Miscegenation of Macon Detornay

The title of the novel is Angry Black White Boy, but in smaller print it says “Or the miscegenation of Macon Detornay”. Mansbach picked the word miscegenation very deliberately. The word itself literally means “the interbreeding of people considered to be of different racial types”. Macon is a white man, yet Mansbach describes it as “the miscegenation”, meaning that Macon is going through the process of miscegenation and becoming interracial. The idea that miscegenation is a process that an individual can go through violates the definition of the word, yet it fits the bill perfectly. When the novel begins Macon is a self-aware white male who wants to actually help the black community without imposing a savior complex. He does so in a way that he thinks will actually help instead of the “help” that he sees other white people give. Macon’s intentions are pure, and he really puts himself out there. He doesn’t try to act black or fit in, and he makes it explicit that he is just a white guy that is trying to help out. At this point there are no signs of miscegenation, he is just a white guy involved in a black community.

After his rise to popularity we see his mentality change. He begins to get caught up in the moment, and starts to see himself above both other white people and black people. When he is in the spotlight, people listen to him and he feels like he is starting to make a difference. His ego gets a little too large however, and when he goes on the different media networks gets a little carried away. He criticizes the host, and indirectly accuses the audience, for thinking the n-word in their heads. He brings the host to tears, and then we see Nique and Dre a little on edge because Macon used the n-word even though he is white. This is the first indication of Macon’s miscegenation, yet it is not a very positive step. He thinks he is better than the white audience that is listening, and he distances himself from the black audience by using the n-word in a way that isn’t really acceptable for white people.  

At the end of the novel, the process of miscegenation comes full circle. Macon goes into the south to embrace his whiteness and distance himself from his old ideologies and views about race. Yet, when he is recognized by white supremacists in the south we really see Macon being considered to be equivalent to a black man in the white supremacists’ eyes. By being a race traitor, they lump Macon into the same category and treat him the same way they treated Leo. Macon is begging for his life, and telling them that he is white and he even beats on Leo to prove it, yet he is still treated like a black person. He truly is interracial on a psychological level at this point. Because when the gun is pointed at him, and he is told he is going to be a martyr for the black cause he shakes his head and denies it because he is white.

Minor Characters Play a Major Role

The story of Jack and Ma has been told, but we fail to acknowledge the roles that the minor characters play in the novel. After all, Jack’s story is all about integration into the real world and his interactions with people other than Ma. When Jack first enters the outside world he is dazed and confused, and can’t seem to connect with anything or anyone. The first person he makes any sort of connection to is Grandma.

Unlike every other person Jack has met, Grandma doesn’t seem to give two thoughts before treating Jack as a normal human being. Everyone else, especially the media, sees him as a unique creature that has emerged from Room after 5 years and they are treating him more like a test subject than an actual person with feelings. Grandma is the total opposite, when she first meets Jack she is very accepting and Jack is able to connect with her way faster than anyone else. Ma’s father, on the other hand wants nothing to do with Jack. While it seems that this action would harm Jack, I think it gives him very valuable perspective. It allows him to see that the world isn’t perfect. While Jack was in Room, while it is awful to think about, he was technically in a “perfect place”. Now take this with a grain of salt, but he was subject to no diseases, everything was provided for him, he was surrounded by the one person he loves constantly; it seems to me that Room seemed to display many Edenic qualities.

When Jack finally entered the outside world, he needed to realize that there are flaws in the world, and that not everything is perfect. Which is why Ma’s father is a key character in Jack’s integration and development in the world. Similarly, Ma’s overdose was a very important aspect of the book. Not because it made Jack realize anything about death – because Jack didn’t understand the total gravity of the situation—but because it gave Jack a reason to be separated from Ma and become better acclimated to society. During Ma’s recovery Leo played a much more traditional role of the “father figure”, this figure is also incredibly important in establishing some sort of anchor for Jack. Jack has been able to understand quite a bit about the world, but he still struggles with communicating with others in a way that they understand him. Leo teaches him the ins and outs, and becomes more of a friend to Jack than another judgmental adult. 

