The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store

Content Warning: This section of the guide discusses depictions of racism, antisemitism, xenophobia, ableism, involuntary institutionalization, and child sexual abuse.

“And them cops and big-time muckity mucks that was running behind them Jews for the body they found in that old well, they can’t find a spec against ’em now, for God took the whole business—the water well, the reservoir, the dairy, the skeleton, and every itty bitty thing they could’a used against them Jews—and washed it clear into the Manatawny Creek. And from there, every single bit of that who-shot-John nonsense got throwed into the Schuylkill, and from there, it flowed into the Chesapeake Bay down in Maryland, and from there, out to the Atlantic. And that’s where the bones of that rotten scoundrel whose name is not worthy to be called by my lips is floating to this day.”

McBride’s decision to open the story in June 1972, almost 40 years after the main plot, gives the novel a frame narrative. To heighten the suspense, McBride leaves the dead man’s identity a mystery and colorfully describes him as “that rotten scoundrel whose name is not worthy to be called by my lips.” The use of a first-person narrator and the long, rollicking sentences give the chapter the feel of a story told aloud and passed from person to person. This passage also connects to the novel’s theme of Building Community Across Cultures because there is a sense of solidarity in how the Black residents of Chicken Hill discuss the members of the neighborhood’s Jewish community. There is also a connection to the theme of mercy and justice because the narrator sees the hurricane as an act of divine justice: “God took the whole business” and washed it away.

“The Hasid was a wonder of twisted elbows, a rhythmic gyroscope of elastic grace and wild dexterity. He danced with any woman who came close, and there were plenty. Moshe later decided the guy must be some kind of wizard.”

This marks the chronologically first appearance of Malachi. Although his name is not given in this chapter, the praise for Malachi’s dancing skills gives clues about the Hasidic man’s identity. Moshe likens Malachi to “some kind of wizard,” and similar comparisons are made throughout the novel.