The Stone Face, By William Gardener Smith

In his notable novel, The Stone Face, author William Gardener Smith reveals the complications that arise when one’s ideals are questioned and put into focus. This complexity is demonstrated through the character of Simeon Brown as he tries to negotiate the condition of his racial ideal. However, the complex nature of his conviction poses a challenge that he struggles to overcome. As he makes every effort to understand the principle of race in his life, Simeon essentially grows to recognize the true nature of his circumstances. This significant growth is established in the scene in which Simeon destroys the painting of the infamous stone face. Through the illustration, Gardner Smith exposes how Simeon has become the reflection of the painting that disgusts him to his very core. By considering three fundamental references to the painting, one can explore how Simeon’s process of capturing the stone face and his ultimate destruction of the painting signifies his vexing journey toward self-awareness.
The initial encounter with the stone face provided Simeon with an early consciousness of this tormenting character in his life.
Characterized as a nervous and sensitive adolescent, Simeon was plenty aware of and troubled by the bigotry and violence rooted from racism. He recognized his vulnerability as a young black man under the racial conditions, and was therefore detecting the devastation it was causing. Simeon’s heinous episode with the depiction of the stone face was first through a notorious bully Chris:

“For the instant he was less frightened by the danger than by the coldness of the eyes, the iron jaw. The man who had this face felt no human emotion, no compassion, no generosity, no wonder, no love! The face was that of hatred: hatred and denial- of everything, of life itself. This was the terrible face of anti-man, of discord, of disharmony with the universe. What horrors could have turned a human being into this?” (Smith
27).

Smith’s use of imagery and language intensely accentuates Simeon’s revelation of this prominent semblance. Struggling to grasp this matter, Simeon’s description literally extracts every bit of human characterization from his tormentor. An image so ghastly, Simeon truly cannot understand the meaning or reason behind something so purely evil. This illustration is a vital factor to understanding the polluting nature of racism; Simeon’s confrontation is one of the first instances to suggest the fact that the vicious oppressors that insist on demeaning and dehumanizing others consequently become inhumane and lack those crucial human qualities.
This fundamental instance of racism struck Simeon to his core by ultimately revealing the pervading impact. Simeon’s decision to leave the United States and move to Paris expressed his breaking point. Resolving that he could no longer manage the oppression of blacks and the devastating harms of racial discrimination, Simeon abandoned his country in hopes of forsaking racism as well. However once in Paris, it is not long before Simeon recognizes a similar racial divide. This time as a bystander, Simeon idly witnesses the intolerance and tyranny of the Algerians. As Simeon struggles to neglect the discrimination of Algerians as most of Paris has, one is able to recognize a gradual transformation of this once delicate and apprehensive man.