“Berry” is a short story that after reading can show the author, Langston Hughes, portraying the

theme connection and a lot of modern inequality actions happening worldwide. The story is
narrated in the third person by an unnamed narrator. Hughes uses 3rd person narrative to
generalize the happenings in the story. By writing in third-person you can show both the
characters' thoughts along with what is actually happening, allowing the reader to clearly see the
difference between opinion and fact, and thereby including the bigger picture within the story.
The poem showcases a lot of themes and conflicts that affect black people and everyday
happenings throughout these years.

Set in the city of Jersey City, at Dr Renfield’s Summer Home for Crippled Children, the plot
revolves around a boy, Milberry Jones – Berry for shortening, from Georgia who is employed at
Dr Renfield’s Home for Crippled Children. He was reluctantly employed by Mrs Osborn, the
housekeeper, because the Scandinavian kitchen boy had left without notice, leaving her no
choice in hiring Berry. Her reluctance to hire Berry come from his race, which initiated questions
such as where he would sleep, as well as how the other employees would react to the presence of
a Negro. She had a meeting with Dr Renfield and they decided to hire Milberry on a reduced
salary. He was overworked and underpaid but took solace in the children whom he loved. An
unfortunate incident occurred, however, where a child fell from his wheelchair while in the care
of Berry. The result was that Berry was fired and given no salary for the week that he had
worked. In all this, rumours were saying that Mrs Osborn is love with Dr Renfield and was
saying that Dr Renfield’s wife, Martha Renfield is not good enough for him.

Each character lives up to society’s characterization and diction in many ways. Berry is a 20-
year-old boy who is black, good-natured, observant, caring and selfless. Berry wasn’t educated
because he is originally from Georgia where they don’t have any schools for black people. Berry
can be compared to the actual berry himself; dark on the outside and sweet on the inside. He is
also compared to Paul Robeson who is a civil rights activist and historical allusion. Just because
of his skin colour they are going to reduce his pay from $10 to $8 which is very unfair and even
planned on making him sleep in the attic away from everybody. Berry was glad for the job, even
if it was at a Home for Crippled Children way out in the country 5 miles from the nearest
railroad because he was hungry for weeks in Newark and Jersey City and this was an opportunity
for him. He was initially was supposed to be the kitchen boy but since they’re racist they made
him do things; he had to be the kitchen boy, scrub the floors, polish the silver, etc. Mrs Osborn
especially made his work extra making him do the linen in the closet reshelved and other
unnecessary work. Even though Berry wasn’t educated, he had plenty of mother wit (natural
instincts and could pick well) and lots of intuition about people and places. It didn’t take long for
him to know that he was overworked and underpaid and that everybody took him for granted in
which the white folks do with Negro help. Berry noticed that the home was phoney, the only
time the food was good was when a parent was visiting but when they are gone it goes back to
how bad it was. He observed this was Dr Renfield’s own private gyp game – Appearance vs
Reality. The home was run for profits from the permanently deformed children of the middle-
class parents who couldn’t afford to pay too much but was paid well – too well for what their
children got in return. Only Bery played with the children. It was from the children where he got
his nickname Berry. He played with them, sang songs and made up jokes.
Mrs Osborn is actually the housekeeper but she acts like she’s the head of the home. Rumour has
it that she’s in love with Dr Renfield. The nurses and others help have it to say that Mrs. Osborn
worships Dr Renfield, that she followed him with her eyes at any even chance given and only
with her eyes. She herself thought to herself that Martha Renfield is not good enough for her
husband. She took an unimportant visit to the doctor’s cottage to discuss Berry in hope of seeing
him but instead saw his wife who spoke to her coldly and her about the usual rounds of The
Home at eight. While walking away, Mrs Osborn heard the surf rushing at the beachside and
daydreamed about her and the doctor walking alone along the beachside under the twilight.
Eventually, he came to Mrs Osborn quarters and discuss with her Berry’s terms and conditions
but Mrs Osborn took it on her head to reestablish it without the doctor knowing for her pleasure.
She is very dictatorial with her staff but compliant with Dr Renfield.

There is not much about it except Dr Renfield is rumoured to have romantic affairs with his
female staff and is blatantly racist which is observed throughout the story. Milberry is blamed for
the breaking of the wheelchair yet he is not responsible. The reader left feeling that should
Milberry be white then Dr Renfield would have accepted that the breaking of the wheelchair was
an accident. How dishonest Dr Renfield actually maybe is noticeable by the fact that he fires
Milberry and deducts eight dollars from his wages. Leaving Milberry with no money or no
prospects. This may be the point that Hughes is attempting to make. It is possible that he is
suggesting that black people at the time were reliant on white people in order to survive. By
firing Milberry for no good reason Dr Renfield has created an obstacle for Milberry. The
children too will be at a loss. Something that does not seem to register with Dr Renfield and
further suggests to the reader that the Home is being run for profit. It is also interesting that
nobody helps Milberry or intervenes. It is as though Milberry is being judged not only for
something he did not do but for his skin colour too.

In concluding, I can surely say that by reading the story, there was a lot of themes,
characterization and diction observed. The theme, Racism, is apparent when Berry was being
considered for employment at the Home. Mrs Osborn was concerned about where Berry would
sleep, implying that he could not sleep with the white servants because he was considered to be
beneath them. His salary was also cut due to his race, and he was overworked, with no
discussions of days off, ‘everybody was imposing on him in that taken-for-granted way white
folks do with Negro help.’ Even more importantly, when the unfortunate accident occurred with
the child, there was no attempt at discerning what led to the incident, but the blame was laid on
the obvious person – Berry. The theme of oppression is expressed repetitively throughout this
story. White workers and superiors kept expecting Milberry to do more and more. Milberry’s
response to these requests was a quiet acceptance without bitterness because he was happy and
thankful enough to have this job and food. In the story, Milberry found happiness in helping the
crippled children at play during his brief rest period. At first, the nurses were hesitant whether
they should allow it or not. At the end of the story, the nurses had changed their mind frame
about Berry and would come looking for and demanding his immediate help. In his typical
nature in responding to and accepting their demand he unknowingly caused his own misfortune.
While Berry was helping a boy in a wheelchair down the stairs, due to no fault of Berry’s own
doing, the boy fell out of the chair onto the grass and the wheelchair onto the walk. In the fall the
boy was not hurt but the wheelchair back was snapped off. In this scene, Langston Hughes uses
the wheelchair as a symbol of Milberry’s undoing. The wheelchair’s falling represents Berry’s
falling from the grace of the white people’s acceptance. The snapped back of the wheelchair
foreshadows Berry’s immediate termination of employment. Even though it was the white
nurses’ responsibility and the job they quickly and gladly placed all the blame for the accident
upon Berry. This truly exemplifies the use of oppression of white people over blacks. The theme
of injustice is shown where Berry is a workhorse (a person who is overworked unfairly and does
the majority of the work in a group), underpaid and also the treatment of Berry and the children.
The theme Appearance Vs Reality is the Home being used for profit. And other minor themes
like Economic Challenge and Poverty - the hunger Berry experienced, discrimination – the
children were discriminated because of their disability.