Throughout The White Boy Shuffle, I have not been sure if I like Gunnar or not. One reason I am not sure if I like him or not is his rejection of his social responsibility and need to represent his community and his race well. This can be viewed as either a need to reassert his individuality, or selfish refusal to look beyond himself. I am not sure where I stand on the matter.
The first real example of this is at the Shakespeare soliloquy finals. Gunnar is the last person from Manischewitz to go, and he seems like he has enough talent to win it. But instead of using his talent to win the finals and redeem his school (and to an extent his entire race), he makes a mockery of the whole thing. "Gazing directly at the judges, I grabbed my dick and ripped into my makeshift monologue. 'What dost thou know me for? A knave, a rascal, an eater of broken meats'" (71). His rejection of the competition is understandable here: he doesn't think he will be treated fairly, so he refuses to take part in it at all. At the same time, this rejection only further confirms the stereotypes of the white audience.
The next place we see this is in a very different environment. While the Shakespeare convention is a white, condescending atmosphere, the atmosphere at a Wheatley High basketball game is overwhelmingly supportive. There is one scene where Gunnar is on the free throw line at an important pint in a game. He is representing his community and school in front of the other team and community. Instead of accepting this responsibility and representing his school as well as he can, he rejects this because it takes away his individuality and obscures his personality. "We? I didn't even need these free throws. I missed the first one on purpose. ... I wanted to shout, 'But Coach, I really don't give a fuck'" (116). Even the cool-headed Scoby gets upset with his new responsibility and cracks under the pressure, refusing to shoot the ball as much.
A third place we see Gunnar refuse to try and represent his race well is when he goes to El Campesino High. He and the other black kids do not act proud of their black culture. Instead, they lay low and let the white kids run all over them. "It was sad to watch us stroll through the halls, a conga line of burlesque self-parody, all of us affecting our white society persona of the day. Most days we morphed into waxen African Americans. Perpetually smiling scholastic lawn jockeys, repeating verbatim the prosaic commandments of domesticity" (154). Not only does Gunnar let himself be stripped of his black social culture, he also refuses to try and change the opinions of the white kids about his intelligence. He doesn't go to class, which only confirms their low opinions of black intelligence and work ethic. He acts so dumb and lazy that people can't believe his SAT scores. He continues this academic practice at Boston University, only ever going to one class before dropping out completely.
On the one hand, Gunnar's actions can seem understandable. He feels he will not be treated fairly at the Shakespeare finals, so he just acts in complete rejection of the competition. At Wheatley, his personality is reduced to his basketball skills, and he feels like he has to abandon some of his basketball in order to keep his identity as an individual. At El Campesino he feels stereotyped by his race before he even gets there, so he doesn't try to prove anyone wrong. In all three cases, he acts hoping to preserve his individual identity. He does seem to act selfishly, though, putting his own individual identity in front of the interests of his Hillside community. Is Gunnar justified in how he acts? I'm still not sure.
His actions don't really bother me. I like his willingness to step out of the norm and do his own thing. I think I like this because he seems so comfortable in his own skin. He doesn't need the attention of anyone, except probably Scoby, his wife and maybe Psycho Loco. I think the equation individuality=selfishness is missing a step; is it always selfish to do what is right for you? Like with the free throws, he misses but it doesn't hurt the crowd and Gunnar's not getting some sick pleasure out of their anxiety. He just wants to take a step back. I don't know. It doesn't bother me. I think sometimes people have to do what they want to sometimes, not ONLY what is expected, demanded, or required. In the end, individuals have a choice about how they want to live. It's his right to choose. Even if when disagreeing with his actions, you have to understand the motivation and be sure not to exclusively equate helping yourself with being selfish.
ReplyDeleteWhen you say "In all three cases, he acts hoping to preserve his individual identity", I agree, but I don't think this is a negative thing. In most of the books we've read thus far, identity is something that the main characters struggle with because society is always imposing ones on them. It is difficult to find their own when so many fake ones are being thrown at them. So when Gunnar finally begins to develop his own identity, whether it be "lazy" or just a bit mysterious, it is still his _own_. When he gets a grasp on this identity that has alluded him for so long, he obviously doesn't want to lose it. Maybe in order to hang on to it, it means that he must act selfishly. I'm not sure if this just/right or not, but I do know that if I had to be a bit selfish in order to maintain my own identity, I would probably do it.
ReplyDeleteThis is a really interesting point you make, and one that raises serious questions about how we should conduct ourselves. Is every action we make judged and incorporated into a stereotype of our group? I feel like this is a very intimidating and frightful theory. Every time I open my mouth, am I making a statement about males? about Jews? about Israelis? I would like to think, and I think that many would agree with me, that when I speak, I am generally speaking for myself and not for a larger entity. If every time I do something, I am representing a larger demographic, I would be afraid to do anything! I couldn't step out of my comfort zone or take risks, and this is precisely what advances society and makes change. I think that throughout the novel, Gunnar is trying to escape speaking for his entire race, and I think he is justified in doing so. At the beginning of his life, he is forced to represent his race as the only black kid in a white area, but in arguably the happiest moments of the novel, he doesn't represent anything, but is just able to express himself through poetry. It is arguable that Gunnar's depression is caused by the weight of being a figure for black people. He begins to be characterized as a 'black poet', not just as a poet. He feels as if everything he does causes others to judge him not as an individual, but as a group. Thus, I think that is important to retain our individuality, and that hopefully someday, we'll be able to treat people as individuals and not as clumped-up groups.
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