Sweet Potato Pie by Eugenia Collier: Analysis

Sweet Potato Pie 

By Eugenia Collier

The story ‘’Sweet Potato Pie’’ by Eugenia Collier was published in 1972. The story tells about Buddy, the youngest brother in a family and his life. Also. the story is told in first and the main character narrates it.  In fact, social status, family bonds, and sacrifice are themes that the story covers as we read the perspective of Buddy and his brother’s, Charlie–the main characters. The short story has a structure that follows almost all of the five parts of the Freytag’s pyramid. It has a setting where the story takes place in the 14^th floor of Fifth Avenue hotel in Harlem, New York; characters such as Buddy, Charlie, Lil, Bea, Mama, Pa, Jamie, Alberta, Mary, and Lucy. Additionally, the story shows a plot with exposition where Buddy starts telling the life that he had and why/how he is where he is now. On the other hand, the story has a rising action where Charley and Buddy talk about why Charlie did not tell a boy he was Buddy’s brother in order not to embarrass his brother. Then a climax in which Charlie did not want his brother or the somebody to enter the hotel he was staying in holding a brown paper bag with the sweet potato pie. The falling action is Buddy not understanding Charlie and handing over the bag of which then he thought of. The resolution; however, could be the ending for the conclusion. Charlie entered the hotel lobby carrying the bag full of sweet potato pie. Moreover, the story’s title shows symbolism. The sweet potato pie represents the family relationships and warm of a home, whether it is perfect or not.   

About the author:

           Eugenia Collier is an African-American writer and critic that was born on April 16, 1928, in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. She studied in Howard University where she received her B.A degree in 1948. She has written various literary text such as Marygolds, Sweet Potato Pie, Breeder and Other Stories, and many others. According to Goodreads, Marygolds ‘‘won the Gwendolyn Books Prize for Fiction award.’’ Moreover, she also received the Outstanding Educators of America Award in 1972 and the Distinguished Writers Award by the Middle Atlantic Writers Association in 1984. Her works are still read after many years and one good example of her writing is Sweet Potato Pie, story in which she covers matters of social status, sacrifice, and the reality that many families have lived. 

Works Cited

https://www.bpi.edu/ourpages/auto/2017/10/14/55813476/Sweet%20Potato%20Pie-Collier.pdf 

‘‘Eugenia Collier.’’ Goodreads, n.d, https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1684395.Eugenia_Collier. Accessed 19 November 2020. 

‘‘Eugenia Collier’s Biography.’’ The HistoryMakers, n.d, https://www.thehistorymakers.org/biography/eugenia-collier. Accessed 19 November 2020.