“The Little Man at Chehaw Station,” reprinted from the American Scholar (12/13/77) is available in a collection of Ellison’s essays, Going to the Territory - which you can pick up in paperback for around $15. Since I’m recommending this essay, from the writer of the justly acclaimed novel Invisible Man, it may sound funny to say that the essay suffers somewhat from its “intended audience,” at times coming across more “academic” than some might like. But I recommend it, nonetheless, because of the essay’s ending, a story that takes up the last 15% or so (about the last six pages), which is both accessible and, for me, so memorable. So, if you must, skim through the beginning and middle (which are not bad), so that you can enjoy the end. Truthfully, I’ve often forgotten both the title and the rest of the essay in remembering the essence of the last six pages in the decade plus since I first read it - though in re-reading it today there is a lot of value in the rest of the essay.
I won’t give the story away, except to say that it is an American story about opportunity, human nature and much more. As Ellison, an American, and an African-American, says after the “revelation” in the story,
“With a shock of recognition I joined them in appreciation of the hilarious American joke that centered on the incongruities of race, economic status, and culture.”
Humor often permits us to come to terms with uncomfortable truths. The “joke” Ellison relates here offers more than this discomfort, it offers hope and points the way to an American salvation. We would do well to listen. We would do well to understand. In a time of growing inequality, we would do well to consider Ellison’s contribution to the American discussion about what it means to be American.
Taken as a whole Ellison’s essay may talk primarily about the American artist and their audience - but it offers much more about the American and human condition. From admonition and instruction to politicians, to anticipation of what marketers have found true of the internet, Ellison’s essay about the little man hiding behind the stove in an obscure train station, knowing more than others might think, serves as a way of thinking about America and Americans. It is an argument about diversity. It is an argument for respect. It is an argument honoring human potential. Ellison gives us reason for American pride and celebration, as well as shame and sorrow. In the end we are left with hope - an important legacy of the American condition.
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