John Wideman's "Our Time" is an intriguing essay of his brother Robby and the hardships of living in the neighborhood of Homewood. Wideman writes of his mother, his grandfather, and the troubles Robby had gone through which ended him up in jail for the rest of his life. Wideman puts a creative twist on this writing by telling the story from three different point of views in attempt for him to really understand the characters. He uses the voice of his mother, voice of Robby, and his own voice. Wideman throughout his writing analyzes his life, his personality, and himself as a writer. Putting so much of his personal thoughts and himself into "Our Time" makes it a very emotional and a personal piece. Wideman discusses tragedies and questions in order to make sense of his life.
Before Wideman begins analyzing himself, he shares the life of Homewood. He writes of Robby's good friend Garth and his wrongful death that was caused by being misdiagnosed by doctors who didn't care about him. He also discusses how Garth's death triggered Robby to go down hill and his mother having to deal with Robby's crazy lifestyle. Wideman writes of his mother, "She would become an aggressive, acid critic of the status quo in all its forms: from the president. on down to the bank tellers ("I go there every Friday and I"m one of the few black faces she sees all day and she knows me as well as she knows that wart on her cheek but she"ll still make me show my license before she"ll cash my check")"(762). This gives reader a sense of the struggles and the discrimination African Americans had to face everyday, let alone living in a dangerous ghetto neighborhood. Wideman begins analyzing himself during a conversation with his mother where she tells him about her troubles. Wideman writes, "listening as my mother expressed her sorrow, the indignation at the way Garth was treated, her fears for my brother, I was hearing a new voice.
