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February, 1954 THE MAROON TIGER Page 3 LITERARY NOOK by RICHARD JOHNS THE ARTIST AND SOCIETY The ordinary man of today very often recognizes or discovers himself in the artist of today, for the latter usually expresses the feelings of the present or that of the recent past. Though this brings a certain satisfaction to the layman, only those artists who point out new ways, who literal ly force their ideas on a rather 1 complacent public actually a- chieve something which can be considered permanent. However, worthwhile the reflection of man’s surroundings may be demon strated by a writer, painter or poet, it is only those artists who see the future and are courageous enough to get their messages across to the public who may have any definite effect. Very often people tend to sepa rate creative work into compart ments, usually putting more em phasis on the aesthetic magic of a composition as the only signi ficant standard of judgment and failing to see that difficulty and incomprehensive beauty are not enough, whatever quality appears in poetry to distinguish it from verse or mere prose cannot be considered as being more impor tant aspects of human life. The social outlook of a creative writer, is subordinated to his aesthetic power. However, intrusions of all sorts of undesirable social ideas may unconsciously creep into the writer’s work. It may well be argued that it is perfectly legitimate for a writer to create work of a high order which can be judged solely on its intrinsic value, quite apart from its meaning. However, such an artist will remain in a cyclic plane and never really achieve anything definite. Action which is so often suppressed can never be released and its potentiality can never be developed to emerge to enrich life. When one looks at the whole aspsect of the writer and society certain trends become clear. Thus defeatism in a creative writer is destructive because his work must reflect a vitality for which there is no substitute. A feeling of fatalism or satire cannot foster imaginative growth. Only the search for the better ment of society in the end will be effective and in our time the urgency of this is great. The mere dazzling effect of creative work may attract our contem porary public, but may fail hope lessly to interest posterity. It must not be taken here into (Continued On Page Six) Marriage Institute To Hold 19th Meeting Here During March “Successful Marriage and Fami ly Living” will be the theme for the 19th annual Marriage Insti tute sponsored by the Morehouse College Sociology Department Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, March 10, 11 and 12. Featured as guest consultants for the institution will be Dr. Charles R. Lawrence, instructor of sociology at Brooklyn College, Brooklyn, N. Y., and his wife, Mrs. Miriam Herandez, director of the Hannah Center, New York City. He received his doctorate degree at the latter institution while Mrs. Herandez is a pedia trician. Mr. Walter Chivers and Mrs. Carrie G. Chivers are director and co-director, respectively, of the Annual Marriage Institute. REFLECTIONS YOUTH IN TODAY'S WORLD by LILLIE McKINNEY The turbulent emotions, baf fling behavior and insistant searching of human beings do not constitute a new phenomenon. On the contrary, they are old in human experience and human nature itself. But their expres sion and intensity are influenced by the times in which we are growing up. Our job in these years is to make the last long pull toward Becoming independent, useful, productive adults, each according to his own capacity. We must grow away—or break away from the family apronstring, end our schooling years and begin our working years, learn to relate to the opposite sex and grow into mature relationships of all kinds. We must establish a self that can live with itself, with other people, with the times; that can go as far as possible toward becoming a reliable mate, an adequate parent, an accept able social being, a responsible citizen. The mysterious force of growth within the human be ing undertakes it. This period of change and growth is itself a time of conflict, both within ourselves and the world around us. This is as it should be—a law of human de velopment that the best pre paration for tomorrow is to live fully today. Infanthood, child hood, ~ adolescence—each period of development must be experi enced to its fullest as a prere quisite for handling the next stage successfully, and finally for realizing a full, nature adult- problem of adjusting to the world in which he finds himself. Today’s youth must learn how to live in a time as confused, chaotic and conflicting as any other in human history. Daily we are torn between the need for change, doubt about the way it can or should come about, and its effect in regard to millions of human be ings. Our precious heritage of belief in the worth of human per sonality and the dignity of the individual, which we have ma tured and cultivated, is at odds with the technological civiliza tion we have created with its inevitable valves of possessions, power, and aggressions. Believ ing one thing, in order to sur vive, we feel that we are forced to behave another way. We find it difficult, too, to affirm this be lief, to give it scope and opportu nity for growth in an industrial civilization such as ours. The result of search for a solu tion to conflict within our own culture and world community will inevitably be a change of