Let Us Now Praise Famous Men

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Let Us Now Praise Famous Men “Let Us Now Praise Famous Men,” was written by James Agee and Walker Evans. The story is about three white families of tenant farmers in rural Alabama. The photographs in the beginning have no captions or quotations. They are just images of three tenant farming families, their houses, and possessions. “The photographs are not illustrative. They, and the text, are coequal, mutually independent, and fully collaborative.” (87) The story and the photographs contain relationships between them; in the essay I am going to inform you about the interpretations of the relationships between the readings of James Agee and some of the pictures by Walker Evans. As a reader of the section “A Country Letter”, I interpreted the lamp to represent life, hope, and security. I sit at a table, facing a partitioned wall; and I’m looking at a lighted coal-oil lamp which stands on the table close to the wall. I am entirely focused on the lamp, and light. (102) The picture (31) looks exactly how it is described in the reading. The table which the lamp is upon in the photograph is placed in the kitchen. The lamp appears to be clean and the oil looks full, but the oil looks separated from the coal. The lamp is placed in the center of the table which shows significance to the focal point while dining at the kitchen table. “The glass was poured into a mold, I guess, that made the base and bowl, which are in one piece.”(102) The mold could be considered as their family; strong, united, and closely involved with one another. Agee states the mold is strong, yet fragile, and formed in one piece. I studied two particular photos (45, 65) that made me see frailty, but yet closeness and a strong bond. The mother and child (45) illustrate they are happy and enjoying life, which is a good indication that they have a strong bond by having smiles on their faces. The mother holding the child in her lap shows a special closeness between the two. On the other hand, you can clearly see though that the mother is badly hurt with the bandage on her right foot. The family in the carriage (65) looks to be going on a family trip together. The reason this photo shows closeness, is as if they were molded together as one. To me they are close because they are all doing something together. Their clothing looks a little ... ... middle of paper ... ...t could perform hard work. This gave them the financial security to always be able to supply for his family. They also have the safety of the man of the household and they have the safety of having a place to live. The boots show that there is someone working in the household. They are proof that someone is making money to support them. They also portray safety, if they have another job; they have another option to fall back on. The text was written with reading out loud in mind, that can not be recommended; but it is suggested that the reader attend with his ear to what he takes off the page: for variations of tone, pace, shape, and dynamics are here particularly unavailable to the eye alone, and with their loss, a good deal of meaning escapes. (87) Before I wrote this essay, I read it silently, until I sat down and read it out loud to myself; did I fully understand some of the subtle meanings behind the words; before they were just meaningless letters arranged into meaningless words. James Agee and Walker Evans truly, deep in their hearts, have a new earned respect and understanding for these people, and really hope for the best for their future.

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