The Geranium and Judgement Day: Transplantation from Rural to Urban Life

In both The Geranium and Judgement Day, the theme of transplantation from rural to urban life is pervasive. Moreover, both of these stories deal with elderly men from the south who are “forced” to live with daughters in the city. These men spend a great deal of time staring. The men stare most notably at things directly across the street from them, in neighboring apartment complexes. More importantly, these actions create discomfort in the people who live around these men. Consequently in The Geranium, the owner of the geranium pushes the geranium from the window and it shatters on the ground. The man in the window expresses his displeasure with Dudley for gazing at the flower every day. Similarly, in Judgement Day, the elderly man stares at the African-Americans whom have moved in next door and as a result, is pushed and injured by one of them.
Besides the theme of transplantation, we see a theme of race in both stories. In these stories the elderly white men treat African-Americans as something that can be possessed, and moreover, can be calculated. This manner of thinking ultimately ends up hurting the elderly men in these stories.
The notable difference in these two stories occurs in their endings. In Judgement Day, the final paragraph seems forced and unnecessary. The old man dies, but then, suddenly, the final paragraph is from the daughter’s perspective. That seems odd because we could almost entirely assume that she would bury her father in the city despite his wishes. In The Geranium, the ending is quite different and more fitting. The man tells Dudley not to invade his privacy, Dudley looks down and the shattered geranium, and the man warns him that he only tells people once. I think the biggest thing to think about between these stories is not their similarities, but rather, their differences.