Fire!! is known as an African American literary magazine that came to be during the Harlem Renaissance. It was considered quite controversial as it focused on explicit themes like sexuality and prostitution which offended many readers. The literary magazine Fire!! was edited by Wallace Thurman. Thurman was an active and influential writer during the Harlem Renaissance and he was not afraid to speak his mind. A lot of his criticism came from the fact that he believed African Americans were spending too much of their time using art and literature to prove a point that they can be respectable in the eyes of white Americans. It’s important to note because his works focused on more intra-racial conflicts and his beliefs play quite a differing view to what many other African Americans leaders were focused on at the time. 

There are people like W. E. B. Du Bois who spent most of their time trying to counter injustices by highlighting that African Americans are indeed respectable and proper. Thurman found these figures to be overrated and had differing topics he wanted to tackle. “Cordelia the Crude” is a literary work that was included in Fire!! and was written by Wallace Thurman. The story focuses on a young African American girl who unwillingly moves from the South to Harlem. To rebel from her parents and doing what’s proper, Cordelia becomes a prostitute and waits for men at her local theatre. She is left confused when a young man comes into the theatre, gives her money, and then just leaves. Thurman writes, “…I abruptly drew away from her, opened my overcoat, plunged my hand into my pants pocket, and drew out two crumpled one dollar bills which I handed to her, and then, while she stared at me foolishly…” (Thurman, 6). This story makes you wonder how although we are witnessing a new side of black expression and representation as opposed to what’s prim and proper, is it really supportive of women or is it once again just another depiction of African American women from the perspective of men?

In terms of misconceptions, there are many that come to light while reading “Cordelia the Crude’. This story misconstrues Cordelias character and originally puts her out to be this unfortunate girl who resorts to inappropriate behavior as opposed to one who uses the city of Harlem to excel and pave a positive and successful road for herself. It criticizes and sexualizes a young girl at such an early age making the story seem misogynistic and sexist. The story being written by a man also doesn’t help this case because in the story the man is seen as a respectable person for not sleeping with her and reassuring her that she’s better than that. It doesn’t seem credible coming from a man who probably went into the theatre to partake in sexual acts. Another issue is this belief that women need to be sexually pure and are deemed as “no good” if they aren’t. This story doesn’t seem to encourage sexual freedom and instead is limiting women to fit one particular stereotype where they are only good if they are chaste and are only able to explore sex once they get married with their husband.