To Hell with Dying

“To Hell with Dying” is a 1968 short story by the American writer Alice Walker, best known for her 1982 novel The Color Purple. Walker’s first published work, “To Hell with Dying” is told by a grown-up narrator who fondly remembers an old man, Mr. Sweet Little, who lived near her family when she was growing up. In 1988, “To Hell with Dying” was re-published as a children’s book, with illustrations by Catherine Deeter. The illustrations suggest that Walker is the narrator of the story, although internal details about the narrator’s life do not match the details of Walker’s.

The story introduces Mr. Sweet as “a diabetic and an alcoholic and a guitar player” who lived down the road from the narrator when she was growing up.  She remembers how Mr. Sweet would regularly insist that he was dying and send for the narrator’s family. Arriving at his bedside, her father would say, “To hell with dying, man…These children want Mr. Sweet!” The narrator would jump onto Mr. Sweet’s bed and kiss and tickle him until he began to laugh.

The narrator fills us in on Mr. Sweet’s life. He was an ambitious boy, “only to find that black men fare better if they are not.” Now his job is fishing, although his passion is for guitar-playing. He has a wife, Miss Mary, and a son, Joe Lee. His son is a womanizer who spends all Mr. Sweet’s money, but there is nothing he can do about it because Miss Mary dotes on Joe Lee.



Mr. Sweet brews his own liquor, and he is always drunk. However, his drunkenness only affects his body, making him weak and uncoordinated, while his mind stays sharp. This makes him the perfect playmate for the narrator and her siblings because he is weak enough to wrestle. The children admire Mr. Sweet, drawing wrinkles on their brows in order to look like him.

The narrator especially likes to play with Mr. Sweet’s white hair. On one occasion, he visits the narrator’s home to talk to her father shortly after he has been to the barbershop and had his hair shaved. The narrator takes off his hat only to find that his hair is missing, and she squeals. Ever since, the narrator remarks, she has had a fear of men in hats.

Mr. Sweet calls the narrator his “princess” and “Sweet Georgia Brown,” which is the name of a blues song he plays on his guitar. He plays for the whole family, and sometimes he writes songs of his own. From one of these songs, the narrator learns that Mr. Sweet “had” to marry Miss Mary, and isn’t sure Joe Lee is really his child. She also learns that Mr. Sweet had a true love, who now lives in “Chi-cago, or De-stroy, Michigan.” Sometimes, Mr. Sweet cries as he plays, and the narrator remembers wishing she could be the woman he loves.



The narrator remembers Mr. Sweet’s “revivals” in more detail. She and her father and brother are summoned to Mr. Sweet’s house, “a very poor shack, really,” where they are told that Mr. Sweet is dying. The narrator is frightened and burdened by the responsibility of reviving him. Her father says, “To hell with dying, man, these children want Mr. Sweet!” The narrator kisses Mr. Sweet and tickles him, and he begins to smile. She remembers that on one occasion, he had had a stroke, and she was alarmed when one half of his face didn’t smile. When he comes round, Mr. Sweet runs a “scratchy old finger” all around the narrator’s distinctive hairline. Meanwhile, her brother plays Mr. Sweet’s guitar and pretends to be him.

The narrator grows up and goes to university in Massachusetts, but she sees Mr. Sweet every time she returns home, and although he ages and grows a long, white beard, he doesn’t seem any closer to death. His wife has died, and he is “peaceful, fragile, gentle.” He still plays his guitar.

On Mr. Sweet’s ninetieth birthday, the narrator receives a telegram in Massachusetts: Mr. Sweet is dying “again.” The narrator rushes home to see him. The shack is more dilapidated than ever, although it is covered in yellow roses, planted by the narrator’s family.



Mr. Sweet is in bed. His hands are “thin and delicate, no longer scratchy.” The narrator’s father says, “To hell with dying, man! My daughter is home to see Mr. Sweet!” The narrator’s brother is fighting in “the war in Asia.” She puts her head down on Mr. Sweet’s pillow, and he begins to trace her hairline. She closes her eyes, and he cups her cheek. When she opens them again, Mr. Sweet is dead. The narrator’s parents give her Mr. Sweet’s guitar: he wanted her to have it. The narrator reflects that Mr. Sweet “had been my first love.”

Exploring themes of community and mortality, “To Hell with Dying” was published in the 1967 anthology The Best Short Stories by Negro Writers, edited by Langston Hughes. As well as introducing the world to Walker’s talent, the story provided an early portrait of under-represented Southern black communities.