Masaryk University

Faculty of Arts
Department of English
and American Studies
North-American Culture Studies
Bc. Monika Večeřová
Double Consciousness in African American
Crime Fiction
Master’s Diploma Thesis
Supervisor: doc. PhDr. Tomáš Pospíšil, Ph.D.
2020
I declare that I have worked on this thesis independently,
using only the primary and secondary sources listed in the bibliography.
……………………………………………..
Author’s signature
I would like to thank my supervisor doc. PhDr. Tomáš Pospíšil, Ph.D. for his time,
patience
and advice that he has given me in the process of writing this thesis.
Table of Contents
Synopsis of Devil in a Blue Dress by Walter
Mosley................................................................ 5
Synopsis of Blanche on the Lam by Barbara
Neely................................................................... 7
1.
Introduction ......................................................................
.................................................. 9
2. Double Consciousness as a
Concept ...........................................................................
..... 20
3. African American Double-Voiced
Tradition ................................................................... 24
4. Ebonics and Minstrelsy
Stereotypes .......................................................................
......... 40
5. The Art of Layered
Detection .........................................................................
................. 46
6. Double Consciousness in Devil in a Blue Dress by Walter
Mosley ................................ 53
7. Double Consciousness in Blanche on the Lam by Barbara
Neely ................................... 96
8.
Conclusion.........................................................................
............................................. 120
Bibliography.......................................................................
.................................................... 125
English
Resume.............................................................................
......................................... 133
Czech
Resume.............................................................................
........................................... 134
Synopsis of Devil in a Blue Dress by Walter Mosley
Ezekiel “Easy” Rawlins is an African American war veteran living in Los Angeles in
1948. As Easy gets fired from his job in a factory, he needs money and thus accepts
an offer
that his friend Joppy finds him. Easy gets hired by a white gangster DeWitt
Albright to find a
woman named Daphne Monet. Daphne is a lover of Albright’s boss Todd Carter, seen
hanging around in Black owned bars. During his investigation, Easy deals with
memories
from the war as he gets an unwelcome letter from his friend Mouse whom Easy knows
from
Texas; apart from Easy, the only person knowing Mouse in LA is Easy’s acquaintance
Junior.
One night, Daphne calls Easy to meet her, claiming she feels in danger; in fact,
she needs to
retrieve a suitcase full of money from her associate Richard McGee. After they find
Richard
dead, Daphne kisses Easy, who starts falling in love with her, and disappears. Easy
decides to
track down Frank Green who is a known gangster amongst the Black community, hoping
he
knows more about Daphne’s whereabouts.
At the same time, Howard Green, a regular customer in one of the bars Easy goes to,
has been murdered. Later on, Coretta James, Easy’s friend, gets killed too, as well
as Howard
Green’s white employer, politician Matthew Teran. On his quest, Easy deals with
LAPD
officers Mason and Miller who accuse him of murdering Howard and Coretta and
shortly
incarcerate him. Discovering that Daphne stole the money from Carter, Easy tries to
protect
her from Albright who wants Carter’s money to himself.
As Mouse appears in LA, he saves Easy from Frank who tries to kill him, and further
helps Easy to find Daphne captured by Joppy and Albright. After Joppy kills Frank,
Mouse
kills Joppy, Albright escapes and Daphne is saved, admitting that she is in fact
Frank’s
passing half-sister. Moreover, she discloses how Joppy killed Teran on her request,
accidently
murdering Howard and Coretta in the process. Albright dies the same night as he
bleeds out
alone in his car. As Mouse returns to Texas and Daphne leaves for good, Easy
blackmails
Carter into covering for him in front of Mason and Miller. In return, Easy promises
that he
would not mention Carter’s relationship with Daphne. Easy buys another house,
becomes a
landlord and starts working as a private investigator.
Synopsis of Blanche on the Lam by Barbara Neely
Blanche White works as a domestic worker for a cleaning agency and lives with her
mother Cora, a strong-minded woman opposed to her daughter’s life choices. After
the death
of her sister, Blanche became her niece and nephew’s legal guardian and moved back
from
New York to Farleigh, North Carolina. One day, Blanche is charged for an unpaid
ticket and
gets sentenced to thirty days in prison. However, she manages to flee from the
court just when
she is about to be taken into custody. She runs to a house where she was supposed
to be
employed since that morning and starts working for a wealthy white family. As she
meets her
employer Grace, Grace mentions she specifically asked the agency for someone who
already
knows the family. Blanche pretends that is the case, deciding it would be a good
place to lie
low before she can take the children back to New York.
As Blanche meets Grace’s husband Everett, she deduces that the couple is trying to
get
their hands on their Aunt Emmeline’s money, about to be inherited by their cousin
Mumsfield, a boy with Down’s syndrome. As Blanche travels with the family from the
city to
their Southern country residence, Blanche starts noticing suspicious behaviour of
the family
members, especially Everett. She befriends Mumsfield who becomes attached to
Blanche and
confides in her regarding his worries about Aunt Emmeline. Emmeline is an old woman
who
never leaves her room and Blanche believes her to be a drunk. However, the real
Aunt
Emmeline is dead, and the reason Grace and Everett are keeping Mumsfield away is
for him
not to recognise the impostor. The woman pretending to be Aunt Emmeline is in fact
her
passing mixed half-sister used to sign the real Emmeline’s will.
In the meantime, Blanche discovers that Everett is acquainted with the city sheriff
who
might recognise Blanche’s identity. When the sheriff dies, Blanche starts
suspecting Everett,
and tries to move her investigation forward by asking questions to Nate, who is a
gardener
and the only Black person apart from Blanche working for the family. After Nate
gets killed
in a house fire, Blanche knows she must find the murderer herself before she gets
framed for
the crimes she did not commit. Thanks to her mother, who asks around in her
community,
Blanche finds out secrets of Grace’s family. In the end, Grace reveals that she
murdered the
sheriff, Nate, and the real Aunt Emmeline, and confesses to her past murders of
Everett’s first
wife and her other cousin whom she killed when she was young. After Grace tries to
kill
Blanche too and is taken away, Blanche decides not to continue working for
Mumsfield,
returning to her mother and children.
9
1. Introduction
As an act of looking at oneself through the eyes of others, the concept of double
consciousness addresses a position of a person who is simultaneously an American
and of
African descent. This two-ness, introduced by William Edward Burghardt Du Bois in
The
Souls of Black Folk (1903), bears two opposing perspectives experienced by African
Americans. The ability to use this trope as a rhetorical construction has been
largely assigned
to the prominent voice of Frederick Douglass. Douglass, born in Maryland to a slave
mother
and white slaveowner, escaped slavery in 1838 and his slave narrative Narrative of
the Life of
Frederick Douglass, an American Slave (1848) became a representation of what W. E.
B. Du
Bois would later describe as double consciousness. As a child, Douglass began
working as a
house slave since he was too young to work on plantations. Working for the Auld
family
marked the beginning of his way to literacy when Sophia Auld, despite her husband’s
arguments, began teaching teenage Douglass to read. Eventually, she ascribed to her
husband’s ideology; if slaves were able to read, they were less likely to be
controlled.
Nonetheless, Douglass had already begun reading by himself, including learning
about
freedom and human rights in political pamphlets, and started teaching fellow slaves
in secret.
As Douglass reached his late teenage years, he had already been moved from
slaveowner to slaveowner. Once the Aulds discovered how Douglass conspired behind
their
back, they sent him to Baltimore to the plantation of Edward Covey, a slaveholder
known for
his brutal ways to crush his slaves’ spirit. Covey subjected Douglass to weeks of
brutal
beatings, which broke Douglass’ “body, soul, and spirit” (Douglass 49) until
Douglass fought
back and Covey never laid hands on him again. He escaped from slavery on his second
try,
obtained papers which declared him a free man, and pretended to be a Black sailor
traveling
back to Pennsylvania. Although the man’s physical attributes were not those of a
sailor, his
10
guise remained undetected. Douglass’ censure of slavery served as a junction
between the
Southern plantation culture and Northern readers, between slavery and freedom,
between
Black and white.1
He was not a simple mediator between two societies nor a neutral agent
leaving both sides intact. Since Douglass moved between two worlds, his attack on
slavery’s
unfaltering reality resulted from the need to challenge distinct boundaries between
good and
evil, legal and illegal, hardworking and lazy, or white from non-white.2
Through learning to
read, fighting back and escaping slavery, he positioned himself on several
crossroads. As
Richard W. Leeman notes, Douglass’ use of double consciousness “echoes throughout
the
history of African American oratory as Black Americans3
have faced the same recurring
exigencies” to confront a kind of reality that white Americans do not sustain
(283). In his
letter from 1846, addressed to William Lloyd Garrison, an American abolitionist,
Douglass
wrote that
in thinking of America, I sometimes find myself admiring her bright
blue sky … her fertile fields … But my rapture is soon checked, my
joy is soon turned to mourning. When I remember that all is cursed
with the infernal spirit of slaveholding, robbery and wrong … [that]
the tears of my brethren are … disregarded and forgotten, and that her
most fertile fields drink daily of the warm blood of my outraged
1
The thesis adheres to the notion of capitalising “B” in Black as a recognition of
one’s ethnic identity and as a
sign of respect. As Sarah Glover writes in her appeal to the Associated Press in
the New York Amsterdam News,
“Black is an encompassing term that is readily used to refer to African Americans,
people of Caribbean descent
and people of African origin worldwide. Capitalizing the ‘B’ in Black should become
standard use to describe
people, culture, art and communities. We already capitalize Asian, Hispanic,
African American and Native
American.” Further, the thesis refrains from capitalising “white” as it may carry
different meanings, as Merrill
Perlman explains in her article for Columbia Journalism Review. Capitalising
“white” in this context risks
associating the text with its previous use by white supremacists (one of such
instances occurred when Dylann
Roof capitalised “White” but not “black” on his website).
