WITNESS by Karen Hesse - Review

Virginia Caldwell
Book Review Genre 3
TWU assignment
LS 5603 – 20

WITNESS

Bibliographic Data:
Hesse, Karen. 2001. WITNESS. New York: Scholastic. ISBN 0439271991



Plot Summary:
WITNESS is a novel written in the poetry format. It is about the Ku Klux Klan’s attempt to move into and control a small town in Vermont, and the voices of the townspeople who witnessed and participated in the events. I recommend WITNESS for ages 12 through adult.



Analysis:
Written entirely in narrative poetry, WITNESS, examines the subject of the Ku Klux Klan in a surprising location – Vermont. The story happens in 1924, and is arranged into five “acts,” in which the story is told by eleven characters from the small town. Each character has a different viewpoint of the events that occur in the novel, and Hesse’s brilliance is demonstrated through this technique. She uses each character, who vary in age, gender, religion, and to portray the various attitudes and shades of grey that reflect the good or badness of the human condition. Only one of the eleven characters is African-American.

Each verse is the thoughts of one character, and the story unfolds by hearing from these characters repeatedly through the action of the story. This method really makes WITNESS a phenomenal work, because it gives it an authenticity, believability, and demonstrates the change and growth of the characters during the story through their own thoughts and the thoughts of others.

In WITNESS, the verses are mostly unrhymed, but they do have a natural, powerful cadence, and excellent rhythm. Also, each character is partially revealed by the way that they put their own words together.

The language is very carefully chosen and really connects the reader to the people and events. For instance, you get an excellent image of Leanora Sutter, a twelve-year-old African-American girl, as well as her role/place in the town community, when she thinks about the words her father said to her:

“how alone do you want to be Leanora?
you’re already nothing but a wild brown island.”

A second example of the power of Hesse’s words occurs when Leanora is upset by a boy who taunts her at school because of her race. The words are so perfectly chosen that the reader actually feels heat when reading them.

i just walked out
without my coat,
without my hat or rubbers.
i didn’t
feel the cold,
i was that scorched.

The voice of Ester Hirsch, a young Jewish girl, expertly reveals that she speaks differently from other Americans. This tells the reader that she is not from Vermont, and is possibly an immigrant, or the child of immigrants. Here is an example of Ester’s thoughts, which reveal these facts:

“i was having chasing games with Margaret,
and I did fall and hit my head on a rock.”

Hesse also refrains from using capitalization in the novel, with the exception of proper names. This adds to the impression that the reader is privately seeing each person’s innermost thoughts.

Photos of the eleven characters appear before the book begins, which helps the reader to know who is speaking, and makes the story more colorful and believable. However, I had to keep my finger in that page for the entire first “act,” so that I could remember who was who in the story, by flipping back and forth; I would have liked for the photos to appear with each verse until I was familiar with the characters.

One very compelling element to the story is that the characters are neither clearly heroes or villains. For example, one man wants to join the Ku Klux Klan to improve his store’s business. His wife does not want him to join, but does not stop him, or even really condemn him very harshly. Leanora, due to the treatment she receives by the town, is not very fond of white people, but she befriends six-year-old Ester, who is white.

Even Easter’s caretaker, Sara Chickering, reflects on how she might have felt differently about the Klan moving in to town, if she had not already taken in and loved Ester.

“i might have joined the ladies' klan,
become an officer, even.
klan can seem mighty right-minded, with their talk of family virtue.”

WITNESS has many themes; it deals with racism, hate, and fear of difference. This novel also portray unlikely friendships, newly formed families, and love. It addresses the issues of human growth, conscious, and dealing with loss.

At the end of this novel, the engrossed reader will have felt the gamut of emotions – happiness, anger, doubt, sadness, fear, and hope. WITNESS is a worthwhile journey.



Review Excerpts

School Library Journal, 09/01/2001
“The small details seem just right, and demonstrate that this is much more than a social tract. It's a thoughtful look at people and their capacity for love and hate.”-Lauralyn Persson, Wilmette Public Library, IL Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Publishers Weekly, 08/20/2001
“The author of Out of the Dust again turns language into music in her second quietly moving novel written entirely in verse.” Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.


The above reviews are from Book Index with Reviews. 2007 EBSCO Publishing, Powered by The Title Source TM (Accessed through http://online.twu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_id=_142_1 on October 3, 2007).



Connections:
Some books with similar themes: RACISM: DIVIDED BY COLOR by Gerald Newman and Eleanor Newman Layfield; JERICHO WALLS by Kristi Collier; and THE KU KLUX KLAN: A HOODED BROTHERHOOD (JOURNEY TO FREEDOM) by Ann Heinrichs.

Activities: This book would be a great choice to have volunteers from the class each read a part.
This book would also be a good part of an American history unit, or a unit about racism.