Chi-Raq in Literature: Exhibit A

Cover of "Freedom" by Jonathan Franzen

“The south side of Chicago," starts Jim Croce’s 1973 hit song “Leroy Brown,”  “is the baddest part of town. And if you go down there, you best beware of a man named Leroy Brown.”

Now, I’m not sure about Leroy Brown, but Chicago’s south side has definitely garnered a nasty reputation. To refer to “The south side” is to refer to an entire general portion of the city that draws connotations of strict racial polarization, poverty, and rampant crime; and, though it technically begins anywhere south of the down town area, around Roosevelt Rd., those familiar with the city landscape will argue that it refers to just about anywhere south of the Bronzeville neighborhood, inhabited by predominantly African-American communities. 

"Chicago South Side has long had a distinct identity. Often identified in the second half of the twentieth century with the city's African American population..." 

- Encyclopedia of Chicago, Chicago Historical Society

Area consisting of Chicago's South Side

Statistically, this area has been the breeding ground for a high percentage of violent crimes, as shown in this map.Yet crime in this part of town is more historical than racial. Prior to the turn of the 20^th century, and into the 1970's, this section was home to Chicago’s vast shipping docks, slaughter houses, rail yards, and shanty towns which invited labor workers from all over the country, citizens and immigrants alike, which, in turn, was the spring board to brothels, gambling houses, and to rampant violent crime. You could read more about the South Side's history on the Chicago Historical Society's website. 

Residents of Chicago's south side have historically been collateral damage in the city's gentrification process around the down town business district, or the Loop, and in turn have felt victimized by a much larger socioeconomic structure. This sentiment has prompted much anger and pain in these communities and the feeling that there is little to no help in sight from the city's political structure.  

Violence here is so prominent it's even prompted the use of the term “Chi-raq,” a combination of the words “Chicago” and “Iraq,” a suggestion that conflict in Chicago is comparable to that of a military war zone. It's debatable where the term came from, but Chicago rapper Chief Keef popularized in his "Chi-raq" mixtapes. Recently renowned film director, Spike Lee, has brought it to the national consciousnesses by (and has been scrutinized for) further glorifying the moniker in his new film, Chi-raq, which takes place, where else? You guessed it, in the city's south side.

Which brings us to Jonathan Franzen. The National Book Award winning writer from Western Springs, Il., a southwest Chicago suburb, is known for his novels "The Corrections," "Freedom," and most recently "Purity." Fanzen is a master at shining the spotlight on the drama of common dysfunctional families. His novel "Freedom" brought him much acclaim and earned him a feature in Time Magazine at it's release.

"Freedom" is about the horribly unsatisfied Berglund clan. Each and all of the members of this selfish family can never seem to get a grasp of the satisfaction of life's beautiful opportunities dangling in front of their eyes, and are constantly searching the next best alternative. (Read the book!)

Chicago's south side was not lost on Franzen. In this college flashback scene from Chapter 2, page 111(HC version), Walter Burglund's girlfriend, Patty(later his wife), decides to take a cross-country road trip with his less stable, wannabe rock star roommate, Richard, with fantasies of wooing him into bed and dumping the more educated and politically ambitious Walter. 

During this road-trip from Minnesota, the party van drives through Chicago's south side to look for one of Richard's grunge buddies:

“She had about three hours to entertain this fantasy-staring at the taillights of the traffic rushing down and down toward the great metropolis, and wondering what it would like to be Richards’s chick, wondering if a woman he respected might succeed in changing him, imagining herself never going back to Minnesota, trying to picture the apartment they might find to live in, savoring the thought of unleashing Richard on her contemptuous middle sister, picturing her family’s consternation at how cool she’s become, and imagining her nightly erasure-before they landed in the reality of Chicago’s southside. It was 2 a.m. and Richard couldn’t find Herrera’s friends’ building. Rail yards and dark, haunted rivers blocking their way. The streets were deserted except for gypsy cabs and occasional Scary Black Youths of the kind one read about.”

-Freedom, Jonathan Franzen

 This is a minor example in relation to authors we'll look at later, such as Sandra Cisneros, Lorraine Hansberry, James Baldwin and Studs Terkel; yet this little excerpt exhibits so many subtle innuendos.

Analysis:
1) Contrast:
 Notice the first, long sentence. Patty's daydreams are embossed in between two hyphens, then the sentence suddenly ends when she is snapped to as they "landed in the reality if Chicago's southside." Period. End of sentence. Do not pass go, do not collect $200. Franzen does not elaborate what the consequences of the driving through the southside at 2 a.m. are, but they can't be good if it's enough to snap Patty from her daydreams. This is such a clear and contrasting example that the reader immediately feels sense of urgency to get indoors.

2) Adjectives:
His use of adjectives describing the rivers and the taxi cabs aren't flattering. They aren't just rivers, they are "dark, haunted rivers." And they aren't just cabs, but "gyspy" cabs. What would a Northside river and cab look like in Franzen's novel? But check for your wallets, everyone!

3) Capital Letters:
What do writers normally capitalize? Titles, brands, and proper names. Let's say I was reading "Freedom" by Jonathan Franzen on the El on the way to Doctor Martinez's office for an appointment, while listening to "Serial" on my Sony Walkman(dated, I know).

When something is capitalized one can readily identify a specific functional purpose to the capitalization; it becomes a  proper noun. So in this passage Franzen capitalizes "Scary Black Youths," and describes them of the "kind one read about." This is no accident.

He does this to highlight the general perception of being a young black person in the south side. Scary Black Youth is their title that they can't shake, because if you haven't been to the southside, you should've at least "read about" them.

Thank you for reading and come back as we discuss further discuss Chi-Raq in literature in future posts.