It is widely known that Ralph Ellison was taken by the message of the Communist Party in the 30s. He eventually would be at odds with the Party, ultimately questioning their motivations, much like his narrator does with the Brotherhood in Invisible Man. In The New Yorker, David Denby writes, “[Ellison] drew close to the Communist Party in the […]
In the early pages of Invisible Man, the narrator describes going to a horrifying fight club of sorts, in which young Black boys are forced to beat one another for money and for the amusement of the rich, white men of their town. The narrator thinks he is there to read his valedictorian speech, but he […]
David, after his tryst with Joey, is determined to appear as not gay as possible, even going so far as to bully his friend Joey. His relationship with Jacques is not dissimilar. He seems to detest Jacques outwardly expressed and near-shameless homosexuality. However, he tolerates it for his own benefit: he looks to Jacques for […]
The Southern Renaissance was a movement within Southern American literature in the 20s and 30s. William Faulkner is widely regarded as one of the most important writers to come out of this time. He was awarded a Nobel Prize for Literature in 1949. The Southern Renaissance, and her authors, were responding to the notion that […]
The subject of Part I in Passing is Clare Kendry’s ability to “pass” for white, and essentially fool her abhorrently racist husband into thinking she is white. During Jack’s rant about the apparent darkening of Clare’s skin, she asks him, “My goodness, Jack! What difference would it make if, after all these years, you were to find […]