The narrative is a poignant tragedy about a middle-aged Black janitor in Boston who is crushed by the "monotone" reality of his life. His daughter, Millie, rents a typewriter to practice her skills and asks her father to dictate letters to her. Through these sessions, the man creates a fictional persona, , a high-powered businessman who corresponds with titans of industry like J.P. Morgan.
Dorothy West once wrote, "We are the children of the default." Yet, through her typewriter, she refused to default on her promise to tell the truth of her people. Today, if one visits an exhibition of her life, one might see her typewriter behind glass. It is a static object, metal and plastic, silent and cold. But to understand Dorothy West, one must imagine it warm, vibrating with the energy of her hands, clacking away in a quiet room on Martha's Vineyard. the typewriter dorothy west