Devil In A Blue Dress

Born to a sharecropper, Easy takes pride in his home ownership and even, to a significant extent, defines himself as a homeowner. His home embodies not only his pride in what he has earned or accomplished so far, but also his hopes for the future: “I was a man of property and I wanted to leave my wild days behind” (50), he recalls. He even dreams of owning multiple properties and renting them out to others, representing both a poetic victory over the historical injustices of slavery and sharecropping and a practical victory over racist obstacles to home ownership for Black Americans, especially rampant during the Great Migration. When Odell suggests that Easy leave LA, his home is the first thing that comes to mind. As a setting, Easy’s home comes under assault from Albright and Frank, who enter without permission, and the police, who enter with permission but proceed to dominate Easy. Easy’s struggle to purchase and secure his home serves as a microcosm of his larger struggles to carve out an independent, successful life in a modern, urban setting.