Wolf Whistle

In his novel, Wolf Whistle, Lewis Nordan depicts a racist society. The society and the citizens within it are not only mean and nasty, but also self-absorbed. However, between narrating a loose account of a 14 year old black boy's murder and telling the stories of the citizens of Arrow Catcher, Mississippi, Nordan gives a sort of ray of hope for the future. Since the actual murder is somewhat a minor aspect of the novel, and the book lacks any real major black characters, readers may get the impression that this is a negative aspect of this book. In fact, that was the feeling that I got; it was as if the lack of concern for this murder implied how the whites actually viewed blacks, as not as important. Yet, maybe because of Bobo's murder, Nordan provides a kind of hope shown in some of the actions by the white characters.

But, what exactly is this hope? This hope is not to all of the sudden have a 180 degree turn and there be a type of utopia between races and classes. On the contrary, this hope is more of a chance. But, a chance at what? This little bit of hope that Nordan gives the Arrow Catcher community is more of a chance to broaden their horizons so to speak. It gives them a chance to think outside of the box which, in turn, means to think outside of themselves and the judgments that people carry and eventually pass down from generation to generation. It allows them a chance to educate themselves on racial and class differences, which will possibly, hopefully prevent them from continuing to be so ignorant. If the community were not to have this chance, Arrow Catcher could possibly never change. This change that the town needs is a different view. They need a different view of life and on people. They needed something to pry their eyes open, and this murder was the thing to do it.

Before the horrific murder took place, the people of Arrow Catcher did what he or she wanted to do. They thought only of themselves; they were what one would call self-absorbed. A good example of this can be seen in the characters of Runt and his son Roy Dale. Even though Runt was miserable without his wife, he refused to change. He did what he wanted to do, which was not necessarily what pleased him, but more or less satisfied him like hanging around at Red's Goodlookin Bar and Gro.