Jack's Intelligence

Despite Jack’s malnourishment and below average size and height, his intelligence seems to be way above average. I don’t really remember being a 5-year-old, but being 5 years old is around kindergarten age and already Jack is able to empathize with the characters in the fairytales and understand concepts way deeper than most 5 year olds could dream of. In the story about the mermaid and the baby, Jack asks Ma why the mermaid doesn’t take the baby with her at the end of the story. Ma corrects the story and says of course the mermaid takes the baby. Jack recognizes that he acts as the baby in this story, and that from his narration we understand that something doesn’t sit well with Jack about leaving the baby behind. Jack sort of understands that he is more of a hindrance to Ma and that he is somehow messing up her plans.

The most shocking part is that Ma has been trapped for years and years, and has had all the time in the world to plan some sort of escape plan involving and using Jack to her advantage. Yet, in all those years she never came up with a solid plan. That is until Jack proposed that they could “trick” Nick, and suddenly a plan forms in Ma’s mind. Since we want to see Jack as the hero of the story, this revelation from Jack doesn’t come as a surprise. However, if we take a step back we realize that Jack is 5 years old and he has come up with a better plan in 1 day than Ma has in 5 years.

Jack’s intelligence is also manifest in his ability to adapt to plan B after they plan it all out. Very few 5 year olds are able to sit still, let alone fake playing dead for an extended period of time. Despite Jack’s physical limitations – which are made obvious to us again when he pees and poops a little while wrapped in the rug – he is able to stay silent and carry out a pretty extensive plan. In addition to staying silent he finds motivation through the fairytales and stories; like “GingerJack be nimble be quick” and imaging Old Nick is a giant and is “coming to tear me in half fee fie foe fum” (p140). He is able to take the themes of the fairytales and relate them to his own life and situation.

Invisible Man and A Lesson Before Dying

Jumping back to the beginning of the novel, I felt a lot of déjà vu, but couldn’t quite pin point it exactly. One day in class when we were discussing Grant and his role at the school, it clicked—I realized that the environment is strikingly similar to that of Invisible Man (for those of you that were in African American Lit last semester). Grant follows a very similar arc to that of the Narrator. The Narrator in Invisible Man, had the opportunity to attend an all-black university and break the cycle. Similarly, Grant was able to get away from his community and attend college. Both characters, despite their opportunities ended up in a similar place. The Narrator was kicked out of school and continued to strive to break the cycle – specifically by advocating black rights in Harlem. While Grant decided to return to his community to teach school, in an attempt to break the cycle of other black schoolchildren.

Grant and the Narrator both same the same end goal in mind. For Grant it is to help Jefferson achieve “manhood”, but he comes to realize that Jefferson has been given an opportunity to prove his innocence, and take the moral high ground. By doing so Jefferson can break the cycle. Grant’s goal is to move Jefferson from his depressed state of thinking himself a “hog” and get him to break the cycle. The Narrator is also trying to prove to other people that blacks are intelligent and he is encouraging people to break the cycle.

Another interesting parallel is that of Mr. Norton and Dr. Joseph. Both characters are white and are high up in the hierarchy of the school. The part that gave me the most déjà vu was the way these two characters interacted with the school. Dr. Joseph is described as being very discriminatory and treating the students like animals – inspecting their hygiene and treating them less than the white students. Even though his treatment of the kids is visibly worse, he tells Grant that he should be proud and that he is raising a crop of students. It is obvious to us as the reader, that despite trying to put on a show and acting like he cares, he actually doesn’t. Similarly, Mr. Norton “takes interest” in the university. He comes to check on the students and tells the Narrator that the school is his one true interest and that it means the world to him, yet we all get the feeling that he doesn’t really care. 

Shameless and As I Lay Dying

As someone who watches maybe a little too much Netflix, I couldn’t help but compare the characters in As I lay Dying to a show called Shameless. The show is set in Southside Chicago and the basic premise is that an alcoholic father has six children who have to provide for themselves. Frank, the alcoholic father, embodies a modern representation of Anse. Not only is Frank lazy and refuses to work like Anse, but Frank also has quality of “I don’t want to be beholden”, yet he is always a burden for everyone. Frank always makes the argument that it is hard work to care and provide for so many children, so he expects others should do favors for him to help him out. One of my favorite scenes is where Frank is promoting neglect. He says that the best gift you can give your children is self-reliance, and that you need to make fisherman out of your children, rather than giving them fish after fish. The scene really shows Frank’s attitude towards work. On numerous occasions Frank even steals money from his kids to buy alcohol, this is strikingly similar to Anse who took Cashes money to pay for a new team of mules.