2
The term “non-white” includes people who are not of European, Middle Eastern or
North African descent,
according to the U.S. Census Bureau 2020.
3
The thesis uses both “African American” and “Black American” terms, aware of the
fact that while all African
Americans are Black, not all Black Americans are African American. Considering both
analysed novels are
written by African American authors and the two main protagonists are African
American as well, the text uses
“Black American” and “Black people” as a synonym for African Americans, not the
other way around.
11
sisters, I am filled with unutterable loathing, and led to reproach
myself that any thing could fall from my lips in praise of such a land.
(Douglass)
In the letter, Douglass expressed how his sentiment towards the American land was
overpowered with grief for his fellow comrades bleeding in fields, whipped, raped,
dying. The
tension inside Douglass demonstrated the two-ness which battled the love and
revulsion the
former slave carried for his country, his fellow countrymen and himself. Hence,
Douglass’
double consciousness confronted the question of his Black identity and the
injustices of his
prescribed inferiority, reflected in his existence as a “double anomaly” of a “free
slave and a
white-black native son” (Hyde 270).
Contrary to plantation culture’s design to deny the enslaved their voices in
reading,
writing, and talking to white people, for Douglass, being a mixed child in itself
generated
confusion of the colour line. Thus, aimed at dismantling the duality and
artificially created
notions of what is moral and immoral, Douglass’ narrative disrupted the old order
solely by
existing (Hyde 270-1). By creating fractures in the system, Douglass became a
figure
possessing certain qualities of the trickster spirit. As Lewis Hyde notes,
trickster figures lie
and steal not to become rich, but to “disturb the established categories of truth
and property,
and, by so doing, open the road to possible new worlds” (13). In his work, Douglass
provided
new possibilities of the world bound with slavery and stereotypes about Black
people.
Therefore, he stepped into the trickster’s discourse as an abolitionist epitomising
cultural
identity of Black Americans whose collective resistance traversed the boundary
between
written and oral dialogue. According to Gerald Vizenor, tricksters “can only be
understood as
part of a greater whole” (188). In other words, Douglass’ experience and two-ness
are
reflected in a vast range of literary works, for instance in works of African
American mystery
writers.
12
As a normative set of rules, Euro- and Americentric framework of socially accepted
cultural models has been gradually challenged by vernacular criticism of African
Americans. Over the decades, the false notion of Black people lacking distinct
culture
separated from the predominantly white society resulted in the need for inclusion
of critical
vocabulary and Afrocentric standards. Hence, prevalence of systemic racism4
and
oppression, and the need to oppose it, disclosed new paths for textual research
tying to
sociohistorical principles (Soitos 22). That way, its native art forms started to
be considered
and applied through critical theories to white literary genres, including formulas
of
American crime fiction. As African American authors employed their own double
consciousness into their work, their detective protagonists navigated double-voiced
narrative and their two-ness into their investigations. Further, they used varying
elements of
African American rhetorical traditions, including African American Vernacular
English5
or
signifyin’. Consequently, African American crime fiction has altered numerous
conventional tropes and the genre as a whole, confronting the established Euro-
Americentric6
ideologies.
4
Systemic racism (also institutionalised racism) refers to how principles of white
superiority can be found at a
systems level; it looks at how society operates rather than what values individuals
identify with. Although people
may not identify themselves as racist individually, they still benefit from the
system that discriminates against
Black and/or Indigenous peoples and/or people of colour (BIPOC) on federal level,
in the media, education,
healthcare. An instance of everyday white privilege is when white people turn on
the TV and see predominantly
white faces or are can choose to regularly spend their time in the company of
people of their own race. Systemic
racism also includes biases in job interviews or discrimination in the justice
system. Gulati-Partee and Potapchuk
identify three principal challenges of white privilege and white culture: First,
foundation cultures often embody
dominant (white) culture. Due to its normalisation, white privilege is difficult to
recognise and dismantle.
Second, identifying social inequities that come from the inside of the majority of
population results in sensitivity
and white fragility, generating emotional response and conflict. Third, this
learning process on its way to change
may lead white people’s needs centralised by accommodating the learning curve to
their needs. As a result, this
often leaves BIPOC feeling marginalised due to the attention being given to white
needs.
5
Later in text as AAVE.
6
Based on the belief that European, especially West European, principles and history
are inherently superior to
the rest of the world, universally characterising all humanity, Eurocentrism has
been recognised as a political
term in 1980s and upholds European ideas of race, mentality, political, economic
and capitalist views.
Eurocentrism originated in times of colonialism and imperialism, lasting from the
sixteenth until early twentieth
centuries before the new ideal shifted to Americentrism. Further, Euro-centralised
uniformity disregards non-
European cultures including European others, e.g. minorities and the marginalised
(Wallerstein and Tansel).
Americentric views are based on the ideal of freedom, democracy and lifestyle of
the U.S. Peet notes that as “the
technological power [in the U.S.] … resulted in a material abundance shared by a
majority of the population,
13
As a matter of social structure and cultural representation, the legacy of slavery
has
been reflected in systemic racism, police brutality but also a self-destructive
behaviour. The
need to establish Black detective protagonists stems from the general concept of
Black
Americans historically presented as either victims or perpetrators of violence and
public
transgressions. Hence, Black American mystery novels aim at counterbalancing this
dichotomy of white-male-oriented writings (English 773). The representative of
typical
American hard-boiled detective fiction is a private eye caught up in action-packed
violent
murders. Existing within a mortal peril, hard-boiled detectives live as lone wolfs,
and their
ability to identify how infected society is results in their own corruption and
individual
villainy. Unlike country-house mysteries with closed communities and puzzles to be
solved,
where detectives know majority of suspects and often befriend the police, hard-
boiled
detective fiction contains wider societal implications (Todorov). The tension
between an
individual and society translates in hard-boiled novels into realising that in some
ways,
everyone is guilty, and the notion of depicting detectives as individual heroes
with qualities
that a common man would not possess becomes unrealistic.
This diploma thesis analyses two works of African American crime fiction; Devil in
a
Blue Dress (1990) by Walter Mosley and Blanche on the Lam (1992) by Barbara Neely,
each
being the first novel in their respective detective series. African American crime
fiction
presents individuals who create a fraction in the system by crossing established
lines of good
and bad, and whose relationship with the police is complicated. Revealing society
dominated
by whiteness, Black American detective novels shift from plot to character. In
order to
criticise race-related discrimination, the genre builds upon its characters’
awareness of their
Blackness and applies popular cultural forms to African American experience (Gray
489).
Thus, through their own rhetorical methods, Mosley and Neely express the impact of
double
rather than restricted to an ascriptive elite” (937), the promise of freedom to
vote, consume, and simply be
presented the U.S. as the new ideal of the rest of the world.
14
consciousness relating to racial, social and economic issues in the U.S. on their
main
characters, Easy Rawlins and Blanche White. While Mosley’s hard-boiled novel is set
in an
urban scene of Los Angeles in 1948, Neely’s more domestic murder mystery follows
events
in North Carolina around 1980s.7
Although the lives of Easy and Blanche contrast in
environments they operate in, people surrounding them, and crimes they need to
solve, both
of their journeys centre around their accidental development into amateur sleuths.
Dismantling the concept of solitary, mysterious and emotionless professional
detectives, Easy
and Blanche’s personalities alter the trope of a typical investigator and disturb
the order of
traditional crime novels by relying on the Black community, using their wits,
methods of
persuasion and double-voiced tradition.
