The Well: David's Story

How do you convey the horror of slavery, the very degradation of it, to small children? How can you tell a story where these problems aren't watered down and accepted in some way? "The Well" renders these requirements so perfectly that it's a crime and a shame that it wasn't even a Newberry Honor book. This story plays with the reader through a million different methods. Throughout the story the characters are fighting between pride and survival. The boy, Hammer, refuses to react like anything less than a human being, equal to his peers in the face of antagonism. The fact that his peers happen to be the nasty racist Simms brothers only adds gas to the flame. Subsequently, the reader is torn. On the one hand, it is infinitely satisfying to read about Hammer pounding the horrid Charlie Simms into pulp. On the other hand, you can't help but feel like giving Hammer a quick slap to the face when, after finishing months of hard toil on the Simms farm for the beating Hammer gave Charlie, the book simply says, "Hammer made a point of going back to the Simmses' farm, found Charlie alone, and knocked him down. Again". It's a brilliant sentence with so many loaded emotions behind it you'd like to scream. Taylor's language is adept at conveying the real horrors of the time. Ma Rachel's tale of how her mother was whipped in an attempt to keep her child's name is an echo of the scene in the mini-series "Roots" when Kunta Kinte is told to call himself "Toby". This book is chock full of violence and hatred. It is, in many ways, perfect. The author's choice of not dividing the text into chapters is particularly interesting. Some difficulty might be had reading it aloud, if only because there are only natural stopping points. "The Well" would pair well with other tales of intolerance, even Taylor's other books from that time period. It is a beautiful tale.

This book is great! I would love to teach this book during my internship this fall. I have always been fascinated with history. Mildred Taylor has such a smooth way in which she writes her books. Not only are they sad and depressing, but they are motivating and enlightening. Her many books illustrate how evil and selfish our country was and in some ways still is today. I really appreciate the positive, strong image that is portrayed with the Logan family. Nothing makes me happier.

The Well by Mildred D. Taylor is one of the best examples of juvenile fiction that I have read in the last ten years. (Coming from a teacher, that's a lot of books!) The reader is invited into a world where whites can say and do as they please and blacks are treated to cruelty, deceit and humiliation. Yet the Logan family, the central characters of this book, maintain their strength and dignity through it all. The Logan property sits on the only well that has not run dry in this turn-of-the-century tale of the Deep South. They are generous people and share their sweet water with all their neighbours, even the bigotted Simms clan. David Logan, the narrator, tells us how he and his brother Hammer cope with the abuse and terrors inflicted upon them by the Simms boys and their evil father, Old Man McCallister Simms. This short novel tells us much about the deep seated racism that was so much a part of that time and place. The characters are quickly and clearly brought to life, the setting is vividly drawn and despite the frequent - but historically accurate use of the N word - this book is a great "read aloud."

Every child who has cried. "That's not fair" should have to read this book. David and Hammer Logan had to endure more than any child today will ever endure. I grew up in an multicultural town, and thought I understood what prejudice was all about. But,this book exposed the truth