Colin
asked:
im about 60 percent done with this book, and my question is - its safe to assume Archer is African American and the book takes place probably somewhere in the south? Alabama or some where? There is a PONCA CITY in Alabama. Not sure hoping someone may have some info on this? Thanks!
To answer questions about
One Good Deed,
please sign up.
Barbara
I don’t believe Archer is African-American. It’s 1949, and he moves about Poca City way too freely for that era, seems to have no problems eating at the restaurants, checking into the hotel, or befriending the town folk. I was frustrated not knowing the state where the story is set, but he talks frequently about how dry and dusty the place is, so my guess is Arkansas or Oklahoma maybe.
Phil
I got no clue that Archer was black. I think he was a poor southerner who was finding a place after the war and after prison. There would have been other different reactions to the character if he had been black, which were not there. Excellent character development by Baldacci,
Vicki Renee
He is most certainly NOT BLACK. Someone would have castigated (and done much worse) him for sure! As it was, he was discriminated against because of his felonious past, being a "criminal" and having served time.
Fred Svoboda
It's set someplace in the arid west, close enough to Las Vegas for one major character to spend time there and close enough to California for the main character to consider driving there. The mention of newly discovered oil fields might suggest Oklahoma, but Oklahoma is too far east. I would think. I am tending to think that it's a generic, fictional state that's a little like Wyoming or Montana. I think Baldacci is trying to keep it indeterminate. UPDATE: I just finished and it probably is Oklahoma, as one character drives to and from Texas in the last few pages.
BTW, the main character's interactions with others including several women suggest that he can't be African-American. These relationships would have caused a black character no end of trouble from others in 1949.
BTW, the main character's interactions with others including several women suggest that he can't be African-American. These relationships would have caused a black character no end of trouble from others in 1949.
Mary
I am pretty sure this story takes place in Oklahoma.
Thomas
Everything points to Oklahoma, possibly Ponca City. If Archer was meant to be back, Baldacci would have been writing about it on every other page, just like World War II and Prison. He is about as subtle as a bull in a china shop. Plus, he panders to "demographic" audiences, so if Archer was black you would have read several hundred times how tough it was to be an African American in 1949.
Terry Shackleford
I automatically thought it was Oklahoma as I grew up not too far from from where Ponca City, Oklahoma actually is. Definitely dry and dusty could describe that area with bouts of drought... and horrible terrifying storms when you do get rain. Never once thought of him being an African American.
Hillsullivan
I think the book is in the west. It does talk about driving I think to California and talks about going to Las Vegas - so I am thinking it takes place in nevada
J
He's definitely not a black guy. The story is WAY pre-civil rights movement, so the story would have required him to have done a lot more than he did - such as sitting in certain rows in the bus on his way from prison, separate hotels (given that it's a small-town hotel), and much attention would have been given to his interactions with people had be been black. So, no, he's most certainly a white guy.
Maggie Strasser
I wondered this also, but then I noticed that the author specifically identifies if someone is African American. But I too began reading this story, wondering Archer's race so I could picture the man.
Randy
What would make you think Archer was black? Everything in the book makes it clear he could not be. As others have said, the book is set in the south around 1950, so there's no way on earth that Archer could be a black man. As for the location, I think it would likely be somewhere in either northern Louisiana or Oklahoma. The state policeman drives from Poca City to Amarillo TX and back in a long day, so it can't be more than a few hundred miles (and car trips generally took longer back then). Louisiana may be more likely, perhaps, only because Amarillo isn't very far from anywhere in Oklahoma. Distance-wise, Baldacci's Poca City could also be in New Mexico, Colorado, Kansas or Arkansas, but in the context of the novel as a whole, those don't strike me a very likely.
Chris
There is a Ponca City, Oklahoma, but not Alabama as far as I know and I'm from AL. Like many things, Poca City is most likely fictional. Since I listened to it on audio, there is no way he is black based on his speech.
Mitchell Kaufman
With all of the book taken in context, I believe Poca City to have been set in California.
About Goodreads Q&A
Ask and answer questions about books!
You can pose questions to the Goodreads community with Reader Q&A, or ask your favorite author a question with Ask the Author.
See Featured Authors Answering Questions
Learn more