The goal of the thesis is to examine how double consciousness in the novels
influences
patterns of behaviour of specific characters. At first, the text analyses how the
individuals
operate in their surroundings and to what extent they have been influenced by
values of the
predominantly white society. Facing collision of multiple identities, the
characters deal with
inner struggles of hate towards others and themselves, which arise from
internalised racism8
or Westernised mainstream standards,9
including patriarchal values or materialism. Through
examination of their earlier lives, current professions, or places of residence,
their two-ness
manifests itself in numerous ways. Furthermore, the diploma thesis concentrates on
trickster
7
Neely does not mention a specific time period. The year stated is deduced from the
vague information provided
in the novel when Blanche mentions that her employer was about twelve years old in
1959. Considering the
character may now be thirty-five or forty years old, the thesis works with the
decade of 1980s.
8
Internalised racism is an equivalent of double consciousness. As Donna Bivens
explains, “just as racism results
in the system of structural advantage for white people, internalised racism results
in the system of structural
disadvantage for people of color. As people of color are victimized by racism, we
internalize it. That is, we
develop ideas, beliefs, actions and behaviors that support of collude with racism.”
9
Western culture or Western society is a term that loosely refers to social
standards, ethnical values, traditions,
belief and political systems, and connects to anything with its origins in Europe.
It includes Christianity,
oppression based on one’s ethnicity, or discrimination against women based on a
patriarchal past. While women
can be protected by implemented state and federal policies regarding their right to
divorce, undergo abortion, or
take birth control, media constructions and gender stereotypes that target men,
women and non-binary people
perpetuate harmful notions and consequent behaviour. For instance, such stereotypes
can result in internalised
misogyny. For women, internalised misogyny influences how women think of themselves
and act towards other
women, men or non-binary people. For men, this is exhibited in a form of toxic
masculinity (for further
information see page 53). Western culture is prevalent globally and can have both
positive and negative impact.
15
traits of prominent characters; what the trickster characteristics are, how they
are exhibited in
the decision-making process, and in which ways they are used to the characters’
advantage.
The second chapter begins with the correlation between diasporic communities and
double consciousness, referencing Samir Dayal’s study on the allegiance diasporic
groups feel
towards the host and the home countries, assimilation and transnationalism. Then,
the chapter
continues with explaining Du Bois’ concept of double consciousness related to
African
American population. It describes Du Bois’ own double consciousness reflected in
his book
The Souls of Black Folk, and his stance towards the teachings of Booker T.
Washington.
Washington was one of the most prominent African American scholars and orators of
the late
nineteenth century whose views on the relations between Black and white people
presented in
his Atlanta Compromise were scrutinised by Du Bois. This section helps with
understanding
how double consciousness influenced Black people’s views of themselves and others,
and
provides a basis for the two analysed novels.
The third chapter is dedicated to the double-voiced tradition. First, it focuses on
trickster figures, developed from tribal cultures and traditional folktales,
specifically on their
shapeshifting, boundary crossing, and how they acquire behaviour of other animals
or divine
entities. Further, it examines the difference between thieving and lying by drawing
from the
research of Lewis Hyde in his book Trickster Makes This World, and from Gerald
Vizenor’s
Comic Holotropes and Language Games. For instance, the text introduces the divine
trickster
Esu Elegbara and his power of speech. After categorising primary signs of trickster
figures,
the thesis applies trickster behaviour to the behaviour of Black slaves in the U.S.
and their
resistance towards the institution in numerous ways. Here, Frantz Fanon’s book
Black Skin,
White Masks ties Black people’s shame to white gaze and dehumanisation under
colonialism.
This part connects mythology to real life events, referencing Ronald Takaki’s work
A
Different Mirror: A History of Multicultural America. Apart from Esu Elegbara, the
section
16
discusses linguistic tradition called signifyin’ through the famous folktale about
the
Signifying Monkey. Lastly, it relies on Henry Louis Gates Jr.’s teachings of AAVE
tied to the
divine tricksters.
The fourth chapter follows the treatment of AAVE amongst the general public,
referencing work of Walt Wolfram. The society’s perspective on AAVE’s inferiority
aided
the creation of stereotypes in the U.S.’ popular culture, with the entertainment
industry not
only dehumanising Black people by exaggerating their physical appearance but also
presenting AAVE as an informal version of Standard American English.10
Moreover, the part
highlights four prominent stereotypes of African Americans; Sambo, the
Savage/Brute, the
Mammy, and Jezebel, which are later applied to the analysed characters in both
novels.
Further, this part works with academic articles written by Douglas A. Jones Jr.,
Sylvia
Wynter, or Darlene Clark Hine.
The fifth chapter concentrates on crime fiction and the ways in which American
mystery and hard-boiled fiction originated from the traditional detective tropes.
It begins with
an overview of Edgar Allan Poe’s detective Dupin who served as a prototype for
future
detectives. Poe’s idea of a Bi-Part Soul, combining creativity and science,
presents Dupin’s
fractured inner self that results in a perfectly rational and methodical
investigation. Moreover,
the chapter notes how African American fiction transformed the conventional hard-
boiled
narrative and shows in which ways they correlate and differ. Double consciousness
is applied
to the behaviour of Black American detectives, including if and how their two-ness
benefits
their detection. The chapter concludes with a brief depiction of Walter Mosley and
Barbara
Neely’s work in relation to detective and Black traditions. This section primarily
references
Stephen Soitos’ study on African American detective fiction, as well as mentions
research of
Tzvetan Todorov, Stephanie Craighill, or Elana Gomel.
10
Later in text as SAE.
17
The sixth chapter opens the second part of the thesis with the analysis of the
first
novel, Devil in a Blue Dress written by Walter Mosley. To answer which kind of
internalised
Western values the main character possesses, the first section concentrates on the
protagonist’s materialism and patriarchal principles that he identifies with. It
delves into the
general detachment of one’s self in a hostile environment and compares it to the
1940s crime
scene in LA. Easy’s transformation into a detective marks his views and self-hatred
being
challenged as he encounters various characters that represent what he despises in
others and
himself. Living in the late Jim Crow era, Easy gets further exposed to stereotypes
or brutality,
which he often applies to his own behaviour. The second section looks at different
layers of
Easy’s personality as he tries to find his self-worth, battles his rage and his
inner voice, and
reminiscences about his time in the war. Then, the text describes Easy’s two-ness,
referencing
the Signifying Monkey and Esu to demonstrate Easy’s trickster traits, with Easy’s
use of his
trickster ways in his investigation. The following part analyses Daphne Monet’s
character as
the femme fatale and potential trickster of the story, the stereotype that she
perpetuates, her
relationship with Easy, and her past trauma guiding her actions. Lastly, the
chapter concludes
with the analysis of Easy’s friend Mouse’s questionable past and present actions in
regard to
him being the trickster. Secondary sources published about Mosley’s work that are
referenced
in the section for instance include studies by Jennifer Bailey Woodard and Teresa
Mastin,
Patricia Hill Collins, Alejandro A. Alonso, Chelsae R. Huot, William J. Collins or
Julie
Grossman.
The seventh chapter continues with the analysis of the second novel, Blanche on the
Lam by Barbara Neely. It begins with Neely’s motivation behind her series, as she
travelled
through the U.S. and decided to incorporate both racialised and gender-based
struggles of
Black American women into her writing. Further, it describes the struggle of Black
women in
the twentieth century during the liberation movements of primarily Black men and
white
18
women, citing Toni Cade Bambara’s anthology The Black Woman. The analysis examines
Blanche’s identities of a house worker, mother, daughter and amateur investigator
through her
inner conflicts and inconsistent behaviour. Blanche takes pride in resisting
familial sentiments
towards her white employers; something that Black domestic workers had often faced.
Nonetheless, the text explores to what extent Blanche’s own values change and how
conventions and stereotypes bestowed upon her as a (Black) woman influence her own
treatment of her gender. Moreover, Blanche’s two-ness is inspected through her
ability to
adapt and to sense energies of material objects. The chapter concludes with
inspecting the
protagonist’s trickster nature. For instance, it relies on Nancy D. Tolson’s
research on Black
feminist tricksters, or Hyde’s examination of lack of female tricksters in the
predominantly
masculine trickster discourse. Drawing similarities between Blanche and the
trickster Ananse,
the text analyses the woman’s shapeshifting, invisibility, impulsive behaviour or
deceit. Other
used secondary sources in the chapter include for example works by Mildred Mickle
or
Rosemary V. Hathaway.
Lastly, secondary sources used in the diploma thesis comprise of academic articles,
scholarly reviews and literary studies clarifying the issues discussed in the two
analysed
novels. Through critical approach, the thesis employs character analysis in order
to explain
how specific characters deal with instilled racist and patriarchal notions. The
implementation
of trickster character traits from African and African American mythologies to the
real world
is crucial in identifying instances of internalised shame and internalised racism.
Analysing
works that recognise the difference between the approach of Black and white authors
in
regard to American crime fiction is significant for apprehending the issues
discussed.
However, it needs to be acknowledged that as a privileged white person, I conducted
the
research as objectively as possible relying on the Black experience of Black and
African
American authors.
