Toni Cade Bambara
The Hammer Man
African - American and Caribbean Literature
Kauil Lara Emily Danahe
Literature I
November 20th, 2020
Originally named Miltona Mirkin Cade, Toni Cade Bambara was born on March 25, 1939 in New York City. At the age of six, she changed her name to Toni, and in 1970 she added the surname Bambara after finding it among her great-grandmother’s belongings.
Author's Biography
Toni Cade Bambara
Bambara was educated at Queens College (B.A., 1959).
She was a social investigator from 1959 to 1961.
1939 - 1995
American writer, civil-rights activist, and teacher who wrote about the concerns of the African -American community.
In 1961, she went to Europe, studying acting and mime in Italy and France.
She received an M.A. in 1964 from City College of the City University of New York.
In the 1970s she was active in both the black liberation and the women’s movements.
Some of Bambara's literary works
Short-story collections
- Gorilla, My Love (1972)
- The Sea Birds Are Still Alive (1977)
Novel
- The Salt Easter (1980)
- If Blessing Comes (1987)
Bambara edited and contributed to
- The Black Woman: An Anthology (1970)
- Tales and Stories for Black Folks (1971)
Setting
The story of The Hammer Man takes place in an unnamed neighborhood where the narrator lives with her family. This neighborhood is portrayed to be a poor area of the city. The author does not explicitly describe this aspect, but it can be deduced due to different situations in the story. For instance, when Manny falls off the roof. According to the young girl, Manny could have fallen because the roof has been crumbling for some time.
Narrator
Manny
Bernard
Dirty Red, Violent and Franky
A boy who is supposed to be crazy. He is known as Hammer Head because he always carries a hammer
A young girl who has a tomboy life, but she soon embraces conventionally feminine dress and behavior
Manny’s older brother
Write a title here
Narrator’s friends
Father and Mother
Characters
Narrator's parents
Man vs society
The story is mainly about this tough narrator’s growing up and surviving in a hostile environment, but it is also a sad tale of how society fails those, like Manny, who are less able to cope.
In this story, both characters have to face social problems such as a violence, poverty, injustice and embrace them as part of their daily lives
Conflict
Theme(s)
Point of view
Racial inequity
For a long time, many African American people have faced challenges as a result of social problems such as racism. Some of these challenges are housing discrimination, benefits denial, employment barriers, etc.
In the Hammer Man, Bambara used the First-person point of view to narrate the story. The narrator is a young girl that is the main character of the story. The pronoun I is used to describe her actions and thoughts. This is a limited viewpoint since the narrator can only tell what she sees, knowns or experiences.
Violence
The hammer is a symbol of violence in this story and everybody usually confronts one another. Even in the narrator’s family, there is violence considering the way in which her father treats Manny’s brother, Bernard.
Police abuse
Throughout the 1960s, many incidents occurred in Harlem in which (usually white) police officers treated civilians violently, with little or no provocation. Events like this may have influenced Bambara’s portrayal of Manny’s abuse and arrest.
The Hammer Man
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Created on November 16, 2020
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Transcript
Toni Cade Bambara
The Hammer Man
African - American and Caribbean Literature
Kauil Lara Emily Danahe
Literature I
November 20th, 2020
Originally named Miltona Mirkin Cade, Toni Cade Bambara was born on March 25, 1939 in New York City. At the age of six, she changed her name to Toni, and in 1970 she added the surname Bambara after finding it among her great-grandmother’s belongings.
Author's Biography
Toni Cade Bambara
Bambara was educated at Queens College (B.A., 1959).
She was a social investigator from 1959 to 1961.
1939 - 1995
American writer, civil-rights activist, and teacher who wrote about the concerns of the African -American community.
In 1961, she went to Europe, studying acting and mime in Italy and France.
She received an M.A. in 1964 from City College of the City University of New York.
In the 1970s she was active in both the black liberation and the women’s movements.
Some of Bambara's literary works
Short-story collections
Novel
Bambara edited and contributed to
Setting
The story of The Hammer Man takes place in an unnamed neighborhood where the narrator lives with her family. This neighborhood is portrayed to be a poor area of the city. The author does not explicitly describe this aspect, but it can be deduced due to different situations in the story. For instance, when Manny falls off the roof. According to the young girl, Manny could have fallen because the roof has been crumbling for some time.
Narrator
Manny
Bernard
Dirty Red, Violent and Franky
A boy who is supposed to be crazy. He is known as Hammer Head because he always carries a hammer
A young girl who has a tomboy life, but she soon embraces conventionally feminine dress and behavior
Manny’s older brother
Write a title here
Narrator’s friends
Father and Mother
Characters
Narrator's parents
Man vs society The story is mainly about this tough narrator’s growing up and surviving in a hostile environment, but it is also a sad tale of how society fails those, like Manny, who are less able to cope. In this story, both characters have to face social problems such as a violence, poverty, injustice and embrace them as part of their daily lives
Conflict
Theme(s)
Point of view
Racial inequity
For a long time, many African American people have faced challenges as a result of social problems such as racism. Some of these challenges are housing discrimination, benefits denial, employment barriers, etc.
In the Hammer Man, Bambara used the First-person point of view to narrate the story. The narrator is a young girl that is the main character of the story. The pronoun I is used to describe her actions and thoughts. This is a limited viewpoint since the narrator can only tell what she sees, knowns or experiences.
Violence
The hammer is a symbol of violence in this story and everybody usually confronts one another. Even in the narrator’s family, there is violence considering the way in which her father treats Manny’s brother, Bernard.
Police abuse
Throughout the 1960s, many incidents occurred in Harlem in which (usually white) police officers treated civilians violently, with little or no provocation. Events like this may have influenced Bambara’s portrayal of Manny’s abuse and arrest.