Red at the Bone

“This ritual of marking class and time and transition stumbled back into the days of cotillions, then morphed and morphed again until it was this, some forgotten ancestor’s gartered corset—and a pair of new silk stockings, delicate as dust.”

This quote introduces the importance of class and tradition. Woodson states this explicitly then implies these themes’ connections to the past is particularly important to this novel. Melody’s ceremony is so much more than a party to mark her age; it’s her family’s ritual of celebrating life and progress that specifically marks their ability to maintain their class status. This ceremony roots the family in generations of traditions, but significantly alludes to America’s unrecognized history of Black cotillions. In fact, there was (and still is) a rich history of cotillions in African American society, particularly in the mid-20th century. Therefore, Melody’s participation in this tradition allows her and her family to lay claim to her cultural heritage and perpetuate her ties to her ancestors. 

“I closed my eyes for a minute. The song was older than everyone in the house. When the trumpeter picked up a solo and the music lifted past where the voices had just been, I felt like my ribs were shattering. There was so much in all of it. Just. So. Much. I wanted to say to Iris, It all feels like it’s trying to drift out into somebody’s eternity.” 

The orchestra plays “Jeannine, I Dream of Lilac Time,” a 1928 song, connecting each person in the room to a time before them. This excerpt conveys the power of music, especially in this text. For Melody, it is overwhelming; she can intuit the weight of the legacy being placed on her, the memories stretching out towards her across time through the music. Melody’s response speaks to the profound emotional and restorative influence music enjoys across generations.