19
20
2. Double Consciousness as a Concept
There is a theoretical concurrence between double consciousness and diaspora. The
struggle of double consciousness within diasporic communities manifests itself in
their
adherence towards the newly inhabited nation while questioning its nation-ness and
singular
homogeneity (Dayal 47). Since inherited culture of such groups cannot be erased by
forced
relocation and/or assimilation, there is a certain amount of discrimination owing
to the design
of dominant culture’s policies. As Dayal writes, “for white migrants in the west,
assimilation
is not constituted in the same way as it is for non-white migrants” (49). Although
the
circumstances under which diasporas have occurred vary, the attempts of ethnic
minorities to
assimilate also depend on gender or class. Assuming the majority’s culture then
reflects in
how migrants operate within the new environment as well as in how their self-image
alters
over time. While the individual degree differs, diasporic communities sustain a
diasporic
double consciousness of where they have come from and where they currently reside.
Double consciousness in African American terms is a direct consequence of the
transatlantic slave trade and has been defined as an act of looking at oneself
through the eyes
of others. In his work, W. E. B. Du Bois treated the racial tension between African
Americans
and the white majority as a primary concern of the twentieth century. However, the
seventeenth century’s diaspora and slavery’s legacy in a form of ever-present
racism has had
a continuous effect on Black people’s perception of themselves. Hence, internalised
racism
and self-destructive behaviour of African Americans transcended a plain timeframe
of the
twentieth century. As a psychological concept, Du Bois specified double
consciousness as
possessing a national, American identity while being Black. Meaning to exist within
a society
designed to despise black Americans while black Americans identify with said
society and its
values. The concept of African Americans seeing themselves through racially
prejudiced
lenses of white norms includes assessing one’s intelligence and physical attributes
by
majority’s standards. In his formative work The Souls of Black Folk, Du Bois draws
from his
21
experience as a descendant of an African slave who gained freedom in the War of
Independence, and of Black property owners. As the Fisk University graduate,
respected by
Black and white communities alike, Du Bois began forming his seminal writings while
teaching at Atlanta University. Du Bois notes how a double identity ought to
consolidate into
a better self not by Africanising America “for America has too much to teach the
world and
Africa” but by enabling a Black man to be both Black and American (68). Here, the
United
States as a whole gets presented as an epitome of glorified ideal and excellence
tainted only
by those inciting racist views. Du Bois’ concept of double consciousness appears to
affect his
own perspective as well as his way of life.
By admitting that “the hands of none of us are clean if we bend not our energies to
righting these great wrongs” (147), he diminishes his own experience with racism as
he was
forced to give up numerous teaching opportunities due to his skin colour for the
sake of new
progressive American ideals. Thus, his comparison of dominant and marginalised
communities being equally to blame deepens social and economic disparities. Du Bois
states
that those who stay silent should be held accountable and further assumes that all
Black
Americans bear the same sentiments (131). Yet, judging Black people who resolve to
silence
in fear of potential persecution appears as a setback. At the same time, Du Bois
notes that
despite compromise, war, and struggle, the Negro is not free … he
may not leave the plantation of his birth … In the most cultured
sections and cities of the South the Negroes are a segregated servile
caste, with restricted rights and privileges. And the result of all this is
… lawlessness and crime. (120)
Thus, Du Bois acknowledges how slavery affected American society, what forced
displacement of African people did to the nineteenth century society, and how its
justice
system concerned itself more with increasing financial capital than reparations for
slavery
(124).
22
The confusion resulting from double consciousness among the Black scholars of the
nineteenth and twentieth centuries was further generated by Booker T. Washington’s
Atlanta
Compromise (1895), serving as a shield between the two opposing sides. Du Bois
timely
notes how Washington’s efforts to stay impartial emerged into a quiet
submissiveness of
Black civil inferiority (138). B. T. Washington was among the most prominent
African
American leaders of his time while also advising numerous United States’
Presidents. When it
came to joint progressive thinking, Washington said that Black and white people
should
always remain united, which political groups of the South interpreted in different
ways.
Radical party recognised it as a capitulation of equality demands while
conservative party
perceived it as a mutual effort to prosper. Washington himself remained silent on
the actual
meaning of his ambiguous statements and on differing ideas of both groups.
Therefore, their
contradictory beliefs showed the incapability of forming one objective and one
single result.
Consequently, Washington’s ambivalence reaped positive regard among white people,
unlike
African Americans who at first bitterly opposed his views. By trying to please both
races, he
emerged as a leader and mediator between the two races. Ultimately, the Black
community
started to envision what a peaceful cooperation between the North and the South
would bring
under Washington’s leadership (135).
Washington’s programme displayed an acceptance of Black people’s inferior position,
and the initial animosity turned into benevolence. For Washington asked Black
people to
abate their demands for political power, civil rights, and higher education in
spite of being a
Black man himself, his willingness to suppress Black voices could only further
incite
collective double consciousness amongst African Americans. Washington’s agenda
justified
the treatment of Black people as subordinates by portraying Black Americans as
acquiring the
same opportunities and social conditioning to build a prosperous life (146).
Washington’s
own submission during the U.S.’ racial turmoil shifted the burden of racism and
inequality to
Black people’s shoulders. Just as Washington’s aim at appealing to white audience
in his
address, Du Bois’ statements in The Souls of Black Folk bended radical viewpoints
into more
pleasing and digestible to the white audience. In other words, Du Bois’ critique
aimed at the
23
individuals rather than the system, stating that both parties’ contribution is
equally important
to address. Whilst employed as a strategy to bring at least some awareness to Black
issues, not
even Du Bois seemed able to escape his own double consciousness that white society
instilled. For instance, Du Bois saw group training as an effective tool for the
“American
Negro and all backward peoples [to] have for effectual progress” (202). Thus, he
suggested
that Black people classified as “backward” with whites classified as “progressive.”
Such
indirect thoughts show how Du Bois’ objective was to demand equality, to train
public school
teachers, and for every Black man to realise the importance of education and men’s
right for
freedom despite still battling the implanted notions of Black people’s inferiority.
24
3. African American Double-Voiced Tradition
Between the Worlds of Mischief and Isolation of the New World
As collections of utterances, tricksters in oral folklore were understood solely as
pieces of a larger whole, and traditionally originating from tribal cultures, they
played specific
roles of rebellious and comic spirits created not by an individual but by an entire
tribe
(Vizenor 187). As shapeshifters and boundary-crossers, passing through skies,
rivers,
convents, or brothels, yet not living in either, tricksters move between worlds of
contradictions, blurring the lines between life and death, godly and ungodly, moral
and
amoral. As messengers between the human world and divine entity, tricksters may
lead souls
into the Underworld and from there release them back to walk amongst the mortals.
However,
when the path between heaven and earth gets blocked, tricksters change their
messenger role
and become thieves, stealing from the gods what humans need on earth to survive
(Hyde).
Whether stealing fire as Prometheus, plums as Coyote, or cattle as Hermes, the
first theft of a
trickster bears meaning only once the stolen item appears in an altered context,
highlighting
its previous worth and defining what it is by realising what it is not. In
trickster tales, thieving
epitomises the birth of meaning (Hyde 64).
Commonly male and frequently appearing as animals, tricksters relish in inventing
traps and exercise their skill to metamorphose from one animal to another (Hyde
19). Given
that tricksters have been labelled as imitators, shapeshifters, chameleons, they
are thereby
highly capable of copying other animals who each have their own ways and intuitive
knowledge. Deprived of inborn instincts and masking as other animals, tricksters in
fact do
not have a way of their own, for which reason they could be underestimated as more
foolish
and dull-witted than those they imitate. At the same time, tricksters’ imitation
determines their
resilience and capacity to adapt to diverse conditions. Not having one single
habitat to live in,
they are in no risk of extinction as the species they may mimic and steal ways
from. Further,
25
unlike other species, tricksters do not herd, do not appear together, and instead
adopt lone and
independent lifestyles. The lack of inherent instinct and of distinct patterns of
behaviour then
translates into tricksters possessing multiple ways and being flexible in character
(Hyde 43).
Unlike any creature in the world, trickster can change their skin and trick others
by stealing
their identities for their own self may be irreversibly buried away.
As a mental mimicry of thieving, lying is a second act essential for tricksters to
ascribe
meaning. Starting off as self-governing creators, child tricksters alternate
between the real
world of thieving and the imagined world of lying. Their first lie presents a sign
of creative
imagination. Lying is the first assessment of truthfulness of the surrounding
world; a
fabricated alternative universe created in one’s mind to see if it is able to merge
with the real
world and endure. Once it is, it becomes clear that if something can tell the
truth, it can tell a
lie, and such duplicity becomes one of tricksters’ most notable qualities. The
authority of the
“truthful” world gets disturbed with the first act of lying which causes the
initial realisation of
deceit (Hyde 65-66). Creating paralleling worlds where one sole thing has two or
more
meanings derives from an idea of a well-travelled mind where the significance of a
sign,
object or token adheres to a specific context upon which the traveller encounters
the item.
