Five-Carat Soul

Short summary of the story, The Moaning Bench, from Five-Carat Soul?

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In the story, The Moaning Bench, five people sit before the door to hell where their souls are judged by its Gatekeeper. The Gatekeeper taunts them until the one speaks up angrily. He is a boxer named Rachman Babatunde, and he challenges the Gatekeeper to a fight. The Gatekeeper acquiesces and says he will release all of their souls if Babatunde wins. Babatunde does win, but the Gatekeeper sends him to hell anyway. The other four object and choose to walk through the door to hell rather than return to Earth. The scene shifts to Madison Square Garden where Babatunde has just won a fight. He approaches these same four people in the audience, though they no longer recognize each other. Babatunde says that he surrenders his evil to God “who washes it clean” (188).

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Five-Carat Soul