An Analysis Of Lewis Nordan's Wolf Whistle

Authors who write creatively find themselves giving purpose for each word they place onto the page. Just as there is a purpose for each word, there is a purpose for each character, each plot twist, and each challenge faced. Lewis Nordan, author of the controversial novel, Wolf Whistle, creates a story about a story. His book is based on the well known murder of Emmett Till, along with the trial, but is not limited to the two events alone. Nordan bases the majority of the novel around the long list of major and minor characters. His purpose for centering the plot around more than just those involved in the murder and trial is to show how racism and violence create the atmosphere of the town. He also shows how those living in the Arrow Catcher

community are challenged to change and learn from the death of Bobo, all while creating a sense of hope.
The town of Arrow Catcher is full of citizens who have been living the majority of their lives within the city limits. Specifically, Roy Dale. He being on to have never been outside of the Mississippi area has only been exposed to the happenings within the town. He has a mentality that has been created by the atmosphere that the town embraces, along with the stigma that is based on race. He is a young boy still in school and therefore his mind is malleable and he has the ability to create his own opinions, something that he slowly begins to do as his character develops and the story progresses. Roy Dale is a very important minor character because of the changes he shows. At first he is seen as a character that may not provide much towards the overall story, but he soon becomes quite significant being one to first show a sign of individual change. Roy Dale has a conversation with Phillip, and mentions to him that he thinks he wants to start changing himself; “Hey, Phillip, you know what we ought to do, we ought to sign us a blood oath together…that you’ll get you some braces to straighten out them buckteeth and I’ll get my ball shortened, okay…”(page 204). Roy Dale only begins to say this after hearing that Smokey Viner had declared his stance for Bobo’s side. If Smokey Viner had never said his most important four words, “I’m for the nigger” (page 204), Roy Dale would have never been prompted to begin to think about his own change. It shows that Roy Dale was able to see Viner’s opinion as something positive, unlike the other boys they were talking to. Now, Roy Dale did not see what Viner said as something he agreed with towards the murder, but he clearly did take Viner’s proclamation as an example for himself. Smokey Viner showed a great amount of bravery when voicing his opinion and it prompted Roy Dale to be brave enough to change himself for the better. All these actions give the reader the idea that there is a possibility that the town, full of racism and violence, could hopefully change just as these characters have.
Smokey Viner may be the most important minor character in the novel. He too at first seems to be unimportant, just the average weird kid that’s found in every story, except he being one who spends his free time ramming his head into walls like an animal. Viner must have a strong head on his shoulders because not only can it withstand his head butting, but he was able to have his own opinion about the the death of Bobo, and even went far enough to talk about his own opinion. He was brave to share his thoughts in a room full of boys who had been raised on the town’s racist ideas, proving his own importance to the story. Viner’s state of mind was different, he was not viewing the world and the situation of the town through race like the others, but instead he viewed it as people and events. He first shows his different mindset when he says, “It ain’t right….Y’all got to be ashamed of yourself, laughing about a boy got killed” (page 205). He didn’t allow the difference in race to change how he felt about a death, and he made it clear that it was not okay for the boys to be making jokes about somebody being murdered, regardless of race. This was far from the social norm in the town, the atmosphere was always revolving around racism and somehow leading to violence.
The initial sign of violence within the story pertains to Solon Gregg and his Son Glenn.

Glenn, a young boy living with an abusive father that had created a situation so bad, Glenn decided to take it upon himself to do something to change it. He was the first to take action to try and change a problem, he didn’t just talk about it like Smokey Viner. Glenn’s problem was his father and his solution was to set him on fire to try and murder him, but unfortunately Glenn ended up catching fire. Glenn Gregg is a part of the first few chapters of the novel and his situation shows the reader how things in the town were far from ordinary, and that such a shocking scenario had little impact on the others living in Arrow Catcher. Even Glenn Gregg’s mother talked about the incident as if it was just a normal day, “Glenn poured gasoline, Glenn poured gasoline, right on his daddy’s bed; he was trying to burn up his daddy, when he burned up hisself instead” (page 17). His actions did not go unrecognized because the whole fourth grade class was taken on a field trip to visit him after the incident and the majority of the town knew as well. The act of trying to burn somebody to death is something that is not taken heavily as most violent acts revolving around murder should be taken by the characters and the town as a whole. This leads the reader to believe that violence is something that is common within the town. Having violence present and seen as something normal for Arrow Catcher does not help to provide any hope for the murder trial of

Bobo.
Alice Conroy, the fourth grade class teacher, took her students on a field trip to visit their classmate, Glenn Gregg. Alice is not a minor character in the novel, she’s a main character who provides a fresh new way of viewing things to both the reader and her students. She lives her life through her conscience and wants everybody to have the ability to view things in fresh ways such as their raw state. She tries to teach her students to create their own opinions and mindsets, along with not having any pre-judgements towards things. Alice has all her own ideas and an unusual personality which helps for her to stand out. She changes, grows, and learns throughout the story which also helps to show the changes of the minor characters around her. Not only do her changes alone base the idea of change for the whole novel, but they contribute to the overall growth. Her actions and ideas developed as the plot continued and those changes and ideas helped to provide the reader with a constant sense of hope that the town would change for the better.
Each minor character had their own role within the book. They gave their own contribution to the plot, whether the contribution can be seen as necessary or not. As the plot progressed the characters each showed their own individual growth as they helped the story gain depth and deepen the plot with each new idea or attitude. Nordan developed all of his characters in the best way he saw fit and created a story around the murder of Emmett Till. His creation of a story around a bigger story required him to make his minor characters stand out. By using the minor characters the way he did, they helped to provide more than just hope that other characters would show change, but also gave the glimmer of possibility that the town could change as a whole.
Nordan’s list of characters was lengthy but served great purpose for the novel. Having so many characters to contribute helped to give the reader more to think about in the sense that the murder affected each person in a different way. The people of the town were pushed to decide how they felt the death of Bobo and take a side, which the majority of the town continued to think that it was justified due to living in the atmosphere (influenced by townspeople and the patrons of Red’s Goodlookin Bar and Gro) of racism and violence. They were all challenged to take a stance for what was right, and the few characters who did take their own stance helped to fuel the beginning of the much needed civil rights movement.