Black History Month

Tropic Death

Eric Walrond

Short stories, 1926

Tropic Death, Eric Walrond's most acclaimed work, consists of ten stories of inhumanity in the American tropics, especially white against black — or imperial power against impoverished native. In "Subjection," for example, a white marine shoots a black canal worker. Walrond also explores the effects of modern technology and exploitation on the Caribbean natural environment; "The Palm Porch" describes the construction of the Panama Canal in terms of its causing "the gradual death and destruction of the frontier post." Walrond writes in an impressionistic style that quickly shifts from one image to another. He depicts cultural impressions more than characters or plot yet illustrates the disorientation and alienation his characters experience. Considered an example of avant-garde writing, Tropic Death has been praised by critics such as W. E. B. DuBois and Langston Hughes.