I’m On my Way – Porgy and Bess by Cast

In the first part of this series, I started with the San Francisco earthquake and fire and I asked the question: Why do we seek solace in hymn or spiritual when we are laid low by circumstances beyond our control. In the second part, I tried to answer the philosophical part of that question with the quote from Eric Liddell. But then, in the third part, I raised another difficult issue in the lyrics from “Ol’Man River:” why are we weary of living and scared of dying? Joe, the philosopher in Show Boat, struggles with the meaning of life. In the end, without a clear answer, he comes to the conclusion that, just like the eternal river, he must keep on working; he must try his best each day. There is pain in his singing, but there is hope in his heart.

In this last segment, we are going to visit another man, this time in Catfish Row, a mythical town in South Carolina near Charleston. The town may be mythical, but the fictional man (Porgy) is based on a real-life person, who was crippled but got around in a goat-drawn cart. In the opera and then musical, Porgy and Bess, Porgy wins the heart of Bess, fights off the much stronger Crown to keep her and finally is taken by the police to the morgue to identify Crown’s body. Fearful of the myth that the wounds of the corpse will start to bleed when viewed by the killer, Porgy leaves Catfish Row with trepidation. Worse, Bess is unsure that Porgy will ever return. In a moment of weakness, she is seduced by Sportin’ Life, as he spins his web of dreams of the “good life” in Harlem (“I’ll dress you in silks and satin on upper 5th Avenue”). Coming home in triumph, Porgy fails to see Bess in the crowd that welcomes him back. He asks, “Where’s My Bess” but no one will answer him, until he forces them. Hearing that she has left with Sportin’ Life for Harlem, he asks his friends to bring around his goat and cart so that he can go find his Bess and bring her home.

He has no anger in his heart against anyone; just the love of his woman and the certainty that, with God’s help, he will succeed. Maybe this is our answer, too.