Self-Sufficiency In Joe Turner's Come And Gone

Self-sufficiency can be attained by acknowledging who we are for ourselves because doing so strengthens our character. Identity is essential for an individual. It can help people know who they are and where they fit in life. People often think identity is found in someone or something else, but it is within us. In Joe Turner's Come and Gone by August Wilson, the character Herald Loomis struggles with the inner conflict of having lost his identity, which interferes with his life. Loomis is searching for himself through his long-lost wife, who he thinks is a starting point in finding his true self.

Herald Loomis was not always a lost soul; he had a wife named Martha and a daughter named Ziona, with whom he worked on the land as a sharecropper

A character named Bynum, who lives in the boarding home, can bind people. He helps Loomis see what his problem is. Bynum says he can tell Loomis picked cotton and was "one of Joe Turner's niggers” because Loomis forgot how to sing his song. He says, "Now, I can look at you, Mr. Loomis, and see you a man who done forgot his song. Forgot how to sing it. A fellow forgets that and he forgets who he is. Forget how he's supposed to mark down life…." The song is a metaphor for identity, and since Loomis has forgotten how to sing his song, this highlights how he has forgotten his identity completely. Bynum brings up Joe Turner to highlight how a past could affect someone's present, in this case, physically. Loomis had told no one about his time working for Joe Turner, yet Bynum knew. The only way Bynum could have figured this out was by the haunted look in Loomis's eyes. Loomis was confused about what Joe Turner wanted him for, and Bynum concludes that Turner wanted to steal his

He was no longer a deacon which disconnected him from his spiritual side, he lost his wife and daughter, which took away from him being a father and husband, and he lost his job as a provider when the sharecropping was left for his wife. All these things he had before feed into his identity, giving it purpose. However, when he finally sees his wife, who can fix everything, it is clear neither one is looking to rekindle their love. Their encounter seems more like a confrontation instead of a reunion. She says she "killed" him in her heart to live and move on to her present, which he needs to do to remove the pain from his past. After hearing this and realizing he has no place in her life, he is now forced to make his circumstances in which he can finally be free. Moving on from racism, hate, and oppression is not easy to forgive and forget, and Loomis knows this since he has been living it for years by letting his experience take over his life completely. Martha tells Loomis to look to Jesus for salvation, and only the lambs' blood will be able to cleanse him, but Loomis denies God and says he has never done any good for him. Loomis then slashes his chest with a knife and wipes it on his face in place of the lambs. This action truly set him free, not seeing Martha but realizing that he never needed her in the first place. He just needed to dig within