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Chapter 14: Rat
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Deacon King Kong, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Substance Abuse
Race and Power
Community and Religion
Parental Figures and Masculinity
Love, Hope, and Redemption
Summary
Analysis
Potts returns to the Five Ends Church for another conversation with Sister Gee. He informs her that one of his men saw her and Soup carrying Earl to the train station. He warns her that she could be in trouble with the law if she continues to do things like this. He also tells her that she needs to trust the police to handle such situations, a claim that Sister Gee regards skeptically. In addition, Potts tells her that he’s arrested Earl, so she doesn’t need to worry about him coming after Sportcoat anymore.
Here, the conversation between Potts and Sister Gee continues along the same lines as before. As a Black woman, Sister Gee does not trust the police to help her community. Instead, she expects that matters will only get worse with them involved. Also, their conversation fills in the background of how Earl presumably became a police informant: Potts arrested and recruited him.
Themes
Potts insists that Sister Gee hand Sportcoat over to the police so they can protect him instead. Otherwise, he says, matters will only get worse—both for Sportcoat and for the community as a whole. In response, Sister Gee asks Potts why he doesn’t just arrest Deems if the police are so powerful. Potts tells her that Deems has wealthy connections that will keep him out of jail no matter what the police do.
Still, Sister Gee does not help Potts find Sportcoat. This saddens Potts, who cares for Sister Gee and does not want to see the community suffer. He warns her that a new hitman is coming after Sportcoat, a fact he learned from Earl. As such, he recommends that the members of Cause stay away from the central plaza, where violence is likely to occur. Again, Sister Gee refuses to heed Potts’s advice and Potts turns to leave, dejected. As he leaves, Sister Gee tells him to keep coming around to keep her updated, which makes him feel a little better.
The relationship between Sister Gee and Potts is an interesting one because both characters feels wholeheartedly that they are doing the right thing. However, their different backgrounds and experiences keep them from seeing eye to eye. Nonetheless, the two of them respect one another and it seems that their romantic interest in each other is only continuing to grow.
Themes
