James Weldon Johnson's The Autobiography Of An Ex-Colored Man
Preforming for Freedom
In James Weldon Johnson’s The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man, the narrator is troubled by the two facets of his racial identity making him incapable of determining his self-identity. Music plays a crucial a role in the determination of the narrator’s self-identity, he expresses admiration towards African American culture for its originality and universality, while he also reveres European culture for its priority on intellectualism and classical music. It is clear that the narrator struggles with his self-identity throughout the novel, but by joining both of his musical roots is the narrator capable to formulate his self-identity.
The narrator was conscious that “there were some black and brown boys and girls” (Johnson 13) at his school and that they were “in some way looked down upon” (13), but as for race and racism, the narrator was entirely ignorant, until his principal segregated him from the other white students in his class. For the first time in his life he “noticed the ivory whiteness” (15) of his skin, which led him to …show more content…
But after witnessing the lynching of an African American man, the narrator consciously makes the decision to let society choose his self-identity, that of a white man, “I would neither disclaim the black race nor claim the white race; but that I would change my name, raise a mustache and let the world take me for what it would; that it was not necessary for me to go with a label of inferiority pasted across my forehead” (106). The narrator expresses ambivalence towards his choice, “I cannot repress the thought, that, after all, I have chosen the lesser part, that I have sold my birthright for a mess of pottage” (118). He recognizes the fact that he is choosing comfort over
In James Weldon Johnson’s The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man, the narrator is troubled by the two facets of his racial identity making him incapable of determining his self-identity. Music plays a crucial a role in the determination of the narrator’s self-identity, he expresses admiration towards African American culture for its originality and universality, while he also reveres European culture for its priority on intellectualism and classical music. It is clear that the narrator struggles with his self-identity throughout the novel, but by joining both of his musical roots is the narrator capable to formulate his self-identity.
The narrator was conscious that “there were some black and brown boys and girls” (Johnson 13) at his school and that they were “in some way looked down upon” (13), but as for race and racism, the narrator was entirely ignorant, until his principal segregated him from the other white students in his class. For the first time in his life he “noticed the ivory whiteness” (15) of his skin, which led him to …show more content…
But after witnessing the lynching of an African American man, the narrator consciously makes the decision to let society choose his self-identity, that of a white man, “I would neither disclaim the black race nor claim the white race; but that I would change my name, raise a mustache and let the world take me for what it would; that it was not necessary for me to go with a label of inferiority pasted across my forehead” (106). The narrator expresses ambivalence towards his choice, “I cannot repress the thought, that, after all, I have chosen the lesser part, that I have sold my birthright for a mess of pottage” (118). He recognizes the fact that he is choosing comfort over