The second reading of this story went a lot more smoothly for me. The first time was so shocking and I couldn't get past all of the racism that I missed a lot. I wanted to look a little bit at how the statue is a representation of both Mr. Head and Nelson.
The end of the story, on the bottom of page 229 and the top of 230 describe the statue. On the bottom of page 229 it says, "It was not possible to tell if the artificial Negro were meant to be young or old; he looked too miserable to be either..." This reminded me of the descriptions of Mr. Head and Nelson because they are described disproportionate to their ages. I was wondering if it was because of their unhappiness? It is pretty obvious that Mr. Head is immature because he basically just wants to prove Nelson wrong all the time, and he should know better than to show up a ten year old. And Nelson might not be too happy being stuck in a small town with only really an older man to socialize with. It might the reason why he looks a lot older. Also, the two characters try to play a certain part that they are not quite succeeding. The statue is also not succeeding in looking happy because he is literally falling apart.
While re-reading the top of page 230, I still think that it is common fear (racism) that brings them together. But I'm actually more confused about the concept of mercy this time around reading. It doesn't make as much sense to me, except that, yes, Nelson forgives Mr. Head, but I still see it more as Nelson doesn't have a choice. Is that really mercy then?
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I think the "action of mercy" that Mr. Head feels is less about Nelson forgiving him, and more about his own self-discovery. His ticket says, "You are upright and brave and all your friends admire you" (pg. 219). Mr. Head believes this to be true, and his confidence is represented by the physicality O'Connor displays for us. Mr. Head has never been touched by this action of mercy because he claims he has never deceived anyone, which he sees as never needing his sins to be forgiven. On page 231, the narrator says, "he felt ready...to enter Paradise." Despite Mr. Head's plan to show Nelson all he needed to know, I think Mr. Head matured more during the story, and I might even go so far to say that he caught up to Nelson's level of maturity. Up until the moment of Mr. Head's betrayal of Nelson, he lived his life condescending the boy. He wanted Nelson to believe he was worldly-wise and protective; he wanted Nelson to look up to him, and realize that he was smarter than him. It's possible that the mercy lies in the statue of the "artificial nigger" bringing the two together, rather than Nelson forgiving Mr. Head. He feels "ready to enter Paradise" because he realizes the significance of his sin, and is finally grateful for having Nelson in his life.
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