Frank’s oldest, Fiona, pretty much runs everything. She is very organized and takes care of everyone. She is very similar to Cash. Cash we know to be very composed and he seems to always have his sh*t together, at least in comparison with the other children who each live in their own little world. Fiona seems to be the only one that knows what needs to be done, and works her tail off through the worst conditions –just like Cash works non-stop through the rain— to provide for her family.

It is difficult to relate Darl to anyone, but the comparison is still there. Darl, as we know, has a talent for somehow knowing things that are impossible to know. Living in Southside Chicago doesn’t allow the greatest of educations for the kids, yet somehow Lip is off the charts in terms of intelligence. He even takes SATs for other students and can get whatever score they want.

One episode, Lip and Ian went to go blood tests done once to see if they were really Frank’s children. Ian wasn’t too excited about it, but Lip somehow knew that one of them might not be Frank’s kid. As it turned out, Ian wasn’t actually Frank’s kid. This is the comparison that first sparked the comparison for me. Just like Darl somehow knew that Jewel wasn’t Anse’s kid, Lip knew that Ian wasn’t Frank’s kid.

There are also other comparisons such as Debbie who is a little girl and is sort of ignored by the rest of her family, just like not much attention is payed to Dewey Dell. There is Carl who gets into a lot of trouble for being a little crazy, and sort of is confusing to understand just like Vardaman.

It is one thing to compare characteristics between characters, but after all this is Hero’s Journey, so it is more important to see how the storylines equate. Numerous times in class we have discussed the conflicting themes of an epic journey vs a foolish fiasco in As I lay Dying. I came to the conclusion during our discussions that while there are elements of epic and heroic moments, it seems that the journey as a whole is more comical and foolish than a normal Hero’s Journey. While the individuals in Shameless, don’t make a “journey” per se, they have to continuously provide for themselves and their goal is to just get through whatever life throws at them. For example, one time when Frank loses a bet of $10,000 to a local gang and doesn’t have the money to pay, the gang takes his 2-year old son Liam as ransom. Fiona has to find a way to get Liam back, and so she storms the gang’s residence and pays them all her saved earnings and promises to pay the remainder later. This action can be seen as heroic, yet just like in As I Lay Dying it can be seen as just the cleanup of someone else’s mistake. Like Darl in the river scene trying to save the coffin, after Anse foolishly led them into an awful position. Or Jewel saving the coffin from the barn fire that Darl set. In both works, you can look at the actions of any one character and define them to be both heroic and as part of a journey turned disaster.  

Everett and Odysseus

O, Brother, Where Art Thou presented an excellent parody of The Odyssey and I particularly enjoyed the adaptation of many of the problems into a more modern presentation. The Odyssey has been a popular epic poem since its creation, but it is possible that a lot of the meaning and familiarity with the topics is lost on us because of the cultural differences.

In my opinion the best parallel was between Ulysses Everett McGill and Odysseus. In the Odyssey we are told over and over that Odysseus is “tactful” “great” and “wise”. It often seems to be over exaggerated and makes Odysseus to look extra heroic. Odysseus is also made out to be even more heroic by contrast of his crew. The crew is described in the opening “He [Odysseus] could not save them from disaster, hard as he strove—the blind fools”. (Homer 1.10) Similarly, Everett is accompanied by Pete and Delmar who are both not very bright and blindly follow Everett.

Everett tricks them the entire time saying they are going after a treasure but really Everett is just trying to stop Penny from getting remarried. Everett tells them that he needed them to help him escape and to help him through his journey. Odysseus also would not have been able to get home if not for his crew, and most of them die because Odysseus convinced them to follow him and help him get home. Both Odysseus and Everett tricked their “crews” in order to get home.

The best similarity between Everett and Odysseus is the use of pride. Odysseus, as we have seen in many scenes, loves to boast and even trash talk people who oppose him. Everett similarly has a very witty tongue and often displays his intelligence. Like when Pete questions Everett’s leadership he responds with “Well Pete, I figured it should be the one with the capacity for abstract thought. But if that ain't the consensus view, then hell, let's put it to a vote.” Everett also has Odysseus’ pride which is epitomized by his obsession over his hair. Throughout the movie is concerned about his hair, he only uses Dapper Dan hair gel, and wears hairnets to sleep. Just like Odysseus’ pride was his downfall with the Cyclops, Everett leaves a hairnet in their camp one night and so the sheriff continues to follow him.

