IN THE WAR OF THE WALL, the narrator and Lou caught a painter lady, who wasn't even from around here, painting over their neighborhood wall and were concerned about Jimmy Lyon’s name chiseled at the top. He took them out fishing often but died in the Vietnam War. Despite their complaints and confrontations, the lady ignores nearly everyone and is shown to have a strict food diet when ordering from the narrator's mother's restaurant: she rejects the most basic ingredients in a dish. That week, Lou and the narrator thought up schemes like spray painting graffiti to stop the painter lady. But when they got there, she was long gone and could see through the crowds of people, a large mural full of familiar faces of famous African-Americans and even the neighborhood people like the narrator's family. On the top, the painter had found Jimmy Lyon's name chiseled and painted it in a rainbow with an inscription dedicated to the painter lady's cousin, Jimmy Lyons, who died in the Vietnam War.
The Wall of the War is an indirect reference to the Vietnam War, where the characters within the short story are shown to respect and honor Jimmy Lyons, a warrior who died in the war fighting for his country. While the story might not directly state its relation to the Vietnam War, the connection can be found evident through the honored Jimmy Lyons who had his name chiseled on “the wall”, which was now a memorable place holding his legacy. Jimmy Lyons was a man who had a good reputation in the town: “I’d sprained my neck one time boosting my cousin Lou up to chisel Jimmy Lyons’s name into the wall when we found out he was never coming home from the war in Vietnam to take us fishing.” (Bambara, 1). The Vietnam War occurred between 1955 and 1975 and especially affected African-American communities at that time because the casualties of African Americans were much higher than that of others. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. referred to the Vietnam War in a speech as “a white man’s war, a black man’s fight”. He argued that the Vietnam War and conflict as racist, since African Americans had much higher chances of seeing combat and going to war, even though the conflict itself mostly had to do with white people. Jimmy Lyon’s incorporation in the mural painting showed how many African Americans who were lost in the war had fought for their country yet their honor was not returned or recognized by others. The War of the Wall criticizes the injustice towards these people while also respecting figures like Jimmy at the same time. “Read the inscription, honey,” Mrs. Morris said, urging little Frieda forward. She didn’t have to urge much. Frieda marched right up, bent down, and in a loud voice that made everybody quit oohing and ahhing and listen, she read: ‘To the People of Taliaferro Street / I Dedicate This Wall of Respect / Painted in Memory of My Cousin / Jimmy Lyons’.” (Bambara, 5). The major conflict, although not stated directly within the short story, is about the Vietnam War that was happening during the story plot.
In the short story, the author shows how art serves as a connection to cultural and historical differences between different communities by relating people to a certain major event. In this case, the mural painting served as a representative in connecting the people of Taliaferro Street to outsiders by relating to the Vietnam War, a conflict that both sides are undergoing. By creating the large mural, the artist earned everyone’s astonishment and respect: “Reds, greens, figures outlined in black. Swirls of purple and orange. Storms of blues and yellows. It was something. I recognized some of the faces right off. There was Martin Luther King, Jr. And there was a man with glasses on and his mouth open like he was laying down a heavy rap. Daddy came up alongside and reminded us that he was Minister Malcolm X. The serious woman with a rifle I knew was Harriet Tubman because my grandmamma has pictures of her all over the house. And I knew Mrs. Fannie Lou Hamer ‘cause a signed photograph of her hangs in the restaurant next to the calendar.” (Bambara, 5). The painter lady had created a mural dedicated to the African American community, with memorable figures like Martin Luther King Jr. and Harriet Tubman, while also relating the art to the Vietnam War, a conflict everyone was currently facing. These figures on the mural also represent several important historical and cultural reasons behind the African American identity that connect to the community in multiple ways. The author here focuses on how the painter lady utilizes these familiar faces to connect to the people of Taliaferro Street. “Then I let my eyes follow what looked like a vine. It trailed past a man with a horn, a woman with a big white flower in her hair, a handsome dude in a tuxedo seated at a piano, and a man with a goatee holding a book. When I looked more closely, I realized that what had looked like flowers were really faces. One face with yellow petals looked just like Frieda Morris. One with red petals looked just like Hattie Morris. I could hardly believe my eyes.” (Bambara, 5). Art in some ways connects people from different communities together, similar to how the mural in the short story brought the people of Taliaferro Street together.
The War of the Wall also shows how people should judge others not on their identity but understand their perspectives first before making assumptions and judgments. To the people of Taliaferro Street, the wall seemed like an extremely important place to, especially since it was filled with their childhood memories and was in honor of Jimmy Lyons. “We’ve been pitching pennies against that wall since we were little kids. Old folks have been dragging their chairs out to sit in the shade of the wall for years. Big kids have been playing handball against the wall since so-called integration when the crazies ‘across town poured cement in our pool so we couldn’t use it. I’d sprained my neck one time boosting my cousin Lou up to chisel Jimmy Lyons’s name into the wall when we found out he was never coming home from the war in Vietnam to take us fishing.” (Bambara, 1). The children and the other neighbors from the street seemed to dislike the painter lady even more because of her attitude. When the twins kind-heartedly tried offering lunch and waited for her on the side for a long time, she rejected their offer. Similarly, when other people tried to talk to her, she would neglect them and seemed as if she didn’t acknowledge their existence. All of this, however, was for a reason. She didn’t seem to hear or see the neighbors because she was so focused and dedicated to the mural representing the African American community and honoring her cousin, Jimmy Lyons, and rejected the offer for lunch because she was a vegetarian. When the painter lady visited the narrator and Lou’s mother’s restaurant, their bad impression of her grew even stronger because she didn’t eat any meat or dairy products, making her seem left out of the community. “Later that night, while me and Lou were in the back doing our chores, we found out that the painter lady was a liar. She came into the restaurant and leaned against the glass of the steam table, talking about how starved she was. I was scrubbing pots and Lou was chopping onions, but we could hear her through the service window. She was asking Mama was that a ham hock in the greens, and was that a neck bone in the pole beans, and were there any vegetables cooked without meat, especially pork.” (Bambara, 3). Lou and the narrator judged the painter lady mostly because of her identity: she wasn’t part of their community, and they felt angry at seeing her paint their wall without permission but didn’t realize the truth behind it.
THE WAR OF THE WALL is a short story centering on a special occurrence where a painter lady comes to Taliaferro Street and paints a masterpiece representing the African-American community, to everyone’s surprise and awe. This story is a reference to the Vietnam War, where the characters in the short story are shown to respect and honor Jimmy Lyons, a warrior who died in the war fighting for his country. While the story might not directly state its relation to the Vietnam War, the connection can be found evident through the honored Jimmy Lyons who had his name chiseled on “the wall”, which was now a memorable place holding his legacy. The mural painting served as a representative in connecting the people of Taliaferro Street to outsiders by relating to the Vietnam War, a conflict that both sides are undergoing. The painting represented the African American identity by including many notable African American figures and even the neighbors in Taliaferro Street. However, the most notable part of the painting would still be the last inscription at the bottom: “To the People of Taliaferro Street / I Dedicate This Wall of Respect / Painted in Memory of My Cousin / Jimmy Lyons“
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