This indicates that any traveller can expand meanings of the item where the lie
becomes one
version of the truth. Once trickster carry their vision of said truth from one
place to another,
the act of lying bears a prospect of new worlds which further blurs the image of
what is real
and what is invented. Nonetheless, due to this original deception, the truth itself
becomes
dubious if lying only contradicts the known reality. If lying does not remove the
truth but
reveals unknown facts, the obscurity between falsity and truth creates another,
third polarity
(Hyde 75). Tricksters do not settle on either side of the spectrum; they disrupt
the opposites
by undermining what appeared as a solid fact till then.
Since tricksters in folktales are often the reason why the world came to exist,
they
appear as culture heroes in traditional tales. For instance, Greek trickster
Odysseus, Native
American trickster Nanabozho or West African trickster Esu Elegbara, also known as
Legba,
may encounter death in one story only to be brought back to life in another. Again,
they cross
26
the boundary between the dead and the living, assuming the role of creators and
destroyers
(Hyde). Their shapeshifting abilities correlate with a tale about tricksters
existing long before
human speech was invented. Hence, they exercise their cunning by bringing words
from the
animal kingdom to the human world by transfiguring themselves from animals to
humans.
Where speech is prohibited, where silence persists, tricksters’ tactless nature
causes vigorous
talks. The idea that tricksters are inventors of language itself is the first
indicator of their trap-
setting powers, together with them speaking and creating numerous languages to
substitute
one distinct mother tongue (Hyde 76).
As the cosmic linguist and the seventh son, Esu Elegbara embodies the link between
his brothers who all speak varying languages and thus cannot communicate with one
another.
Since Esu’s brothers are all gods governing over the earth, sky, sea, animals, iron
and the hunt
(Hyde 259-60), with their mother as the highest entity, the communication is
crucial to secure
natural symbiosis and functional world order. Thus, Esu’s first deed in life is
puncturing the
universe, setting earth and sky apart, just as heaven and the human world,
disrupting the old
system and constructing boundaries that have shaped the new world order.
Accordingly, Esu
as the trickster who possesses the ability to speak multiple languages becomes the
translating
mediator between his brothers and their mother, gaining an immense power by gaining
control over the world and reshaping it to his whims. As a crossing agent, the
trickster–
translator uses his articulation to play within the hierarchy, and inhabits the
fractures found
between heaven and earth, or between languages. Moreover, he is able to unify two
detached
polarities, for instance earth and sky, by creating the rain to fall (261). As
their first
endeavour, tricksters upset the universe. Yet, their control is not exercised in
order to revoke
world’s hierarchy nor to strengthen it. Without jeopardising the universe,
tricksters bring
flexibility to the world order, connecting through disconnecting, disclosing hidden
paths or
closing them to serve human beings without ever wanting to dominate human life
(260).
Once tricksters transform into an animal they aim to trap, they can lure their
victims
easily. Since “wits [of tricksters] are sharp precisely because [they have] met
other wits”
(Hyde 20), it again ties to them stealing ways of others and masking themselves as
something
27
or someone else. One example of shapeshifting is the initial mischief of the
Northwest Coast
trickster Raven in the early days of creation of the world. As Raven finds himself
in the world
consumed by darkness, he slowly begins to acquire his appetites and realises that
without
light, he cannot hunt for fish, thus finds himself growing impatient and uneasy due
to his
hunger. Owing to Raven’s never-ending quest for food, he wears his raven skin,
flies into the
sky through a hole and upon taking his skin off, approaches a hut of heaven’s
master.
Eventually, Raven turns into a leaf and when the master’s daughter comes to fetch a
bucket of
drinking water, he falls into the bucket. As the woman swallows him, she becomes
pregnant
and the child she bears is Raven. The trickster is biding his time, plotting to
steal the box from
the hut where the daylight is located. With his tricks, he manages to flee with the
light back
down to the earth, breaking the box and securing daylight for all the human life.
By turning
himself into a leaf, Raven seizes an opportunity to turn himself into a powerless,
vulnerable
child rather than engaging in a fight and demanding to be given that box (Hyde 46-
7). As a
result, the trickster traps those he steals from without them knowing.
Just as light acting as the incentive for Raven’s primary theft, tricksters begin
their
earliest journeys with immense hunger. Soon, they grow into proficient creators and
excel at
using their shapeshifting abilities to deceit and steal in a quest for fulfilment
of their limitless
appetites, whether for food, sex, or money. Becoming aware of how to keep their
bellies full,
physical meat that tricksters actually eat converts into meat of the mind,
symbolising
intellectual enlightenment. Therefore, conceiving how to restrict themselves from a
specific
desire does not come from any external agent but is self-constructed, indicating
that mind
awakes with appetite restrictions. While tricksters’ mental activity is the driving
power of
their trickery, playing with images in their minds (Hyde 56) does not suppress
their individual
desires or thrills for once free of all desires, trickster would no longer be a
trickster (63).
Nonetheless, if in isolation, the comedic element gets overshadowed by a monologue.
As an opposite of communal tribal narratives, the figure of a trickster oscillates
between
institutional control and suppressed non-rational knowledge from the natural
environment
(Vizenor 189). In tribal framework, thefts and lies provide tricksters with the
chance to
28
recreate truths on their own terms. However, when the Old World gets infiltrated by
outsiders
and is slowly dying, African and Native American tricksters become critical
characters in the
tension between their cultures and the white population regulating the New World.
When folk
stories meet with reality, trickster qualities enhance one’s ability to navigate
both sides of the
conflict, for instance through the means of talking, aimed at upsetting the
subjective polarity
between right and wrong. Many times, non-white people or characters may adapt white
customs to their own traditions, cultures and interests in order to survive,
including for
instance abiding by laws of the white majority by working in federal institutions.
By doing
this, real-life tricksters manage to remain calm and even comfortable within chaos.
Others, on
the other hand, may be consumed by the fact that their cultures and homes are
destroyed, and
may lose their wits to anger, religion, or drugs and alcohol. Rather than engaging
in the game
of the predator and prey, tricksters play by their own rules, feeding themselves
and outwitting
other eaters. Feeding, as part of tricksters’ appetite, is equally important as the
aspiration to
detach themselves from the game of eating or being eaten entirely (Hyde 22).
Not only real-life tricksters know how to use their speech to remain unseen, but
also to
compel others to reveal their secrets with them not realising it has happened.
Besides, they
simultaneously manage to survive and find their way to prosper in a hostile
environment of
the New World. As Hyde notes, “it is hard to travel in this failed world if you
lose the power
of speech every time evil meets you on the path” (154). For tricksters, breaking
the silence
means contradicting the truth perpetuated by the dominant constituents of the
society. Thus,
speaking without shame is one of tricksters’ strategies to open new possibilities
of
interpretation. As unacknowledged agents within the society, who unravel its
injustices,
tricksters bear no remorse for the hurt and harm that they may leave behind. They
respond to
events without forming any long-term tactics and rely on opening doors to another
world as
known gatekeepers (159). Hence, if anything fails, there is always another door to
open or to
forge from scratch. As boundary crossers, non-white children who carry their
cultural heritage
from their countries of origin to the new country of residence (either through
immigration or
forced relocation) encounter double-directed shame early on. At first, it is from
their parents,
29
being taught the importance of silence in front of white people. Then, it is shame
of their
parents (160), for they represent all that the children are taught to silence in
themselves on the
outside. Such internalised shame11
require a degree of cunning to hide one’s inner self, to
metamorphose into the opposite of one’s parents on their own parents’ request.
Through the layers of shame that one gradually develops, the first signs of double
consciousness appear. It is the rule of the shame society that no matter where a
person is,
there is always at least one pair of eyes watching them, and that is their own
(Hyde 166). If
the children are raised accordingly as the shame culture prescribes, the societal
stigmas
eventually turn into inner self-hate, trying to cover up both physical and mental
features. In
his formative book Black Skin, White Masks, first published in 1952, Frantz Fanon
described
white world’s influence on the Black psyche which has impacted civil rights and
anti-colonial
movements globally. As a political philosopher born in Martinique, Fanon dedicated
his life
to studying consequences of colonisation and post-colonialism. In the chapter The
Lived
Experience of the Black Man, Fanon writes of the reality of a Black man; being an
object
among other objects. He internalises perspectives of the white society that views
Black people
in the third person but not as three-dimensional human beings:
In the white world, the man of color encounters difficulties in
elaborating his body schema. The imagine of one’s body is solely
negating. It’s an image in the third person … The body schema …
collapsed, giving away to an epidermal racial schema … It was a
question of being aware of my body. I was responsible not only for
my body but also for my race and my ancestors. I cast an objective
gaze over myself, discovered my blackness, my ethnic features;
deafened by cannibalism, backwardness, fetishism, racial stigmas,
11
In their study on internalised shame, K. Claesson and S. Sohlberg write that
internalised shame is “assumed to
have arisen as the result of enduring, intolerable shame during development. This
is distinct from situational
shame, which can be experienced by anyone in a typically embarrassing situation …
Internalised shame may
account for the fear of rejection in social situations” (279-82). The concept is
not restricted to a specific race; for
some, internalised shame can dominate their personality, while for others, it lies
in the subconscious though it
can be triggered. However, this thesis concentrates on double consciousness
experienced by African Americans
which correlates with their developed inner shame and, to an extent, self-hatred.
