The novel, The
Sellout, by Paul Beatty is filled with a series of ironies that both show how
segregation is still very present and how we create numerous black stereotypes.
From very early on in the novel, we are exposed to the comical stance that Beatty
takes to these stereotypes. He starts
the novel with a black man awaiting trial in the Supreme Court while also smoking
a blunt. His comical, but ironic stance
throughout the novel creates a light-hearted tone while he alludes to the
present-day discrimination towards African Americans.
There are many complicated stereotypes throughout The Sellout of black people, but rather
than portray them in negative ways, the author embraces these stereotypes. The
novel explains the main character as a watermelon planter, farmer, and a dope
seller. The irony of the character making
his living from selling watermelons, pokes fun at the typical stereotype of black
people loving watermelon. The main character even completes a drug-deal style
sale with his “crack of the apple world” in a “window to car window,
crime-movie-style” transaction (213). The fruit of the main character is so delicious
that it seems drug-like and superpower inducing. Beatty turns negative labels
that black people are given, into proud descriptions for his characters. We, as
white Americans, expect the weed, watermelon, and guns in this story because
the characters live in Dickens. However,
we don’t expect the characters’ love for poetry and Charlie Chaplin, or success
with selling fruit as opposed to drugs. The book is addressing the common
stereotypes, but also showing other sides of black people that are unexpected, like
their love for the arts.
Additionally, Beatty creates an irony from segregation. While real-life segregation worsened the
situation for African Americans and destroyed opportunity, BonBon’s segregation
plot has the opposite effect. The narrator notes that “segregated schooling is
already working,” even in its earliest stages (208). He even exclaims that “grades
are up and behavioral problems are down” (208). There is success in the main
character’s segregation attempts, which comes as an unexpected shock to the
reader, given our understanding of real-life segregation. The narrator places a
sign on the bus for “Priority Seating For Whites,” and rather than making the
bus filled with riots and upset black people, the bus becomes “the safest place
in the city” (163). Kids feel so safe in their bus, that kids “go do their
homework” on Marpessa’s bus (163). This is not the result that we expect.
Beatty’s ironic take on typical African American stereotypes
and the narrator’s success in segregation, allows the reader to think about
present day relationships with African Americans. Cities, like Dickens, still exist in America,
leaving us to think about if desegregation actually took place, especially in
under-privileged, mostly-minority schools.
I agree with the irony that you pointed out in this blog post. The irony of embracing these stereotypes so outwardly is that they become so obvious they are almost uncomfortable. The watermelon and the dope selling are just examples of how the irony that Beatty uses is so poignant and expressive of his feelings towards how people usually tackle the issues within our community. I think he also uses juxtaposition often to enhance the irony as well. The central quote of “Who am I? And how do I become myself?” juxtaposes itself. Hominy and Foy also end up representing juxtaposing positions that people often take towards racism. Some are afraid of being politically incorrect and try to pretend like racism is not as issue, as Foy did. While others, like Hominy, embrace the errors of the past. These two opposing views are a central irony and juxtaposition that Beatty uses to emphasize the many ways that one can approach racism.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your analysis on stereotypes in the Sellout. While yes, the author embraces the stereotypes attributed to black people, I believe he also uses these stereotypes to force readers to acknowledge the stereotypes that people create. The light-hearted tone that Beatty uses allows readers to think about the stereotypes in a more comfortable environment than one in which an author chooses to use a negative tone. For example, a stereotype that the author uses is the stereotype that black people do drugs; Beatty exemplifies this stereotype when the protagonist is smoking marijuana in the Supreme Court (7). Later, when the protagonist is smoking again, a “blond-haired, white boy” asks where he got it, implying that he is expecting him to have gotten it from another black person or drug dealer. The protagonist replies, “I know some Dutch coffee shop owners” (126), using humor to once again force the readers to acknowledge their stereotypes and realize that the author gave them an unexpected answer. Additionally, the novel uses many stereotypes that black men often seek out sex. For example, he talks about “gigantic penises” (3) and how his father attempted to show an example of direct racism by recklessly eyeballing and wolf-whistling at a white woman in which he goes to have sex with her instead (176); the reader is then forced to acknowledge their own preconceived ideas about black men and sexuality. All of these examples are only small instances in which Beatty has the reader reflect on their own prejudices.
ReplyDeleteI like how you pointed out that Beatty sets up stereotypes about people in low-income communities only to undercut them later. Our first inclination of this is the fact that the town has farms in it, which the reader would not expect of the stereotypical "hood." The narrator describes "the smell of cow manure and, if the wind is blowing in the right direction--good weed" (28). I have to admit that, before I started reading the book, I expected the weed and not the manure. Typically one things of a farm setting OR a city setting, but not both at the same time, and I think that Beatty paints Dickens in this way in order to set up the contrast between the readers' expectations and Dickens' reality from the start of the novel. Also, when the narrator is describing his relationship with Marpessa (I can't find the page oops), he describes how they used to read and discuss Kafka and other authors together, which probably was intended to break the reader's preconceived notions of people of their background. I believe that Beatty does this to show how multi-dimensional his characters are and to dispel, at least to some extent, the stereotypes that people may hold about them.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Beatty used irony effectively throughout The Sellout, but the use of irony was also a masterfully wielded tool to convey the harmful nature of racism still present today. For example, Beatty includes an instance of white students wanting to attend Chaff Middle School, in a direct twist of the real-life Little Rock Nine situation. Instead of the chaos and anger that erupted when black students attempted to attend a white school, here the students “beg for autographs.” (253) Due to the fact that the school segregated to be as good as white kids, the actions here mirror a warped mindset where the difference in race remains true. The kids play the same role as the Little Rock white kids, only wanting to be them rather than get rid of them. Regarding segregation, Marpessa questions a white woman for staying on her bus filled mostly with minorities, acting like “Governor Wallace block(ing) the entrance to the University of Alabama.” (134) Beatty makes this comparison noting how there is irony in how people are now finding role reversals in this segregation scenario. As African Americans gained a voice, their role in the system reversed. Now, formerly disenfranchised people can find themselves in positions of power, abusing it just as the Governor Wallace’s of the past have. Beatty taking this ironic display of racism and segregation by reversing the positions helps to display how these actions can corrupt someone’s mind so that they engage in horrors they have seen harm them in the past.
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