Blue Highways: A Journey into America

The narrative most distinguishes Heat-Moon’s friend by how he is able to bring out a side of the author that is otherwise somewhat elusive. His direct manner and dry humor elicit the same from Heat-Moon, and moments of levity—as when Heat-Moon turns jokingly sarcastic with his friend Chisholm—are overall rare in a narrative that is by turns serious, heavy, dark, and challenging. Chisholm’s appearance in the journey is also uplifting for Heat-Moon, who is reinvigorated after three days with his friend.

While Chisholm is, in some ways, almost Heat-Moon’s alter-ego, he is a bit more rugged. Like Heat-Moon, He is of both European and Native descent, an aspiring writer, a college teacher, and appears to be chasing his life around rather than letting it just happen. Chisolm is an amiable figure, and the narrative makes plain the author’s affection for him. Even when Heat-Moon points out their differences—namely that Chisholm is loquacious and rambles along from one topic to the next—Heat-Moon is uncritical and instead finds his talkative friend endearing. Chisolm, too, is merely trying to make the best of what life has given him.

The friends spend much of their time together working on a stone wall, and, acting younger than they are, they push each other’s capabilities. Chisholm, perhaps even more so than Heat-Moon, refuses to accept his limitations, and his stubborn insistence on picking up the heaviest rocks betrays a competitive streak. It’s not the ability to pick up heavy rocks that impresses Heat-Moon; rather, it is Chisolm’s determination.

Walker is one of the African American men whom Heat-Moon meets in Selma, Alabama. Charles Davis is the other, but the author meets Walker first and has more dialogue with him. Walker’s commentary provides a deeper, more accurate reflection of race relations in the United States circa 1978. A veteran of the US Airforce, he recounts some of the abject discrimination he routinely faces and its impact on his perspective. He is resolute, but America’s wonted anti-Black racism has inevitably engendered his notable cynicism.

Answering Heat-Moon’s many inquiries, Walker shows a deep distrust in American institutions, particularly law-enforcement—a leeriness many African Americans share. One of the author’s central preoccupations is the nature of change and how people from all walks of life respond to it. Walker’s opinions—mainly that “ain’t nothing changed didn’t have to change” (100)—in some ways represent a countervailing force to Heat-Moon’s concept of change. Walker is a determined man, and he is wise to the ways of the world, but his world greatly differs from that of other figures in the text. Societal factors, specifically modernity and commercialism, have necessitated human adaptation—but, for Walker, there is the added force of racism, which often obstructs the privileged opportunity for such adaptation. Considering that hate is among the most formidable obstacles anyone can face, African Americans have shown uncommon prowess in adaptation and perseverance.