Exchange Value

"Exchange Value" (1981) is a short story written by Charles R. Johnson. Set in Chicago, where Johnson himself lived for a time, this story addresses the corrupting power of money and wealth, and the problem of "hoarding," which is accumulating food, money, and other things for future use, as two brothers steal from a deceased woman, whose outward signs of poverty and begging belied her true nature: a rich, yet cheap, woman who hid her wealth away.

Plot summary

Loftis and "Cooter," are two young brothers living in a Chicago apartment, who although do not generally take a part of criminal activity, set out to rob their next door neighbor Miss Elnora Bailey. Bailey, who only leaves her apartment at night to ask for food handouts, is a West Indian woman with all the appearances of a beggar. Having not seen Bailey for several days, and seeing her mailbox full, Loftis and Cooter assumed she had left the neighborhood, and would therefore be an easy mark for burglary.

Upon breaking into her house from her side window, the brothers first have to bypass several surprising booby traps: boxes of glass set beside the window. Entering Bailey's kitchen and apartment, the brothers are greeted by the smell of putrid garbage, roaches, dirty dishes, and aluminum coffee cans filled with fecal matter as Bailey's toilet had stopped working. Cooter feels disgusted at the setting, and stops when he smells an even more putrid stench; Loftis continues further into the apartment, and discovers, to the brother's surprise and excitement, a literal treasure hoard of money, stocks, alcohol, and more. In addition to the easily transported items like money was a nearly complete "Model A Ford," two pianos, multiple sections of a deceased tree, and trash.

Cooter immediately has misgivings about both the hoard, and the fact that he and his brother are about to take it, that there was something that just was not right. Loftis takes Cooter into Bailey's bedroom where they find Bailey dead and decaying in her bed, grotesquely being consumed by maggots and a single rat. Cooter faints, and Loftis drags him back to the living room, discovering a newspaper clipping beside Bailey's bed that shows the brothers how Bailey had earned her wealth. Working for an old rich family for over twenty years, Bailey had been willed their entire estate upon their death, and had been rich and wealthy for longer than both Cooter and Loftis had been alive.

Although Cooter still expresses misgivings about stealing the hoard of wealth from a woman who chose not to spend any of it, Loftis insists, and eventually they tote Bailey's goods back into their apartment. Totally in cash there was almost 900,000 dollars, in addition to bank books, and other odds and ends which the brothers could exchange for even more money. Cooter feels excited at the new future this property gives him and his brother, how they are set for life.

Cooter takes off and purchases a fine leather jacket and suit immediately, and explores the city in celebration as Loftis unusually stays home, appearing thoughtful. Upon returning home, Cooter is forced to enter through an unusual set of booby traps, much like the ones Bailey had set up in her apartment, and is beaten and scolded by Loftis for spending some of the money the two have stolen. Loftis additionally had taken trash into their apartment, and takes off for work, even though the two have stolen almost 900,000 dollars in cash. After Loftis leaves for work, Cooter watches as Miss Bailey’s death is discovered by their landlord, and watches as they depart with her corpse. As he watches her, Cooter considers why Bailey didn’t spend a cent of her fortunes, what he calls “Suffering that special Negro fear of using up what little we get in this life, believing in her belly, and for all her faith, that there just ain’t no more coming tomorrow from grace or the Lord, or from her own labor, like she can’t kill nothing, and won’t nothing die.” (American Gothic Tales, 404-405)

Loftis does not come home at the normal time he would from work, and actually doesn’t come home for several days. As the days pass, the home of the brothers falls into similar disrepair that Bailey’s did, their toilet stops working, and they run out of their own food. With fear of discovery, they can’t call a repairman to fix the toilet, and Cooter fears using Bailey’s food, so he is forced to resort to begging, at the same place that Bailey had to beg for food. Finally, four days after Loftis left for work, he returns home, with a haunted look, stumbling into his bedroom. Walking after him, Cooter finds him asleep, his face haunted. Beside his bedstand Cooter finds a single penny wrapped in a newspaper with the words “Found while walking down Devon Avenue.” Haunted, Cooter considers to himself that Loftis, and indirectly, himself, are mirroring Bailey’s actions before her death; so caught up by the possibilities of what their newfound wealth can bring, they refuse to spend it, not wanting to give up any of their newly found hope, their newly found future. However, by refusing to sacrifice any of the money to pursue that future, they sacrifice the “future,” they have been craving and desiring.

