Big Brother, Little Brother: Brothers and Keepers

In this chapter, the author seeks to pay special attention to the voices that John Wideman uses to tell this story. Wideman weaves together two voices, one that represents his brother and a wholly different one that represents himself. The voice that presents his own point of view is refined, intellectual, and at times surprisingly dispassionate. Academically, athletically, and socially successful, Wideman added a fitting finale to his high school career by winning a Ben Franklin scholarship to the University of Pennsylvania. Interestingly, in 1994, a full decade after publishing Brothers and Keepers , Wideman wrote and published Fatheralong , which he subtitled “A Meditation on Fathers and Sons, Race and Society.” According to its cover, John Edgar Wideman’s autobiography Brothers and Keepers offers an excellent opportunity to re-examine the nature-nurture argument. Early in Brothers and Keepers , Wideman describes a memory from his freshmen year at the University of Pennsylvania.