Research Paper on:
An Analysis of James Alan McPherson's The Story of a Scar

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-- properly! The literary path forged by Ralph Ellison and James Baldwin is still being followed by subsequent generations of  innovative African-American authors. There is, perhaps, no contemporary African-American writer who is a more eloquent craftsman than James Alan McPherson. Born in Georgia in 1943, McPherson was a  gifted student, who, while in college, was awarded a top fiction prize by Atlantic Monthly for his story, "Gold Coast" (Gates and McKay 1985). After earning a law degree  and an M.F.A. from the University of Iowas Writers Workshop, McPherson pursued his first love, writing short stories, with a vengeance (Gates and McKay 1985). One of McPhersons most  original and profound short stories is "The Story of a Scar," which was first featured in Atlantic Monthly in December of 1973. The story itself is deceptively simple  in that it is confined to a singular setting, a waiting room at a doctors office, and consists of only two characters - male and female patients. The male  has a bandaged nose and serves as the storys narrator. Rather matter-of-factly, he explains to the readers that because his physician, Dr. Wayland, was late "and there were no  recent newsmagazines in the waiting room" (392), he decided to make what he considered to be some idle conversation with the female patient. In a condescending tone, he inquires,  "As a concerned person, and as your brother, I ask you, without meaning to offend, how did you get that scar on the side of your face?" (392) Not  realizing the extent of his insensitivity, he dispassionately observes, "The woman seemed insulted" (392). The narration noted a darkening of the scar, as the woman replied mockingly, "I ask