First Close Reading Post

In “The Shocking Story of Approved Killing in Mississippi,” Huie primarily offers the bare facts of the murder of Emmet Till with more careful attention given to vital components such as the weapons utilized, locations visited, and timing within the story; however, he does focus in on one particular, seemingly insignificant feature attributable to Emmet.

“Bobo had been sleeping in his shorts. He pulled on a shirt and trousers, then reached for his socks.

‘Just the shoes,’ Milam hurried him.

‘I don’t wear shoes without socks,’ Bobo said: and he kept the gun-bearers waiting while he put on his socks, then a pair of canvas shoes with thick crepe soles.”

Huie specifically notes Bobo’s action of putting on his shoes with hefty soles when the two murderers first encounter the youth, and then again he draws readers’ attention to Bobo’s shoes which he removes when Milam and Bryant force him to strip near the Tallahatchie River, moments before firing the shot which robbed him of his life. Before concluding the article, Huie informs readers that Bobo’s body was discovered when some boys spotted his bare feet sticking out of the clear waters while fishing, and he once again mentions that Milam kept a fire burning for three hours in his backyard due to the fact that Bobo’s crepe soled shoes proved difficult to burn.

In an abstract sense, Emmet’s sturdy shoes represent his livelihood and firm resistance as well as bravery in the face of injustice. From testing the men’s patience by slowly dressing in full attire (shoes and socks included) while they wait on him in his bedroom to his shoes being inflamed for hours before finally disintegrating following his tragic death, Huie also notes that Bobo’s corpse was only found due to his feet visibly sticking out in the water. Emmet’s feet/shoes appear to be mentioned at pivotal moments throughout the account: when he first comes face-to-face with his kidnappers, moments before his death, when his body is discovered, and when his murderers are attempting to rid themselves of the evidence.

By focusing readers’ attention onto the commonplace action of putting on and removing one’s shoes, Huie manages to humanize Emmet’s character and by consistently drawing readers to this specific attribute of Emmet’s he allows readers to associate Emmet’s shoes with his own state of existence (he puts on his shoes when he first notices the dangers posed by his kidnappers, removes his shoes seconds before being killed, etc.). Thus, readers are able to closely follow the most important points in the retelling of Emmet’s murder with the use of this detail.