Much like other works we have studied so far, The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man once again plays with the reader’s expectations of the narrator. By claiming the work is an autobiography, James Weldon Johnson attempts to instill in the reader the idea that the experiences and characters introduced throughout the story are accurate. On page 1, Johnson even states, “I know that in writing the following pages I am divulging the greatest secret of my life, the secret which for some years I have guarded far more carefully than any of my earthly possessions.” However, this book isn’t technically considered an autobiography. Its worth in reality comes with the parallels drawn through Johnson’s life, and the life of the narrator. Through anonymity, and the use of the word “autobiography,” Johnson inhabits the narrator, and attempts to educate and influence his readers of the culturally complicated nature of recognizing oneself as colored, thereby reevaluating ones identity.
It is readily apparent, more than anywhere else in the novel, that Johnson intends for a degree of anonymity revolving around the narrator and the characters. The narrator is never given a name, and even important characters like “Red” and “Shiny” are never mentioned outside of their respective nicknames. One of the most obvious cases of this is on page 17, when he refers to his partner in a duet as “She of the brown eyes” (Johnson). By doing so, the reader can only really conjure up a mental image of each character based on small descriptions and recognizable character traits. Without a name, the narrator as well as his family, friends, and acquaintances are easier to inhabit, both for Johnson and the reader.
The narrator then begins to explore his identity crisis on pages 9-10. Much as the reader sees the story through the narrator’s influence, the narrator now sees the world through the expectations of his race. “I looked out through other eyes, my thoughts were colored, my words dictated, my actions limited by one dominating, all-pervading idea” (Johnson 9). This parallel between this theme of the book and an actual writing technique employed by the author only furthers the point that even though we may be individuals, there are always those outside influences that alter who we are, how we are viewed by others, and how we view the world around us.
I really liked the point you made in the last paragraph about outside influences. It seems like that is a driving force in the book as the character doesn't really seem himself as black until other people see him as black.
ReplyDeleteI think that by originally publishing the book anonymously, Johnson's story has more potential for readers to put themselves in the narrator's shoes. I am guessing that Johnson's readership at this time period would have been predominantly white, so this provides a white audience with a black perspective of the time period, which has its issues: Johnson clearly had more opportunities than the average African American had in this time-period.
ReplyDeleteThe nicknames are themselves creations of ways of seeing the world, too.
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