Review of "The Red Scarf," by Richard Mason

 Review of

The Red Scarf, by Richard Mason ISBN 0874838509

Five out of five stars

Deeply moving story involving segregation

 It is an extremely rare occasion when the printed word can generate moisture in my eyes. However, I grew misty at the description of two boys spending their money for eyeglasses that are a Christmas present for their “Uncle” Hugh. A little historical context is needed to appreciate the significance. The setting is southern Arkansas in the early 1940’s, the two boys (Richard and John Clayton) are white and their “Uncle” Hugh is an elderly black man. When Richard finds a dead mink on the side of the road he is relatively wealthy and can buy Christmas presents for his entire family as well as a beautiful scarf for Rosalie, the girl he wants to woo. However, when he is shopping, he remembers how badly Hugh needs reading glasses so that he can continue to read his bible and this leads him to give up the presents and buy the glasses for Hugh.

 There is a great deal of love between the boys and Hugh, he tells them wild stories that keep them spellbound. Hugh lives alone in what amounts to a shack some distance from the small town and is a railroad pensioner. The boys look after him, getting his groceries twice a week and the other members of the community understand and appreciate what they do, sometimes seeing that Hugh gets a little extra.

  There is not the slightest hint of racial prejudice in the story, although “colored”, the polite term of the time is regularly used. When the boys tell the optometrist that they are buying the glasses for an elderly colored man that is a friend of theirs, he reduces the price for them. Furthermore, they are also able to buy a Christmas goose for Hugh when the seller reduces the price. In the end, Richard’s good deeds are rewarded and he even gets a kiss from Rosalie.

 Some of the other very memorial characters are Bubba, a cook at the local diner, Peg, a one-legged saloonkeeper and Wing, a one-armed police officer with a wicked swing with a blackjack. Richard and John Clayton have a wonderful childhood full of (mis)adventures as they are constantly scheming to make money. There is a sad ending with a plot device that one would not expect from a story positioned in the segregated south of the 1940’s.