Lay That Trumpet in Our Hands

“‘God is the potter,’ she said, ‘and we clay in his hands, soft and weak which don’t do at all. It’s our time in the fire, don’t y’ see that gives us strength and shows us his purpose.’” 

Armetta provides Reesa with these words of comfort when Reesa embraces her and expresses her grief over Marvin’s death. Armetta is a deeply Christian woman, and her faith in God enables her to endure the pain of losing her son because she believes Marvin’s early death must be a part of God’s plan.

“Now jus’ like Heaven, a batter comes knockin’ at the pearly gate, askin’ God and St. Peter, ‘Can Ah come in?’”

Reesa remembers Marvin’s comparison of his understanding of baseball to his understanding of Christianity. A home run is the most impressive achievement for a baseball player and every player’s ambition, just as reaching heaven is the ultimate goal of Christians. 

“Mr. Harry’s eyes lit up like twin headlamps…‘But Greece! Greece gave us democracy—one man, one vote—the fairest form of government on earth!’” 

Harry Moore, of the NAACP, visits the McMahon family regularly, and during these visits, a friendship develops. Reesa and Mr. Moore enjoy talking about intellectual topics like the Greeks and democracy. In this passage, Mr. Moore’s appreciation of the Greeks’ contribution to American government is ironic; though America claims to be a democracy, some unfair systems are in place that do not allow Black people the same rights as White people.

“Kill him? He was just looking for a safe place to sleep. Naw, I’ll let him go, out in the scrub where he belongs.” 

When Ren saves Maybelle from the rattlesnake, he surprises her by taking the snake out of harm’s way. Ren’s understanding of the nature of snakes demonstrates his closeness to nature; his innocence and his respect for life contrasts with the Klansmen’s casual treatment of life and propensity for physical violence.

“There’s a little rattler in all of us.” 

Reesa reveals her hard-earned insight into human nature when she realizes that all human beings are flawed. The “rattler” in this passage represents the negative characteristics of humans; because rattlesnakes have a bad reputation and are poisonous, they are an apt representative of the dark side of human nature. 

“The most frightening part of a hurricane is its eye.” 

Reesa compares the quietness of the time after the bombing of the Moore’s home to the eye of the storm; this comparison is an ominous one. Though the center of the hurricane is still and calm, this stage of the storm precedes more destruction. Reesa’s metaphor suggests that the calmness of the present moment does little to comfort her as she knows more trouble is to come.

“‘Isn’t it wrong,’ I used to ask Marvin, ‘to pretend niceness that you don’t feel?’…‘Try being colored,’ he grinned.” 

Reesa has her first experience with the recognition of her White privilege in this memory of Marvin. She, as a White person in a White-dominated society, feigns “niceness” so infrequently, she wonders if it is inappropriate or immoral; Marvin, in a good-natured way, explains to her, in a brief phrase, that being Black and being disrespected while living in an unaccepting community, means having “to pretend niceness” all the time. 

“…Old Joshua believed you Lord, and so do we. We ask you tonight:

Lay that trumpet in our hands…” 

Luther prays when Warren and Robert risk their lives to steal documents from the headquarters of the Ku Klux Klan. In his prayer, Luther utters a phrase that explains the origins of the title of the novel. That this phrase is the title of the novel suggests that God answered Luther’s prayers and that the metaphorical trumpet was delivered to the most deserving of men.