codes, creeds, and beliefs by which our predecessors have lived. The fact of life pulls the human need to recognize un changing truths amidst the ap parent chaos of our time means that confusion, anxiety and even loss of morale are the common lot of the great potentialities and resilience of human nature. The striving to make of exsistence a way of life with purpose and goals, has continually evolved and changed, chiefly, because new knowledge and understanding suggests new and more mean ingful patterns of life. This is the challenge of the world to to day’s youth and to all youth who come after. VISIT BATE'S MODERNISTIC BARBER SHOP THE BOOK NOOK By G. T. Johnson A GOOD MAN JEFFERSON YOUNG, Bobbs-Merrills Co. — 239 p. p. This wonderfully delightful no vel concerns itself with the life of a Mississippi Negro who aspires to possess a respectable house, simply by painting his shanty white. No Negro farmer in this community had ever dared to think of such a thing—ever! Consequently the whole white community was aroused—be cause this was a threat to their dignity and sense of superiority. The reader can immediately ex pect violence to surround this simple tale of virtue. The principal character, Prince Al bert (Albert Clayton), is every thing that the whites expect from a Negro farmer—hardworking, sober, loyal, and faithful; but to paint his house white is some thing else! Unlike most books by whites about Negroes, Mr. Young’s'char acters are simple, typical Ameri can people. They are not driven by sex or by characteristics that are associated with primitive peo ple. They are not Erskine Cald well characters, though the dia lect is perfectly accurate. Rather, the characters are people con cerned with making an honest, good living; growing good crops; rearing fine, decent children; and striving to be clean from within. This short novel is quite sym bolic in its treatment. It shows through its characters—Prince Albert, Louella Clayton (Albert’s wife), Mr. Tittle, and Mr. Mathis, the Negro’s struggle for dignity in the Deep South. * * * THE BRIDGES AT TOKO-RI. James A. Michener. Random House. 160 pp. A novel that sounds more like a report coming from the Korean “Conflict,” the author weaves a beautiful story around one prin cipal character, Harry Brubaker, a^young lawyer from the “Cen- tennal State.” Brubaker is one of the jet pilots whose base is on a carrier in the waters off Korea. Though the author is attend ing to show a type of “individual heroism” (as the book jacket claims), there is more emphasis on other parts of the book. For example, the descriptions of the physical activity involved in launching and landing a jet bom ber, the actual combat encounter ed in bombing their targets—the bridges that carry vital materials to the enemies, the rescues made by the helicopter when pilots were downed in the icy waters, and the precautions that must be taken when a number of jets must land in an allotted time. All of these very interesting and intri- gueing details occupy a large par- tion of the book. But the char acters receive very little attention when compared with the other action in the book. Though one of the best books to come from the Korean “Con flict.” and one of the best-sellers for ’53, Mr. Michener’s Tales of the South Pacific still remains his masterpiece. UNIVERSITY FLOWER SHOP Miss Bertha Mosely, prop. “FLOWERS FOR ALL OCCASIONS”' 138 CHESTNUT ST., S. W. LAmar 9629 WAlnut 9391 ’ v v v v v v v v v v v v v v v v v ♦♦♦ v v v v v *•* v*** *!♦ ♦!« «J» «j* »j» *j*»j»*j PERSONALITY PORTRAIT by GEORGE CLARK WILBERT WASHINGTON Washington, a twenty-one year old senior, is a pride and product of Beaufort, South Carolina, from which he hails. Washington’s record at More house is commendable. It is one which is worthy of imitation. His 3.4 average rockets him to fifth place in the heated race among pace setters for top academic honors. His position as president of the Senior Class serves as an other salient signal Which marks his well-liked personality. Besides maintaining a coveted scholastic average, r ' W ashington takes time to participate in nume rous extra-curricular activities. He serves as president of the De bating Society—incidentally, they walked away with second honors at the Southeastern Debate Tour nament in 1953. In addition, he is basileus of the Omega Psi Phi fraternity, a member of the Uni versity Players and the W. E. R. D. radio theatre. Washington is a chemistry major and plans to enter Me- h-arry School of Medicine next September. When not reading, which is his principal hobby, he likes to meet interesting people. He greets you with a warm-hearted, gentle smile which could be called his trademark. When asked how he felt about his school, he hesitated momen tarily, staring fixedly out of the window through which winter’s sun streamed a chilly shaft of light. Then, regaining his pos ture, he replied, “I am proud to be a student at Morehouse. I am proud because it stands high among the councils of colleges. “I would like to see the position of our football elevated. I think it would score a moral victory for the school.” “However,” he em phasized, “I would not want to see scholarship sacrificed for a good team.” Morehouse has more room for men of his ability. Paschal Brothers “We Specialize in Fried Chicken and Sea Food” 857 HUNTER ST., N. W. AMhersl 7811 BOTTLED UNDER AUTHORITY OF THE COCA-COLA COMPANY BY ATLANTA COCA-COLA BOTTLING COMPANY “Coke” is a registered trade-mark. © 1954, THE COCA-COLA COMPANY