, she rubs suntan lotion into her arms and legs.
At first, the young man and woman remain silent, with only the sounds of the lake hanging in the air between them. Finally, the young woman speaks. She informs the man that she revealed a secret to her mother. This secret involves the young woman and the young man.
The young man worries. He fears that now that her mother knows about their relationship, awful things are bound to happen. The young woman tries to reassure him. She tells him that her mother does not have a problem with their relationship. Her late father, she admits, would have had an issue with his daughter dating the young man because the young man is black, but that's nothing to worry about now. The young man, however, is skeptical.
They continue their conversation, but instead of addressing the major issues between them head-on, they instead focus on mundane things. The reader learns, by reading between the lines of what the characters discuss with one another, that the young man and woman have an intimate relationship, and the young woman is going to have an abortion later that day.
The young man cuts himself on some fishhooks in his tackle box. He looks "in rage" at the young woman, and she offers him some mild words of comfort. She reads a magazine while he fishes.
Failing to catch any fish, the young man announces that they should return to the trailer park. As they approach the shore, the young woman expresses her concern that the boat might run aground. For the most part, the young man ignores her. He looks off toward the trailer park in the distance, which is blurry and indistinct. He tells the young woman that he wishes he could just leave her in the rowboat on the lake.
Nevertheless, he doesn't. They return to the trailer park, which remains in the same state they left it: oppressively warm and eerily quiet. The story ends with the line, "It was very hot, and no one said anything."
While these closing words could describe the overall mood of the story, they hint at the many layers roiling beneath the surface of such normal, everyday occurrences as trailer park life and a brief fishing jaunt out upon the lake and back. The intensity of the heat suggests oppression, which is also indicated by the couple's reluctance to say anything outright and by the racism of the young woman's father. "No one said anything" points to the silence that seems to literally and figuratively encompass life in the trailer park, preventing the couple from discussing frankly the matter of the impending abortion or their feelings for one another. Even while the young man more fully experiences the emotions behind his responses—anger, frustration, regret—he ultimately returns to a place of silence, too. "Black Man and White Woman in Dark Green Rowboat" is, in the end, a commentary on the price of staying silent, how it disconnects us from each other and the fullness of our own experiences, and how it robs us of our opportunities and our humanity.