The concept of internalised
shame is thus associated specifically with non-white people and characters.
30
slave traders … I transported myself … far from my self, and gave
myself up as an object. What did this mean to me? Peeling, stripping
my skin, [leaving] black blood all over my body. Yet this … was not
my idea. (Fanon)
This scheme of the white world that Fanon called the Other is based on trapping the
Black
people in shame over their physical attributes that subsequently enter their
psyche. It connects
to the social order which places the silenced on the periphery and distinguishes
the lines of
clean from dirty, of strong from weak, of capable from inept. Fanon described his
confrontation with the white gaze, how he felt uncertainty surrounding his body.
Notwithstanding, the “bodily curse” of having a dark skin shifts to what race
represents in the
white society. Fanon looked beyond his skin and saw the deep vilification of Black
people
and people of colour under the colonial rule. Escaping the shame trap that puts
peripheral
groups on the downside of Western societies in economic, educational or healthcare
spheres
means recognising that meanings are artificial, ergo unforeseen, and identities are
flexible,
including the meanings and identities people assign to their own bodies.
If the objective of an individual is to possess conventional features approved by
the
general public and magnified by the shame culture, those on the margins may seek to
modify
and mutilate their bodies to fit the ideal standard, or to even commit suicide
(Hyde 170).
However, according to Fanon, the shame runs beyond how one’s body looks. Therefore,
Hyde’s observation that not reaching desired transformation to appeal to the white
gaze leads
to suicide confirms the viewpoint of Fanon who stated that it is not about the
colour of one’s
skin but about the stereotypes historically tied to it. At the same time, doubting
the binaries of
what is and is not shameful demands direct exposure to the dominant culture and
loss of face
(Hyde 172). As disruptors of the world, tricksters are willing to cross such mental
boundaries
without being bothered to reveal all the layers related to the shame culture. They
do so by
being vocal against communal silence, disrupting the world of shame as a result. By
speaking
about their bodies, tricksters indirectly question the conventional order of
things, causing their
vulnerability to strip them off one of their skins. Still, tricksters move on,
without pain or
31
regret. Thus, tricksters contribute to revealing flaws of fixed ideals (253-4) for
they talk where
verbal expression has been forbidden, and use the power of speech and articulation
in nothing
but a simple game to reshape the world around them.
Slave Resistance: Direction through Indirection
Through the triangular voyage from West Africa to the New World, more than twenty
million African people were kidnapped into slavery. Although the institution of
slavery
regarded the practice as a natural order, the enslaved were not as easily
controlled. Attempts
for resistance of Black slaves originated as soon as ships sat sail in the early
seventeenth
century (Takaki), attacking white garrisons and killing most of the whites on the
ships. Upon
settling in the country, African parents taught their children traditions to
practice within the
slave community in connection to family, religion and togetherness; soon, talks of
natural
rights and spirituality would empower slaves to question the legal institution. In
1831, Nat
Turner initiated a slave rebellion in Virginia. Turner, who was a freed slave re-
enslaved by
choice, witnessed a solar eclipse and took it as God’s long-awaited sign to stand
up to his
enemies. The country’s deadliest slave revolt presented a terrifying betrayal to
the slave
masters, especially in the South, who grew paranoid of their own slaves
slaughtering them in
their sleep. In Turner’s rebellion, more than seventy slaves were estimated to be
killed while
eighteen more, including Turner’s co-conspirators and Turner himself, were hung
afterwards
(Takaki). Since slave revolts threatened to end slaveholders’ livelihoods and white
supremacy,12
they were perceived as the most frightening conduct despite being only one
method of resisting the authorities. While slave masters were concerned about
violent
rebellions, majority of slaves had subtler ways of opposing the institution.
Whereas resistance
varied, the uniting objective was to redefine the establishment that treated Black
people
inhumanely, as animals and objects. The increase in revolts led to the abolitionist
movement
12
White supremacy characterises the notion that white people are superior to BIPOC,
and thus have the right to
dominate over them. From a biological viewpoint, white supremacists see themselves
as genetically superior;
from a cultural standpoint, they view white “culture” as superior to other
cultures; and from a social position,
they prefer and demand their separation from BIPOC. White supremacy then ties to
systemic, or institutional
racism, and further connects to prevalent Eurocentric views.
32
having larger reach among the slave population. However, due to the violent
outbursts, whites
regarded the enslaved as insane, suffering from mental illnesses. As public
lynching became
more common, slave masters pushed for enforcing controlling laws, stripping slaves
off more
rights, including, as Frederick Douglass wrote in 1848 in his narrative, preventing
slaves from
literacy.
Through oral customs, the enslaved preserved and combined diverse cultural customs
that they had brought with them through the Middle Passage. The African folklore
included
tales of West African tricksters, displaced to the American continent, which
describe their
persistence not by exerting physical force but by using their wits. In the
accounts, the
tricksters are told to exist among the white civilisation, redefining whatever they
come across
for their own needs and desires. Having a prominent role in mythologies, African
American
tricksters remodelled religious practices in a form of Christianity with West
African rituals to
bring liberating gospels to fellow slaves, medical customs, cooking traditions in a
form of
soul food, and altered the language of their new country. For instance, the tales
of Anansi the
Spider became popular through the African diaspora in the Caribbean and the
southern part of
the U.S. Preserving traditions through tales and habits marked the slaves’
unwillingness to be
broken. Therefore, not accepting their subordinate position manifested itself in
the use of
imitation; replicating what was expected of them while secretly re-transforming
their
workload was another method of resistance, albeit non-violent, silent and discreet.
As a vital
approach under white people’s colonial rule, slaves’ imitation as a form of
disguise aimed at
coinciding with the superior caste as an instrument of survival, not as an
indication of blind
uniformity (Bhabha 126). As scholar Winston Napier writes:
The Negro … is famous as a mimic. But this in no way damages his
standing as an original. Mimicry is an art in itself … Moreover, the
contention that the Negro imitates from a feeling of inferiority is
incorrect. The art of mimicry is better developed in the Negro than in
other racial groups. He does it as the mockingbird does it, for the love
of it, and not because he wishes to be like the one imitated. (38)
33
In the work environment, the hidden hostility manifested itself in slaves working
slowly, being clumsy or breaking their tools; there was no reason the masters would
suspect
them as a threat due to their incoordination and feeblemindedness. The schemed
laziness and
proneness to accidents fuelled stereotypes that would turn into a nationwide
mindset about
African Americans in upcoming decades, unknowingly sustaining the stereotypes that
Black
people created to outsmart their white masters. Generally, slaves might have taken
food,
livestock, or liquor from the slaveholders for their own consumption. Moreover,
slave women
sometimes faked pregnancies for several months to secure housework instead of
fieldwork
which aimed at more food intake and less demanding tasks. These schemes included
avoiding
labour by pretending to be ill, excusing one’s stealing by persuading the
slaveholders that if
one property merges with another, it is not stealing, or faking blindness all the
way through
the Civil War to obtain a land and become a farmer. This way, slaves used cajoling
to get at
least remotely even with whites, using language to persuade them of their
deception. Unlike
open rebellions, Black slaves complied with their masters’ dictates and mimicked
the
commands of white culture on the outside and demonstrated trickster behaviour by
attacking
the slave institution from the inside. Such rhetorical practice of verbal games
that the enslaved
used against the often ruthless slaveowners developed into the language of trickery
called
signifyin’.
Those who did not participate in slave revolts or did not try to gain freedom by
escaping, used AAVE as a distinctive symbol in their seeming passivity. What Henry
Louis
Gates Jr. describes as a “Blackness of the tongue” has served as Black people’s
coding since
the times of slavery to engage in “private yet communal cultural rituals” (xix).
These verbal
tactics which derive from African trickster mythologies and which slaves
transferred from
African traditions have developed into an African American literary tradition where
two
prominent trickster figures, called Esu Elegbara and the Signifying Monkey, appear.
The
slaves shared many characteristics with Esu, the divine Yoruba trickster, and the
Signifying
Monkey, Esu’s successor, and took advantage of their masters’ unfamiliarity with
their oral
customs, manipulating them through deceit, theft, shapeshifting and double-voiced
narrative.
