1. TO HELL WITH DYING
Alice Walker
Dr M. Fahmy Raiyah

2. Alice
Walker
• Born in 1944.
• An American novelist, short story
writer, poet, and political activist.
• Her best works include The Color
Purple.
• She is the winner of the Pulitzer
Prize (1983) and The National
Book Award (1983)

3. Summary
Mr. Sweet is a neighbor of the narrator, who is initially a little girl
summoned with the rest of her siblings whenever Mr. Sweet is threatening to
die. The narrator describes how she and her brothers loved Mr. Sweet,
despite the fact that he was an indifferent cotton farmer, a frequent drunk,
and an inveterate smoker. Somehow the faults of the old man, including his
falling-down bouts of drunkenness and his slovenly personal appearance, are
not impediments to the devotion he inspires or the affection for him on the
part of the narrator and her brothers.
Each time the children are summoned, Mr. Sweet is reputed to be at
death's door. "To hell with dying," the narrator's father would say. "These
children want Mr. Sweet!" Then the youngsters would leap on the man in bed
and begin their miraculous revival. By turns tickling and kissing Mr. Sweet, the
neighbor kids manage to revive him time after time. The narrator comes to
have faith in her unfailing ability to bring him back to life, and several times
the children succeed when the local doctor had given up hope.
Nearly two decades pass, and the narrator is in graduate school when
another summons comes. She flies back to the rural South and hastens to the
bedside of the old man, now over ninety. But this time, after a brief return to
consciousness, Mr. Sweet dies.
(from http://litmed.med.nyu.edu/Annotation?action=view&annid=1240)

4. Point of View
First person point of view.
Setting
In the house of Mr. Sweet, in the American South,
during the late 1950s.

5. Themes
Love
The story is about the saving power of love and how it can be a very effective
remedy to hopelessness and depression. Mr. Sweet’s failures in life, his
unfulfilled goals to become a doctor, a lawyer, or a sailor, and his failure to marry
the woman he loved seemed to overcome him and make him turn to the bottle
as a refuge. Drinking, playing the guitar, and having fun with the children are his
only consolation. The children, especially the narrator, succeed in giving him a
sense of self-satisfaction and worth. His frequent bouts of depression are
followed by near-death episodes, from which he is magically rescued by the
children. The father’s “to hell with dying. . . The children want Mr. Sweet,”
followed by kissing and tickling from the children, works magic on him and he is
revived. On the other hand, Mr. Sweet manages to give the narrator a sense of
merit; he makes her feel pretty and calls her “my princess.” Her academic
success is the result of the sense of self-worth that Mr. Sweet is able to fill her
with. He saves her as she has saved him many times before.
Racism
Mr. Sweet grew up in a time period of racial segregation and protest. Mr. Sweet
was ambitious as a boy and wanted to be a doctor or lawyer or sailor, but he soon
discovers that he wouldn’t be able to achieve his goals because of his colour.
Consequently, he turns to fishing and playing the guitar to prove himself.

6. Escapism
Some people who fail in facing life challenges tend
to find solace in various things. Mr. Sweet buries
his failures in wine and the guitar. More
importantly, his deathbed scenes are another form
of his escapism. Unconsciously, he chooses to die
and run away from his problems. His bonding with
the children is his only link with life.

7. Characters
Mr. Sweet Little is the main character. Because of
his failures in life, his inability to choose the career he
liked and his inability to marry the woman he loved,
he tends to escape from life. In playing the guitar, he
escapes from life into art. In the songs he plays, he
expresses his dissatisfaction with reality. His death
episodes are more notable examples of his escape
from life. The children’s expression of love and the
father’s “to hell with dying,” and “the children want
Mr. Sweet” show him that he is still wanted and loved
and that his life mattered, and this succeeds in saving
him from death. His bond with the children and their
affections for him are his lifebelt.

8. Symbolism
The guitar is a symbol of creativity. Playing
the guitar compensates Mr. Sweet for his failure
in becoming what he wanted. Leaving the
guitar for the narrator is a symbol of passing the
gift of creativity to her. This a reference to
Walker’s success as a writer.
The guitar can also be a symbol of Mr.
Sweet’s escaping from life into art.