Dutchman (play) The action focuses almost exclusively on Lula‚ a 30-year-old white woman‚ and Clay‚ a 20-year-old black male‚ who both ride the subway in New York City. Clay’s name is symbolic of the malleability of black identity and black manhood. It is also symbolic of integrationist and assimilationist ideologies within the contemporary black civil rights movement.[2] Lula boards the train eating an apple‚ an allusion to the Biblical Eve. The characters engage in a long‚ flirtatious conversation
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White Violence and the Black Response in Amiri Baraka’s Dutchman How long in history has the Black individual been associated with violence? In various cases throughout literature Blacks have been portrayed as very simply‚ violent by nature. They are depicted as people who simply act violent for violence’s sake. But‚ does one ever hear of the origin of this violence and where it might be stemming from? The notion that Black individuals are violent just because‚ is baseless and just all around wrong
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The “Dutchman” metaphorically relates the Flying Dutchman‚ a ship that sails at sea with no destination‚ which symbolizes how “white” America ceases to recognize blacks as apart of the human race. Clay’s suit represents invisibility and alienation as it portrays how he attempts to assimilate into the white world‚ blending in and fitting in to it’s stereotype of who African Americans are. At the same time‚ Clay expresses his anger toward the same white culture he is attempting to assimilate into
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Kelli Orr October 31‚ 2016 English 333 Short paper Assignment 2 Identity Confusion and Stereotyping in Baraka’s Dutchman During this semester‚ we have taken a look at a number of African American literature in which a variety of themes have appeared. One reading we dove into was Amiri Baraka’s play called Dutchman. This play displays an interaction between two main characters by the names of Clay and Lula. The readers are introduced to this story with Lula accusing Clay of watching her from the
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Victoria Broussard DRA 155 Paper Assignment 1 Race/Ethnicity: Checkmark Other Could it really be that simple? My racial identity summarized to only a box labeled “other”. Is my racial identity not worthy enough to be labeled correctly‚ like the other dominants [African American‚ White‚ Pacific Islander]—it appears not. With the constantly constant habits that society has developed to label people in categories‚ as if it’s a chore easily done‚ when in retrospect‚ race and identity is so much more
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Williams‚ Jae`da June 19‚ 2012 ENC 1102 Dutchman Thematic Analysis The phrase “racial tension” is a small description of the main theme in Dutchman by Amiri Baraka. While race is a vital part of the underlying messages in the play‚ it stems to a much broader term. In Dutchman Amiri Baraka attempts to grasp the attention of the African American society. Baraka uses Clay’s character to show readers that complete assimilation into another culture is wrong. He wants to awaken the African American
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"Dutchman"‚ a play by LeRoi Jones‚ draws the audience into a controversial that concentrates on the subjects of race and privilege. The two main characters in this play are Lula and Clay. They are a portrayal of two restricting strengths of the high contrast character to a lesser degree because of manliness and gentility. The play‚ occurring inside a moving subway train ride with Clay and Lulu sitting together‚ and later with passengers‚ merges the sharp strains that certainly incite a thrilling
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their power when the world is found to be more complex than the stereotype would suggest. When we learn that individuals do not fit the group stereotype‚ then it begins to fall apart.” This is a powerful quote which applies to the play The Dutchman. The Dutchman takes place on a train in 1964. The play centers around two characters named Clay and Lula. Clay is an educated 21 year old African American man. Lula is a thirty year old lower class white woman. The play opens with Clay staring out of
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To be honest‚ it seems that there are more negative impacts of stereotypes than there are of positive impacts and what it actually means to either be the cause of social problems or race and ethnicity‚ such as in the play The Slave by Amiri Baraka‚ his main focus was the Black Panther warrior who was tired of being treated as less because of his color of his skin and not being acknowledge for his intelligence and persistence in making America somewhat equal in his eyes. Or how a rooster
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Honestly‚ the only reason I chose this poem because it is one of the poems that I could make a connection with on a personal level. This spectacular poem by Amiri Baraka centers around Baraka celebrating his African identity and what does it mean to be an African American; furthermore‚ he urges his fellow African Americans to unite and rise together as he acknowledges the hardships they go through in a white man society. Baraka converted to Islam and is credited with being the founding father of
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