34
While Esu possesses two mouths and functions as a symbol of a double-voiced
tradition and
interpretation, the Monkey “serves as the trope in which several other black
rhetorical tropes
[are encoded]” (xxi). Pre-world myths about Esu transported to the New World
connect him
to the Signifying Monkey’s exaggerated Black vernacular. His significance after
slave ships
sailed to America has ultimately gained larger importance within African American
cosmologies than African’s. While retaining Esu’s traditional features from the Old
World’s
folk stories, the slaves turned to the trickster as their liberator controlling and
dwelling at the
crossroads where they found themselves (Gates 31).
In the tales, Esu’s loyal nature in his comradeships, when he saves his friends
from
their foes, complements his strong will when he refuses to make a sacrifice,
clashing with
prophetic commands and having to serve numerous deities as a punishment (Ogundipe
58).
Because Esu is the bearer of change within the society that he surrounds himself
with, he does
not pity those whose lives he mishandles. On the one hand, the trickster declines
making a
sacrifice and contradicts the divine apparatus. At the same time, he punishes a
highborn
woman longing for a child but being too vain to carry the child on her own. After
she sends a
slave to Esu in her place, Esu grants the child to the slave instead (59). As he
fools others,
Esu’s objective is reinstating order, peace and harmony through his apparent
disruptive
actions. As Ayodele Ogundipe notes,
whatever may seem at the time to be bad, unpleasant, undesirable – in
short, evil – is a necessary element in the land run for harmonious and
ordered universe … On the one hand, while witches and social
criminals are perpetrators of moral evil, they are also agents of natural
evil when their crimes are seen as retributive justice or part of God’s
design to punish. When Esu punishes social deviants, his action does
not stem from an arbitrary malevolence but from his role as a
disciplinarian. (106)
Hence, Esu’s mind always focuses on upholding the overall morality of the story,
whether the
shift in the order of things gets recognised immediately or not. Since the world
order depends
35
on the orderliness of individual agents in the society and carries diverse meanings
to different
groups in it, actions of Esu depend on a specific perspective. Trickster’s actions
may be
recognised as inherently evil in the short-run, but benefit the society in years’,
decades’, or
centuries’ time, again based on the perspectives of the dominant and marginalised.
This
polarity between Esu’s goodness and mean-spiritedness links him to possessing two
mouths.
Esu’s character, described as a metaphor and ambiguous diviner of duality (Molefi
172),
continuously shifts his development from the protagonist to the narrator, which
then creates
hybridity connected to Esu fusing into both.
Signifyin’: The Trope of Tropes
Coined by the Russian linguist Mikhail Bakhtin, double-voiced narration contains
dual
agenda of expressing certain thoughts while modifying them to appeal to one’s
audience. This
practice takes audience into account, with speakers selecting their words
correspondingly to
attain sought end result. Not only is a double-voiced rhetoric spoken to avoid or
minimise
confrontation and potential critique to detract from the potential gravity of the
discussed
matter, it is often used when conversing with people of different cultural
background (Gates
22). Anticipating cultural presumptions, thus tailoring one’s speech accordingly,
is a useful
tool either for leadership in global terms, or for manipulation and control in a
more local
climate. Since the power of speech is crucial for trickster’s deceit, the act of
signifyin’ refers
to a wide variety of African American performative verbal games involving verbal
duelling or
implying something has more than one meaning. Further, the language of trickery
uses
direction through indirection (54); whoever plays the game aims at verbally
disarming their
opponent without exerting any physical energy. This way, the players implement
their
cunning by mocking people through talking. The power of speech of African and
African
American tricksters ensures their physical and ethnic survival when they cheat
death by
cajoling their way out of dangerous situations either while threatened or captured
(Hyde 48).
They wound with their humorous talk, tease and use their brains as their weapon,
creating
thus traps to debilitate their foes. Through the art of deception, revealing other
people’s
36
weaknesses leaves tricksters with the capability of determining their targets’
secrets, and
setting additional traps as a revenge when the deed is finished.
As both written and oral double-voiced rhetorical practice and Black literary
tradition,
the double-voiced discourse in African American terms has been described as the
trope of the
Talking Book. This concept is central to the figurative terminology of AAVE and
modes of
signifyin’ where slaves would see whites reading a book and believe the book to be
conversing with them instead. Confronting the Talking Book and realising it refused
to Talk
to them became pivotal since it initially confirmed slaves’ illiteracy and thus
inferior status.
Despite the Book verifying that it loathed their Blackness, they practiced another
method of
resistance when they decided to become educated narrators of their own lives (Goff
and
Simpson 164). To demonstrate, when Sophia Auld refused to continue teaching
Douglass, he
persisted with his education in secret. He further reinforced his trickster
characteristics when
he organised a Sunday prayer each week and taught fellow slaves what he had
learned. Prior
to dismantling their position as material possessions of slaveholders in the New
World,
African and African American slaves resolved to illustrate themselves as “talking
subjects.”
Knowing that increase in Black literature might have helped re-establishing their
reputation
within the community of all races (Gates 129), the rhetorical tradition of the
Talking Book
became an original Anglo-African language trope (131).
Notwithstanding, as the messenger of the gods and interpreter of the written text,
Esu
Elegbara is only one of the principal figures of signifyin’; his African American
counterpart,
the Signifying Monkey, survived the journey through the Middle Passage together
with Esu
and the tree where the monkeys lived (Gates 16). In contrast, the Signifying Monkey
is the
bearer of verbal strategies of which every literary work is comprised. Gates
describes the
Monkey’s existence as “the great trope of Afro-American discourse, and the trope of
tropes”
with his language of signifyin’ as the verbal sign in the African American
tradition (21).
While Esu represents the role of writing, the figure of oral discourse is entrusted
to the
Monkey, with both tricksters blending into fundamental use of a formal Black
language. The
tension between written and oral customs as a personified dual voice emerges into
the double-
37
voiced narrative in a form of voices; oral and written voices, first- and third-
person narratives,
voices fluctuating between structures of Black literary discourse. Esu’s role in
the shadows
highlights his deception of displacing meaning, delaying it by playing the game of
signification, many times writing what he withheld, however in encrypted puzzles.
The
Signifying Monkey’s spoken discourse, open to a series of (mis)interpretations,
prevents an
isolated closure, both manipulating the figurative and the literal (42) in a true
trickster
fashion.
In SAE, the word “signification” bears a homonymous meaning to the word in AAVE,
reflecting two outwardly identical concepts that could not be any different, just
as the Black
vernacular itself. Gates compares practising the method of signifyin’ to finding
oneself in a
hall of mirrors:
the sign itself appears to be doubled … and (re)doubled upon ever
closer examination. It is not the sign itself, however, which has
multiplied. If orientation prevails over madness, we soon realise that
only the signifier has been doubled and (re)doubled, a signifier in this
instance that is silent … a “sound-image” [without] the sound. (44)
The unsteadiness that arises from one signifier disappears when these signifiers
multiply; the
duality generated by two and more signifiers is a natural occurrence. However, the
collision
between two paralleling universes, American and African American, determined by
meaning
of words or definitions, becomes notable when only one person confronts the
linguistic
elements of SAE and AAVE that may be both familiar and alien to them. Identities of
the
signifiers and the feeling of Otherness connect to the sign they decide to assess
in their
signifying practices. Deciding to criticise the generally accepted meaning of a
sign that the
mainstream culture bestowed upon it through SAE, the signifiers underline how
Blackness
and AAVE represent the Other in the central political climate (45).
Cultural identity of signifiers entails mastering the revelation and disguise of
meanings, and navigating their charms to outwit more brawny and powerful, yet
commonly
38
less intellectually equipped rivals. This results in their pretence and disruptive
behaviour to
confuse the unequal balance of power, and therefore, the Signifying Monkey has
transformed
into an image of cultural survival. The Monkey’s folktale, also featuring the Lion
and the
Elephant, has become a metaphorical narrative of how to get even with whites. The
Lion
symbolises white slaveholders and the Monkey Black slaves, while the Elephant
functions as
a mediator between the two. Inspired by animal trickster tales, the stories began
incorporating
humans into the existent cycle of common features; not being threatened by the
master’s whip
anymore, the emancipated former slave could express his thoughts freely, taking
pride in
outsmarting his former slaveowner in a series of subversive renditions. The tales
paralleled
the treatment of slaves, and further disclosed their physical endurance and
intellectual
resourcefulness to withstand the slaveholders’ inhumane actions (Justice-Malloy 7).
The tales of the Signifying Monkey introduced many linguistic tropes into AAVE. As
a form of verbal duelling, playing the game of the dozens is based on the opponents
insulting
each other in public, and the one who physically assaults the other as a result of
breaking the
form loses the game. To stupefy and stun with skilful speech should ultimately
result in
upsetting the balance between the playful and the serious, putting the opponent “in
the
dozens.” A version of the tale begins with the Monkey bored to death; it has been a
long time
since there was any turmoil in the jungle. For that reason, the Monkey decides to
disrupt the
quiet and peaceful day by approaching the Lion, deceiving him about the Elephant’s
untrue
mockery:
He said, “Mr. Lion,” he said, “A bad-assed motherfucker down your
way.”
