Agee's Essay
James Agee, the author of Let Us Now Praise Famous Men, graduated from a very prestigious university, Harvard. He grew up in Knoxville, Tennessee, in a middle class family. When he got the assignment from Fortune, he felt like it was the “Best break I ever had on Fortune.”(p.19) He felt “terrific personal responsibility toward story.”(p.19) When he finally found the families that would take him in to interview; he found the reality of how the tenant farming system was failing everyone who was involved. During his stay with the families, Agee had to learn how to cotton farm since he knew nothing about it, but had to help out the families during his stay. During his stay with the Grudger family, he connected with their lifestyle. Between feeling apologetic for the Grudger family and the rest of the tenants, he started feeling something towards Emma, the sister of George Grudgers wife. His emotions for her let to an amazing, yet confusing, Part I of his book.In Part I of Agee’s book, Agee connects his experience of living with the Grudgers to his own life. Agee writes with moral passion and highly personal emotion because his own family has experienced tenant lifestyle. He considers the tenant families as victims of a sys
During his stay with the Grudgers, his affection towards Emma grows from just doing research on the families to her being more than just a research project. His description of her body such as “strong, thick and wide, tall, the breasts set wide and high, shallow and round not yet those of a full woman, the legs long, thick and strong”(p.108) set the tone from his research to something more passionate. Agee, when he started to talk about her husband and the fact that she will have to leave the next morning to be with him, felt that she deserves more. He believes that a girl her age should not leave her family and be married. He thinks that Emma deserves more and believes maybe he could save her somehow. “I would have done anything in the world for her”(p.112) as well as the fact that he “wanted in answer to take her large body in my arms and smooth the damp hair back from her forehead and to kiss and comfort and shelter her” shows that Agee was more involved with Emma than just as a research assignment. Even though, Agee is currently fond of Emma, as soon as Emma leaves, he doesn’t mention her again. Emma might be just be his infatuation during his project; since the only girl that he has seen during the whole project has been Emma. This is one of the many experiences that has made him grow as a person during this short period of time. The confusion of “Part I” made this book effective. Without the descriptions, no one would actually care to read it. If it wasn’t for the many descriptions, who knows
Some topics in this essay:
George Grudger,
Knoxville Tennessee,
George Grudgers,
Praise Famous,
grudger family,
“part i”,
tenant families,
James Agee,
agee begins,
“part i” book,
families agee,
i” book,
towards emma,
descriptions actually,
deserves believes,
fond emma,
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Approximate Word count = 1030
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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