Black History Month

A Hero Ain't Nothin' but a Sandwich

Alice Childress

Novel, 1973

Set in the inner city in the late 1960s, Alice Childress's A Hero Ain't Nothin' but a Sandwich centers on Benjie Johnson, a thirteen-year-old who becomes addicted to heroin. He responds to the prodding of the neighborhood children, and he takes drugs on a dare just to show he would never be "chicken." Rose Johnson, Benjie's mother, lives with a man named Craig Butler, who is a maintenance worker. Rose has always remarked on Benjie's similarities to his biological father, who abandoned them, so Benjie feels undeserving of his stepfather's care and attention. Rose's mother, Mrs. Ransom Bell, feels marginalized both because she is subject to violence on the street and because her family neglects her. Benjie feels displaced and jealous, and retreats more into drug use. He uses heroin instead of marijuana at the urging of gang members. Then he turns from a user into a drug distributor. Benjie stops paying attention at school, then stops going. The teacher, Nigeria Greene, notifies Benjie's mother so she can get him into a rehabilitation clinic. After trying to prevent Benjie's downward slide into addiction in the name of black nationalism, Greene is forced to give up. Benjie takes out his frustrations on Craig, who finally tires of Benjie's stealing from him and leaves for fear of striking out at the boy. But Benjie follows Craig to a boardinghouse and tries to steal from him again. When Craig saves Benjie from a deadly fall from a rooftop, his stepson promises to go back into the clinic out of gratitude. The novel ends ambiguously, as Craig waits for Benjie to appear for an appointment at the drug rehabilitation center.