Decoding The Classics Willard Motley’s ‘Knock On Any Door’

The United States of America – a country of opportunities, hopes and fantasies.

This perception of it being the home of the ‘American Dream’ saw an influx of immigrants throughout history who sought to have a piece of the pie. What isn’t as widely broadcast, is that not everyone gets to experience the land of milk and honey.

African-American author Willard Motley brought this story to life with his 1947 best seller ‘Knock On Any Door’.

Exploring the life of a young Italian immigrant, Nick Romano, Motley exposes the cruel and unforgiving underbelly of life in the slums of Chicago mid-20th-century. Growing up in a middle-class family, Nick was adored by his parents, older siblings and was a model child in the neighborhood.

Born into a religious Catholic family, Nick took church seriously from a young age and aspired to be an altar boy in his teens.

His dreams didn’t survive for long as his family was thrashed into expected, unfortunate circumstances when his father’s business was closed down. Forced to the opposite side of the tracks, his family had to downscale in various ways from the house they lived in, to the clothes they wore and the schools they attended. His life was turned upside down as he had to adjust to living in the slums of the city and making new friends – elements that would ultimately be his downfall.

Nick slowly turns into a delinquent young man committing petty crimes until one unfortunate day when he was caught for a crime he didn’t commit. Refusing to snitch, he ends up in a teen reform school where discipline is carried out in cruel and unorthodox ways.

The events that follow turn the once devout Christian boy into the hapless victim of a failed penal system and unjust social constructs. From being bullied in the institution to becoming one of its fiercest fighters, Nick is finally released having grown from a child to a man. Upon release, he returns to Chicago where he becomes a notorious name on the street, with family conflicts and an unfortunate marriage all building up to him murdering a police officer. Chicago is intrigued by one of the biggest court cases and watches as Nick fights for his life and pride on the stand.

This tragic tale was sculpted immaculately by Motley in a bid to expose the raw side of society, opening the reader’s eyes and perceptions to situations often swept under the carpet.

Motley researched this novel on the streets of Chicago, talking to immigrants about their experiences and visiting juveniles in Illinois’s youth detention centres.

His writing style and themes were not admired by everyone. According to the citation statement for the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame awards, he was criticised in his life for being a black man writing about white characters, writing about the lower-class as a middle-class citizen and as “a closeted homosexual writing about heterosexual urges.”

Motley was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2014.