Symbolism In 'Every Tongue Shall Confess'

While growing up amongst my four brothers and father, I always felt as if they were the head of the household. Nothing in our house went down without my father knowing about it and his little four soldiers backing him up on his opinion. As my sisters and I became older and started maturing, we felt the need to start doing things the way we wanted to. Of course, we all would fuss and fight with one another because of this, eventually tapering off to the now adults in the house moving out (my siblings and me). When we look back on this memory, often a statement is said: “Yall boys drove us crazy.” In “Every Tongue Shall Confess”, “Doris Is Coming”, “Geese” and “Ant of the Self” of ZZ Packer’s Drinking Coffee Elsewhere, men symbolize destruction.

From the first mention of Deacon McCreedy, nothing pleasant was to be said or thought about of him from Clareese: “Oh, how she hated him!” (“Every Tongue” 30). As the Deacon of the church Clareese attends, McCreedy uses his position to manipulate her where he molests her in her home: “[…] he was concerned about her spiritual well-being – Liar!...” (“Every Tongue” 30). Here, it is shown that McCreedy is a symbol of destruction as Clareese seems to be upset more at the fact that he did not acknowledge nor apologize for what he did rather than the fact that he had just physically violated her: “[…] then rinsed his hand in the kitchen sink and left without saying a word, not a thanks for the chicken or the pork roast or her singing” (“Every Tongue” 31). Packer’s evidence of men throughout this story further show the sign of destruction: “Then Pastor Everett said, ‘Sister Nina will be holding a Council so we can get husbands for the rest of you hardworking Sisters.’ Like Sister Clareese, is what he meant. The congregation laughed at the joke. Ha Ha.” (“Every Tongue” 32). Packer shows in many cases how these events of humiliations and that petrifying experience with McCreedy affects Clareese, though she tries to remain humble. Not only is the encounter with McCreedy a valid symbol of destruction, Cleophus Sanders also throws Clareese through a loop. More than one time she uses the

The evidence showed between Spurgeon and his father further supports this significance. From the first instance of trouble that Ray Bivens Jr got himself in, Spurgeon seems to do all he can to help him out: “Who knows why he came down here, forty miles south of where he lives, but I don’t ask questions that are sure to have too many answers.” (“The Ant” 73). The animosity Ray Bivens Jr has when he is around Spurgeon is everlasting and continuous. Though it appears that Spurgeon is one of those rude teenagers, in actuality, he is in a way showing that he is no longer a child: “He’s shaking my arm as if trying to wake me. ‘You answer me when I ask you something.’ I twist my arm from his grasp to show I’m not afraid.” (“The Ant” 75). Though Packer shows how Ray Bivens Jr is trying to get his son to go against his mother’s word constantly, Spurgeon remains obedient to an extinct: “I tell him I can take him to Jasper, Indiana. I can take him home, even, which was what I was supposed to do in the first place, but that I absolutely cannot […] cut school and miss my debate […]” (“The Ant” 81). Packer successfully shows how Ray Bivens Jr signifies destruction as he uses his verbal words to down Spurgeon: ‘You need to go to this March. When you go, check in at the pussy booth and tell ‘em you want to exchange yours for a johnson.’ (“The Ant” 84). This act of