Athena the Author

As the story progresses, we gain more confirmation that Athena is constantly orchestrating the whole the story, while still playing a large role in the story. This arrangement becomes most obvious during the scenes leading up to the climatic slaughter of the suitors. We know from other passages that Athena’s continues to test Odysseus at every turn. When Odysseus first arrives at Ithaca Athena tests his wit and patience by shrouding his view of the island. Odysseus concocts a solid fake identity and passes the Athena’s test. Once Odysseus is reunited with Telemachus, they plot to get rid of all the suitors. Telemachus expresses some desire to spare some of the suitors, but Athena tells Odysseus that he has to kill them all. Odysseus doesn’t question Athena and so they plot to kill all of them.

Once they are inside of the palace and the plan is in place, Athena takes a back seat to watch it all go down. It seems that everything has come to a perfect ending for Athena’s story: Both Telemachus and Odysseus have completed their journeys to heroism. Telemachus is even described as “Prince Telemachus, son of King Odysseus…”. It seems that the weeping and fearful boy we saw at the beginning of the story has reached the peak of his development and “come of age”. Odysseus’ climatic reveal and theatrical speech almost seems like a performance put on to please Athena.

However, it seemed that Athena’s perfect entertainment production has a little hiccup. Even though we just saw Telemachus reach a new height, he makes the mistake of leaving the storage room door open allowing the suitors to get some weapons. This causes a moment of fear in Odysseus and he asks for Athena/Mentor’s help. After he asks for help “Athena hit new heights of rage, she lashed out at Odysseus now with blazing accusations: “Where’s it gone, Odysseus—your power, your fighting heart? The great soldier who fought for famous white-armed Helen, battling Trojans nine long years – nonstop, no mercy…” (22. 446). It seems that Athena’s plan to slaughter all the suitors as gone awry and now she has a little miniature blow up at Odysseus for messing up her moment.

Yet she still turns it into an experience for Odysseus and Telemachus. “But she gave no all-out turning of the tide, not yet, she kept on testing Odysseus and his gallant son, putting their force and fighting heart to proof” (22. 446). Even though her ideal fight didn’t happen, she was still able to continue to shape the story and make the bloodbath into a test for Odysseus and Telemachus to prove their bravery and wit. 

A Unique Type of Hero

Most fictional heroes are created to display a few unique characteristics that make them different than any other hero. Superman can fly, the Flash has super speed, Harry Potter is a wizard, each person while they often follow similar developments have something unique about them. These characteristics are defined at the discretion of the author, however in the case of Sherlock Holmes, there are many iterations of his character each with a slightly different take on the original persona written by Arthur Conan Doyle. I haven’t had the pleasure to read many of the original works, but I still would like to look at the modern versions of this hero.

On the surface, Sherlock hardly has any distinguishing characteristics, he has no super powers, and from his job description he is just another detective trying to solve a crime. Does this make every detective a hero in some way? I guess in a sense it does, in that they all work towards a goal of solving murders and other crime and often face setbacks and opposition during their “journey”. So what sets apart Sherlock from any other detective? Every iteration of Sherlock characterizes him as incredibility intelligent and possessing almost supernatural deductive talents. Sherlock uses these talents to rush into danger and solve crimes that to a normal audience seem unsolvable.

In the recent BBC TV Series Sherlock, a different approach to this character is taken. In a more modern setting, Sherlock’s deductive reasoning and intellect is taken to a whole new level, so much so that it comes at a cost. The cost being that Sherlock seems to lack all emotion and seems to almost have sociopathic qualities. He is incredibly impulsive and lacks regard for the safety of himself and others. There seems to be nothing heroic about such a character. Imagine a madman running around the city chasing after murders and trying to solve crimes without being attached to any law enforcement agency. Such a man would have no place in our society, he would constantly be putting himself and others in danger, and in a way acting as a vigilante.

Yet, as we watch this TV series we can’t help but encourage such behavior. We constantly hope that Sherlock is able to solve the next case even faster than before. However, what makes this show enjoyable is that it depicts no win scenarios, (Spoiler) but in one case Sherlock kills a man in cold blood rather than let him get away with what he did. This is not a very heroic act, yet we continue to hope that Sherlock won’t face the consequences. Sherlock embodies a very unique type of hero that blurs the lines of justice.