Summary

“Black Death” (1925) begins with Eatonville’s belief in the supernatural and a description of Old Man Morgan, the local “hoodoo man,” and the “life and death…in his hands” (73, 74). The narrator claims, though, that “the undoing of Beau Diddely is his masterpiece” (75). A transplant from the North, Beau was a charming young man who flirted with Docia Boger. Soon, Mrs. Boger, Docia, and Beau sat down for a serious discussion about Docia’s unplanned pregnancy. Beau rudely refused to take responsibility for his actions and to marry Docia, spreading rumors about her promiscuity. Mrs. Boger, overwhelmed by her daughter’s distress, decided to visit Old Man Morgan in the night. As she approached the home, “all of Africa awoke in her blood” and “strange demons seized her” (78). Once inside, Morgan knew what she had come for. She decided to shoot Beau dead...