He said, “Yeah! The way he talks about your folks is a certain shame.
I even heard him curse when he mentioned your grandmother’s
name.”
The lion’s tail shot back like a forty-four,
When he went down the jungle in all uproar. (Abrahams)
39
Therefore, to be “dozened” translates into being stunned into simple mindedness,
into a loss
of spoken word in which one stops being a signifying creature and turns into a
clueless beast
with no knowledge of metaphors or lying. There is no unacceptable insult for the
signifier; no
matter how serious, there is nothing preventing them from infusing the game with
humour.
Here, humour works as a glue between contradictions, between the ability to
differentiate the
meaning behind the signifiers’ words, and between facts and fiction; once it
dissolves, duality
overpasses ambiguity and quarrel ensues. Unlike the Monkey, the Lion, who is no
trickster,
has his own ways, which becomes an irreversible issue when dealing with any
trickster. Not
proficient in shapeshifting, the Lion as the bigger, more powerful animal has a
code to adhere
to. In this case, it is the code of honour concerning Lion’s family (Hyde 272) that
makes him
compelled to fight back and lose his wits.
While having a way of their own as the “more powerful” animals is advantageous,
slaves having the wits to persistently create new ways from what they were
subjected to is an
asset that aided seeking a “way out of no-way” (Hyde 277). Reading the world has
become a
virtue of African Americans deemed as powerless, lazy, dim-witted, or childlike.
When the
hierarchy is designed to further discriminate against marginalised communities,
children
inheriting their parents’ attributes benefits their ability to separate the literal
and figurative.
The freedom of hearing multiple utterances in one singe remark fuels the oppressed
people’s
resistance of the system. The trickster tales brought from the Old World enable the
New
World’s cultures to shape their meaning, whilst at the same time the new meanings
reform the
old oral narratives.
40
4. Ebonics and Minstrelsy Stereotypes
Apart from signifyin’ as a rhetorical practice, AAVE as a whole combines linguistic
features of West African and Caribbean languages blended with the slave jargon in
the U.S.
Also called Ebonics, a mixture of “ebony” (black) and “phonetics/phonics,” this
non-
mainstream variety of SAE utilises code-switching to integrate vernacular elements
into SAE
themes. Since 1960s, prominent linguists such as William Labov or Walt Wolfram
studied
and proclaimed AAVE as a coherent, structured and regulated linguistic variety as
any other
language form, not at all “inadequate,” “broken” or “lazy” English as deduced.
Whilst the
attention has not been limited only to sociolinguists but also the media and
general public, and
the variety faced numerous name changes13
associated with the issues surrounding its
recognition, one of the issues is the lack of data about early stages of the
dialect. AAVE has
never been formally recognised as a standard dialect and continued to spark
controversy
especially for its employment in educational sphere among African American youth.
In 1996, the Oakland school board required AAVE to be accepted as an official
language of African Americans and as a second language of the U.S.; the programme
was
however largely misapprehended for wanting to promote the variety as a written
language and
teach jargon to children (Morgan 173). The controversial dialogue of the Oakland
board
decision illustrated the need to educate general public and re-evaluate popular
beliefs about
dialects which are prone to misconceptions about folklore in educational spheres.
Such
misconstrued conclusions with zero dialect awareness shape the notion about fellow
individuals and communities, entrenched in the past that replace oral folk
traditions with
prejudice and inaccurate knowledge. Nevertheless, the Oakland dispute helped the
scholars
with presenting information about AAVE as a legitimate linguistic variety with a
vast dialect
diversity among the U.S. institutions, local agencies, churches or civic groups.
The scholars
13
In American linguistics, names for AAVE have varied. Apart from Ebonics, AAVE has
been labelled for
instance as Nonstandard Negro English, Black English, Vernacular Black English
(also, BEV), African
American Language, or Spoken Soul.
41
further aimed at implementing programmes leading to a deconstruction of damaging
myths
about AAVE (Wolfram 119).
What Wolfram describes as racist undertones of the public’s disdain regarding
African
Americans’ right to their own officially recognised language dialect links to
widespread racial
stereotypes and attitudes towards the community that entered American popular
culture in the
early nineteenth century. Associating stereotyped ethnic groups, such as African
Americans,
with conventional images perpetuated by the media in the past still occurs in
fiction. Such
stereotypic depictions entered public consciousness by recurring viewing when
minstrelsy, the
first national entertainment based on dancing, variety acts or comedy sketches,
focused
particularly on ridiculing people of African descent. What started as a popular
domestic show
by, for and about the white population in the U.S. soon spread not only across the
continent
but worldwide. The white actors performed in blackface or dark make-up imitating
Black
people and spoke an exaggerated version of AAVE. Since the minstrel shows expanded
before slavery was abolished in 1865, it was misguiding to propose that these shows
were a
strategy of how to show Blackness in a positive light, including appearance and
used language
variety, and improving thus Black people’s social situation (Jones 22).
However, the attempt to sell the image of a white, interracial act of solidarity
minimised the accountability of the minstrelsy’s creators. These were in fact
commonly
associated with pro-slavery and anti-black movement, including violence inflicted
upon
African Americans. Regardless of performances occurring in a close proximity of
African
American communities, their actual input was mostly forbidden. Had minstrelsy shows
been
staged by African Americans during the early period, it would have refined the way
that the
white bourgeois world was gendered and racially defined (Jones 23). Furthermore,
black
caricatures of white people’s creation articulated values and viewpoints of the
middle class in
regard to popular culture as a whole. Such entertainment was delivered in order to
maintain
the social connection between a responsible white citizen and a dim-witted Black
Sambo
(Wynter 149). In 1860, four million African Americans were slaves in the South,
comprising
35 percent of the whole population. Slaves’ submission to the slaveholders
sustained by fear
42
depended on masters brainwashing the enslaved into recognising their racial
inferiority and
keeping them illiterate to justify their inability to take care of themselves. To
majority of
white southerners, Black people were lazy, happy and irresponsible, symbolising a
specific
character of the Sambo (Takaki 111) with their absolute dependence and attachment
generated as a direct result of the African diaspora.
The institution of slavery, seen as a common good in the South, was presented as a
form of guardianship and protection to childlike slaves in exchange for their
happiness and
gratitude. This mentality brought an image of adult African Americans being
referred to as
“boys and girls” and “grown-up children” (Takaki 112). Once freed, slaves would
taint
American society with their lazy, thieving and drunken behaviour, refraining from
stealing
only when they were forced to work. Perpetuating this image of Sambo assured the
slaveholders about the slaves’ incompetency and ignorant happiness. Moreover, it
eased their
own anxiety about potential slave rebellion if Sambos acted as submissive and
faithful. While
sustaining Black people’s infantilization, slaveholders established themselves as
their slaves’
fathers which laid grounds to future relations between whites and Black people.
Southern
male slaveholders would offer salvation to incapable and innocent female slaves and
then
epitomise father figures in the social order on their plantations (Wynter 151) by
implementing
psychological restraints. Hence, Sambo as a character entered the minstrelsy shows
as an
already established symbol of intellectually backward slave and became an
entertaining
epitome for the lack of a human (152).
In contrast to Sambo, the stereotype of the Savage, also known as the Brute,
exhibited
the dominant culture’s fear of the “Other.” It corresponded with the image of Nat
Turner as a
violent Black man encouraging slave uprisings and slaughter of the white
population. This
depiction originated during colonisation and enslavement of the African peoples,
and after
emancipation justified marginalisation and segregation. Seeing Black men as savages
stripped
them off their humanity and gave reasons for ill treatment towards them, in a form
of
lynching, beatings, and tortures (Coombs and Batchelor 95). Although Frederick
Douglass’
attack on Edward Covey was insignificant in comparison to Nat Turner’s slave
rebellion,
43
Douglass’ refusal to submit to Covey’s further abuse symbolised what the
slaveholders
feared; a lack of control over them. In later years, marketing campaigns used the
stereotype to
advertise alcohol or tobacco. Additionally, there were postcards depicting African
natives
cannibalising whites, predominantly women, which perpetuated the rhetoric of the
brutish,
barbaric nature of Black men (96).
As an asexual, commonly obese and unattractive motherly figure to white people, the
Mammy presented one of two most dominant depictions of Black women. The Mammy was
painted as loyal to whites, providing value to the society dominated by whiteness.
Her
independent and masculine temperament consolidated Mammy’s asexual nature. Together
with her deep religious background, the woman’s skilfulness in all household-
related affairs
set her up for the leading house servant in charge of others (Healey 127). Her
utter dedication
to her white family with her maternal aura also granted her the role of an advisor
and a friend.
Despite the Mammy figure correlating mainly with upper-class white families, