From innocence to experience
Tulip Chowdhury tells the story of a boy
A Painted House, John Grisham, Arrow
Unlike Grisham's many books, A Painted House does not run with crime in focus. Grisham's fans would find a deviation in this story and yet the book is a spellbinder with the saga of the rural South in the US. It is a remarkable family story that explores deep the lives of the cotton planters in the South. Set in the mid fifties of the 19th century it is the story of a boy's journey from innocence to experience. However, the book does hold a touch of mystery that gives the whole story an element of relishing suspense. The narrator, seven year old Luke Chandler, lives in rural Arkansas with his parents and grandparents. They farm eighty acres of land they rent out. When the cotton is ready they hire a truckload of Mexicans and hill people from the Ozarks to help them harvest it. With the Mexicans comes Tally, a seventeen year old lovely young girl. And there is Trot, the little boy who is handicapped. There is Hank, the young man who seems to be always in a murdering rage. Among the hill people is Cowboy, the young man with the switchblade who has confessed that he has used the knife on many people earlier. Luke's innocent world is up against threatening sirens as the planting season starts. Rick, Luke's uncle, is in the war in Korea. Every dawn breaks with preparations for the cotton picking of the day. And in the hearts of the Chandlers there is the hope lighted that perhaps there will be word of Rick's coming home or at least there will be a letter from him. Luke, his father and his grandfather, the men of the house spend evenings listening to the Cardinals playing and listen to the news. On days when there is a letter from Rick the womenfolk join in to read and re-read it. Next comes the whole family sitting and writing letters to Rick. And in these long evening hours are fed the gossip of the day. The Latchers, sharecroppers living on the other side of the river, become the raging wildfire in the gossip world. Their daughter Libby is pregnant and the father remains a mystery. The small rural community is full of news. Luke meanwhile has more and more secrets to keep. He accompanies Tally to the creek one day as the young girl wants to take a bath. As curious as little boys are supposed to be, Luke could not help take a few peeps through the hedges behind which he was standing guard. Then one Saturday while they are in town Luke gets to witness a fight in which one of the main troublemakers of the town, the Siscos, lose a boy. Luke is a witness to the fight but he knows that one world out of his mouth will floor him with serious beating from his father. For he is not allowed to stand around fights. Luke, the protagonist of the story, has moulded into a remarkable character. He holds the usual curiosity about life around him and yet he possesses a quiet nature that does not step out of his family values. Perhaps we can foresee an ideal American boy stepping forward to becoming a gentle young man with a firmness of his own upbringing. The friends around him lead him to adventures that are usual in his age and yet he knows where to draw the line. When it is Libby's time to have the baby, Tally coaxes him to the Latchers' home while Luke's grandmother is helping the young girl to deliver the baby. While Tally is all absorbed peeping though the creaks of the window, it is Luke who reminds her that it is midnight and they might be missed at home. There comes a crashing blow to the Chandlers when Rick dies after his truck is ambushed by enemies. Luke sees the lights vanish from the family, the everyday waiting for the war hero to come home ends. Troubles seem to come to the Chandlers in volumes and packs. Stick, the local sheriff, goes hard on the Mexicans and talks of arresting Hank, the fastest cotton picker among the Spruils. The worst blow comes to the family when Libby Latcher's brother drops in one morning with the news that Ricky is the father of her son. When Luke's grandfather is about to deny this, his grandmothers say that the child is indeed the splitting image of Ricky. Unlike all other cotton picking seasons, the particular season of 1952 is full of endless surprises and unexpected events. Luke, for all his seven years, can hardly hold on to the countless secrets that fall in his way. As in all traditional Christian families of America, the little boy is well versed to keep to the family values and is a regular at the local church. But cotton picking reaches its climax when Luke one night is forced to witness a murder by the very cotton pickers they have hired. Even his friend Tally is caught up in a game of disappearance. Things seem to be going out of hand and Luke wonders what awaits the end of the picking season. The reader catches up with the uneventful happening of this story from rural Arkansas. Here family matters and the social issues seem to be in competition about adding excitement to the saga. The story pulsates with incredible characters and real life-like drama. The reader feels transported to the very happenings of the story and can hardly wait till the last page is turned.
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