Chapter 17 "Seventh Street" Summary

"Seventh Street" is a short sketch of a Washington, D.C. neighborhood. The environment is characterized by drinking, gambling and jazz music. Seventh Street is predominantly a black hangout. The narrator describes it as where the bootleggers rule and money is spent on all types of forbidden behavior.

Chapter 17 "Seventh Street" Analysis

"Seventh Street" marks the beginning of the second section of the book. The setting switches away from the cane fields of Georgia and to the urban environment of Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C. itself is described as primarily white. Seventh Street is contrasted with this; the street is characterized as a rotting, black spot in the structure of the entire city.

The narrator notes some influencing factors behind the excessive behavior described on Seventh Street. First, there is money. The poem, which opens and...