In Their Last Breaths

The last words that Rölf Kaufman ever wrote graced his suicide note:

Like the good Reverend King

I too “have a dream,”

but when I wake up

I forget it and

remember I’m running late for work.

Likewise, Nicholas Scoby left his debut poem on his note for Gunnar:

i step into the void

bravely,

aaa

aa

a

a

ahhhhh

Dexter Waverly also left a poem for Gunnar before committing suicide:

Abandoning all concern

my larynx bobs,

enlightenment is a bitch.

The tone of these poems is completely different from what we would recognize as a standard note. Those who are happy with what they've accomplished in their lives, such as Scoby and Waverly (who in his last action helped South Africa), meet death with pride. The elder Kaufman finally reveals a transformation from his previous ideals, whereas throughout his life he followed and continued with pride the "Uncle Tom" style of living of his ancestors, here he reveals that not all was as it seemed. To the reader, he was always a perpetuation of the white superiority structure, literally beating down his own son in response to Gunnar supporting his friends and his African-American community. Now, that entire narrative is called into question as Rölf is stuck in the rat-race and is unable to pursue his dreams, but it is still ambiguous as to what those dreams were. Maybe he really supports the African-American heritage of his children more than we originally thought?

Personally, I was expecting from a poetic suicide note something more like Langston Hughes's Suicide's Note:

The calm,

Cool face of the river

Asked me for a kiss.

The completely different tone the Beatty gives to the suicide of his characters reflects the message that Gunnar is sending; committing suicide is standing up for your beliefs and proving your worth by going out with honor. As he said, it is not the Western idea of suicide of giving up on life because they couldn't be successful, and as proof we have the case of Nick Scoby, by all measures and extremely successful man. His reasons for suicide are much more similar to those we normally associate with the act; he couldn't handle the pressure that his fame brought upon him. In that sense, depression drives him and the speaker in Hughes's poem towards suicide as a release, following the Western idea of suicide. Gunnar goes against that, and influenced by Japanese culture instead offers suicide as a final protest, more like the honorable seppuku rather than the sinful suicide. For example, the self-immolation of Buddhist monks as a protest is in a similar vein as Gunnar's mass suicide for African Americans. The humor of the situation stems from Gunnar being thrust into an authoritative position as a leader of the community without his consultation, particularly impressive considering his origins (which were also similar in tone to those of Invisible Man's narrator). Even then, he doesn't attempt to indoctrinate anyone, only saying what he believes about himself, but still becomes a trusted figure to African-Americans. The relatively safe humor of the novel turns very dark towards the end, driving home the dangerous truths behind Gunnar's personal philosophy. 

And Another One

I'm starting to feel that a frame narrative is just a cheap trick to get me hooked on a book. Apart from Native Son, every book we've read this semester has used it, and I can see why it’s such a popular literary device. Anybody reading a book is in it for the story, for the experience of discovering something new and immersing themselves into a different world. It’s often a challenge to stop yourself from peeking ahead in a book, and by giving the reader a taste of what is coming, the author appeases that urge while pulling the reader into their novel. Having a prologue that doesn’t just set up the story but actually sets up the end makes a biographical book become a mystery and an adventure.

The parallel universe that The White Boy Shuffle takes place in a universe that is nearly identical to ours. The cities have the same economic makeup and the country has the same history, but there are slight differences. For example, the neighborhoods Gunnar lives in don’t correlate to any in our world. The most blatant departure from fact is that that no poetry book even came close to Watermelanin’s 126,000,000 sales. Even with the slight differences, Beatty’s main character is quite natural. His experiences so far resonate easily with readers my age, making it a joy to read about his life. The foundation of his life follows the “Uncle Tom” heritage that Gunnar gets from his father. Unlike Janie’s story in Their Eyes Were Watching God, Gunnar is almost out of place in his environment. While Hurston depicted a character who was at one with her environment, and stood by her point of depicting an African-American as a normal human being in spite of criticism, Beatty throws more contrast in the creation of his character. 

Growing up in completely white surroundings, none of the African-American heritage that has defined our previous protagonists shines through in Gunnar. With a Scandinavian name and a white upbringing, only his mother’s stories of his ancestry and his skin color keep him from being a hundred percent white. When his mother realizes that her children think they are better than other African-Americans, she instantly relocates her household to a poor ghetto in Los Angeles. In addition to the troubles of going to a new school with new and unfamiliar faces, Gunnar also has to adapt to a different society and new cultural norms. His host of issues is surrounded by hilarity thanks to the humor and sarcasm of Beatty’s writing. For example, Gunnar’s new junior high school in Los Angeles is called Manischewitz Junior High, named after a leading US brand of kosher products. I look forward to seeing more of how Gunnar’s contrast between the start of his upbringing and his new surroundings affect his personality. Will he be able to adapt to the completely different culture he is now a part of, and when do we meet the famous poet that he becomes?