Imperium in Imperio

Content Warning: This text contains racist language, including racial expletives, and violence, as well as depictions of oppression, enslavement, and death by suicide. This study guide quotes and obscures the author’s use of the n-word.

“Yer mammy is ‘tarmined ter gib yer all de book larning dat is ter be had eben ef she has ter lib on bred an’ herrin’s, an’ die en de a’ms house.”

In one of the only examples of the dialect of impoverished Black people in the text, Griggs uses slang to emphasize the lack of education of Belton’s mother. Despite her lack of education, or perhaps because of it, she stresses the importance of school to her children and vows to allow them to attend no matter what it costs her.

“As the lady moved up the aisle toward him, he was taken with stage fright. He recovered self-possession enough to escort her and the boy to the front and give them seats. The whole school divided its attention between the beautiful woman and the discomfited teacher. They had not known that he was so full of smiles and smirks.”

From the very beginning of the text, it is made clear that racial injustice will be an important theme of the novel. This description of Bernard’s mother, and the teacher’s greeting of her, directly contrasts with the angry, disrespectful language that he used to refer to Belton just a few minutes prior. Because of Mrs. Belgrave’s beauty and the fact that she is mixed-raced, Bernard will benefit throughout his education, while Belton struggles because of his mother’s status as a poor Black woman.

“The startled preacher hastily arose from the table and gazed on the little fellow in bewilderment. As soon as it dawned upon him what the trouble was, he hastily got the remaining biscuit and gave it to Belton. He also discovered that his voracity had made enemies of the rest of the children.”

The preacher’s reaction to realizing that he had consumed all the food shows how out of touch he—and religion as a whole—truly are to the needs of Black people in this time. He takes money from members of his congregation and does not hesitate to come into the Piedmont home and consume an entire chicken and several biscuits, expressing shock when discovering the impact that this has on the family.