Paul Beatty has often said that he does not label The Sellout as a satire due to the applications of many of the scenes to modern society. While the novel is heavy laden with comedy, a majority of the exaggerated scenes can be applied to modern society. A great example of Beatty using an exaggerated event to show highlight racial issues in modern society is the narrator's plans to segregate Dickens. While segregation is obviously not something that one would think still exists in modern society, it is still prevalent around the country. Beatty says,"'Segregate the school.' As soon as I said it, I realized that segregation would be the key to bringing Dickens back. The communal feeling of the bus would spread to the school then permeate the rest of the city. Apartheid united black South Africa, why couldn't it do the same for Dickens" (Beatty 167). To begin, the comparison that Beatty makes to segregating the school in Dickens to Apartheid is laughable as Apartheid was a terrible and racist policy that destroyed South Africa, not united it. Additionally, Beatty is very obviously using a comedic tone here to display his distaste for segregation but he uses this to highlight the existence of segregation in modern society. Within modern society, the majority of inner city areas are predominately black and riddled with crime. As a result, people that live in affluent areas (generally a predominately white population) avoid these areas, causing a form of segregation. While the novel may seem to have a satiric tone surrounding this topic, the novel does highlight the issue of segregation in modern society. Beatty uses this comedic tone to highlight the true nature of these issues in today's landscape and help to bring attention to them.
Another example of Beatty uses comedy to highlight a real issue within modern society is through the Dum Dum Donut intellectuals. Over the course of the novel, the narrator's distaste for the club becomes clear, despite the fact that he is a member of the club and still attends the meeting. The group is comprised of the "intellectuals" of Dickens and was created by the narrators father. According to the novel, the club serves as the closest thing to a local government that Dickens has. The irony within the club is that the intellectuals like Foy and the narrators father seem to think that they know what is wrong with the city but take no actions to attempt to fix it. They fill the meetings with useless information about financial advice and the current state of Dickens as a town but the organization does nothing to try and fix these issues. The comedic outlook on the club however could easily be applied to modern society and the politics of the current world. Beatty has often said that his books are him writing down what he sees around him and this is no exception. In the modern political landscape it seems that politicians are making promises that they cant keep and tearing the country apart more than they are actually helping it, similar to what the Dum Dum intellectuals do to Dickens. Through his use of comedy, Beatty again illuminates a major issue within the scope of modern society.
Your title of “Why The Sellout is Not Considered a Satiric Novel” caught my eye because I would definitely consider The Sellout a satirical novel. I think that making observations about the faults in society and using humor to illuminate those faults is the essence of a satire. Sometimes reading about issues as controversial as race and class is difficult, and satire is a way to become immersed in the societal-issues rather than shying away from them. Beatty has moments without humor, which are refreshing. When the Narrator says, “Fuck being black. Try learning to crawl, ride a tricycle, cover both eyes while playing peek-a-boo, and construct a meaningful theory of mind, all with one hand,” (56). I think quote is one completely devoid of any sarcasm or humor, which is rare in the novel. Beatty skillfully incorporates quotes such as this one that took my breath away. The fact that some people feel as if society itself has handicapped them is an issue that The Sellout explored beautifully. I understand what you were saying about how the novel is not a satire, because of moment like this. Though, when you say that “a majority of the exaggerated scenes can be applied to modern society”, I believe that is the definition of a satire. I think that for the majority of the novel, Beatty uses satire to capture the audience by making the issues in the book relevant to modern-day society.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading this novel, I agree that it is not technically satirical, but Beatty heavily utilizes satirical elements to portray his message about racism and immigration. To highlight his distaste for systematic racism, he utilizes Hominy to create a parallel to Uncle Tom from "Uncle Tom's Cabin" by Harriet Beecher Stowe. Even though Hominy refers to the narrator as "Massa" and appears to have pledged his life to the narrator (80). However, Hominy refuses to work, but only remains subservient and "only know[s] one thing - his place" (81). Further ridiculing the notion of slavery, Beatty claims that the only task that Hominy is capable of is serving "as a human footstool" (81).
ReplyDeleteEven Beatty's inclusion of the phrase "too many Mexicans" serves to create a satirical depiction of the immigration situation in LA (153). Beatty describes that the Native Americans, the whites, and the blacks have almost bonded together in a way because of the influx of Mexicans in the city, describing the phrase as "a tacit agreement between aggrieved strangers" (153).
Even Beatty’s inclusion of Hominy’s movie at the L.A. Festival of Forbidden Cinema describes the notion of “black people pop” and how modern society prefers minorities in larger roles in movies (238). The sorority girls in “non-ironic blackface” are even included to show that Hominy’s character has no fine line between where his humor towards racism begins, and where his actual personality ends (240). When Hominy addresses the blackface, he calls it “acting” which amuses the audience, but is meant in seriousness (240). Overall, satirical elements are used to convey Beatty's messages, but are often juxtaposed with serious claims and evidence from modern times.