Reynolds Price’s story is about Aunt Zimby, who owes precious little to white folks. She is old — she has memories of General Lee. No one marked her birthday when she was born, so she chose the Fourth of July for herself. Her name was given to her by the narrator’s great-grandfather, who was reading a novel at the time.
By tradition, Zimby received a new pair of blue tennis shoes on her birthday. Blue because it was her favorite color. She asked about the color even after she lost her sight.
Grandfather Buddy brought the shoes to her, then father Phil, and then Ed, the narrator. Zimby sometimes confuses Ed for Phil, who died two years ago.
One of the patterns in Southern stories is a story within a story. A character, particularly a wise old character like Zimby, will tell a story about another character.
In a lot of Southern stories, a white character will tell a story about a Black character. The level of skill crossing cultures varies, which is why a lot of Southern literature is unreadable.
Zimby’s story about a little white boy named Phil is a wonder.
Some things about Southern culture don’t resolve into a reasonable explanation. There’s nothing reasonable about much of Southern culture. Price has the sense to state the case without trying to explain the inexplicable.
• Source: Reynolds Price’s “The Warrior Princess Ozimba” is in Stories of the Modern South, edited by Benjamin Forkner and Patrick Samway, S.J.; New York, Bantam Books, 1978, pp. 293-8.
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