John Henry Days

We find out that J. is in a hotel and in West Virginia because there is an event for the new stamp of John Henry. J. does not seem to enjoy the event or hotel and mostly seems to think that it is all a waste of time. You read about him talking about the hotel and how it seems not up to standards. He also kind of seems like he really does not care at all about any of this and just wants the weekend over with. He talks about how he is not going to spend a lot of time on writing the report and just get through the weekend and leave. In the first chapter J. notices that he is the only black and that is kind of annoying to him. He doesn’t like the fact that one girl keeps smiling at him and he almost feels like it is more out of sympathy. He feels this way because John Henry was an African American who was a slave but freed. Most of the people there are not tourist and do not acknowledge J. very much. They just kind of leave him alone. At the end of the chapter though, J. meets this other black women who is the florist and they have a little chat. He is in an environment of a bunch of white people who live in the town and who feel somewhat awkward around him. He doesn’t enjoy it much and seems to not take too much interest in everything that is going on.