Who is Jesse from Going to Meet the Man and what is their importance? Going_to_Meet_the_Man English & Literature Jesse | Going to Meet the Man

Jesse is a cop in a small town in the American South. Jesse is deeply bigoted against blacks, especially during this time of unrest in his little town where the blacks are beginning to protest the treatment shown them by whites. Jesse lies in bed the night before a big event at the jail, an event the author never reveals but suggests might be the hanging or punishment of a black protestor, and he cannot sleep. Not only this, but Jesse struggles to be physically able to have sexual relations with his wife. As Jesse lies there, he remembers being eight years old and his father taking him to the gory execution of a black man. Jesse recalls the brutality of the man's death and his father's sexual arousal from the spectacle. After recalling this event, Jesse is finally able to have sex with his wife, suggesting to the reader that a great deal of Jesse's mental health is connected to this horrid act over thirty-five years previous.