Analysis

"Exchange Value," reflects the promises and power of money in our society, the corrupting power money has on us, and how hope goes both ways, being a corrupting influence in this case. Cooter and Loftis, especially Loftis, look like they are going to follow Miss Bailey's example, not necessarily to the grave, but in the usage of her riches. Emboldened by the chance this money gives them at a new life, both brothers, Loftis especially, are hesitant to spend any of the money for fear of losing this chance. Given the opportunity to change their lives, the brothers refuse to do so, fearing that they will make the wrong choice and waste their one chance. Loftis specifically falls into Bailey's trap, becoming a beggar and miser, picking pennies off the street. Cooter sees the problem, and plans to address it. This short story ends without knowledge of the brothers future. The story suggests that Cooter is the better off of the two, and will most likely be able to break free of Bailey's curse of wealth, her mentality.

Common Theme for Charles Johnson

This story does not stray far from other ideas and themes of Charles Johnson; an African American man, Johnson writes about many of the plights and concerns of African Americans that occurred during his active years as a writer. This story specifically addresses social injustice and the responses taken to it. Cooter, Loftis, and Bailey all had one thing in common, they kept close any possessions or items that could help them survive; hoarding away any extra items for the future would only help them survive if the time called for it. When presented with more than what they needed, they hoarded that as well; they didn't need the wealth to survive, so they hoarded it away for the future, guarding it enormously, but making no use of it. As stated by Loftis in response to Cooter purchasing a leather jacket, "When you buy something, you lose the power to buy something." By taking an action of purchasing, Cooter has taken away some of the future that was presented to both himself and Loftis. Loftis' viewpoint reflected many of the viewpoints held by African Americans during this time period, use only what was necessary, and save what isn't for the future.

Gothic Themes

Johnson's story has many "Gothic," themes to it, as sensed in the setting, the characters self-destroying actions, and what was termed by Alan Lloyd Smith in American Gothic Fiction, as "The Uncanny." The Uncanny is characterized as "The familiar within the strange," or "Similar within the dissimilar." Although this seems like it cancels itself out, it adds terror here to the story. After stealing Bailey's possessions, Cooter sees himself and Loftis being similar with Bailey, like they might share her future, a future of hiding and hoarding, yet no doing. With initial excitement to spend the hoard of money Bailey has hidden away, the brothers fall into a similar state that Bailey had, reclusive and unusual. Bailey, their neighbor, was once familiar, being a beggar woman who apparently understood completely by the two brothers; yet she became unfamiliar, as her hoarding changed the brother's lives. Loftis and Cooter became unfamiliar with each other, as they became more like Elnora Bailey, hoarding and withdrawing from the world

The setting typifies much of what Gothic Literature contains. Immediately upon entering Bailey's house, the brothers are greeted by rank smells, a decaying house, and the rotting corpse of Elnora Bailey. "Gothic," is characterized greatly by the setting of a story; being a genre of writing that has been typified as going where other writings won't go, namely dark and depressing areas, it makes sense that this story of repetition is dark and depressing in its scenery. Bailey's apartment contains fetid odors, human waste, and piles of garbage. As Cooter and Loftis follow Bailey's example, their apartment becomes similar, piling up with garbage and rank smells, becoming eclectic and disorganized.

Overall the hopelessness and setting of this story is what truly makes it dark, what makes it Gothic. The "Uncanny," only adds to the sense of hopelessness. The cycle of waste and hoarding, and possibly death, looks to repeat itself amongst the brothers.

References

1. ^ American Gothic Tales: Edited with Introduction by Joyce Carol Oates, New York: Plume, 1996

2. ^ American Gothic Fiction: An Introduction by Alan Lloyd Smith, Continuum, 2004

3. ^ Charles Johnson's Fiction: by William R. Nash, University of Illonois Press, Chicago, 2003