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Eugene
The brother of the governor of Tennessee, and based on the historical figure Joe Turney. Joe Turner captures groups of black men and forces them to work for him, essentially enslaving them. After seven years, he lets them go. When Herald Loomis was a preacher, he stopped on the road one day to speak to a group of gamblers, at which point Joe Turner and his men descended upon the scene and captured him. Even though Loomis was set free after seven years of forced labor, Joe Turner still looms large in his mind, having broken up his family and derailed his life’s trajectory.
Joe Turner Quotes in Joe Turner’s Come and Gone
The Joe Turner’s Come and Gone quotes below are all either spoken by Joe Turner or refer to Joe Turner. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Act One: Scene One
Quotes
Now, I can look at you, Mr. Loomis, and see you a man who done forgot his song. Forgot how to sing it. A fellow forget that and he forget who he is. Forget how he’s supposed to mark down life. Now, I used to travel all up and down this road and that…looking here and there. Searching. Just like you, Mr. Loomis. I didn’t know what I was searching for. The only thing I knew was something was keeping me dissatisfied. Something wasn’t making my heart smooth and easy. Then one day my daddy gave me a song. That song had a weight to it that was hard to handle. That song was hard to carry. I fought against it. Didn’t want to accept that song. I tried to find my daddy to give him back the song. But I found out it wasn’t his song. It was my song. It had come from way deep inside me. I looked long back in memory and gathered up pieces and snatches of things to make that song. I was making it up out of myself. And that song helped me on the road.
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Get the entire Joe Turner’s Come and Gone LitChart as a printable PDF.
Joe Turner Quotes in Joe Turner’s Come and Gone
The Joe Turner’s Come and Gone quotes below are all either spoken by Joe Turner or refer to Joe Turner. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Act One: Scene One
Quotes
Now, I can look at you, Mr. Loomis, and see you a man who done forgot his song. Forgot how to sing it. A fellow forget that and he forget who he is. Forget how he’s supposed to mark down life. Now, I used to travel all up and down this road and that…looking here and there. Searching. Just like you, Mr. Loomis. I didn’t know what I was searching for. The only thing I knew was something was keeping me dissatisfied. Something wasn’t making my heart smooth and easy. Then one day my daddy gave me a song. That song had a weight to it that was hard to handle. That song was hard to carry. I fought against it. Didn’t want to accept that song. I tried to find my daddy to give him back the song. But I found out it wasn’t his song. It was my song. It had come from way deep inside me. I looked long back in memory and gathered up pieces and snatches of things to make that song. I was making it up out of myself. And that song helped me on the road.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
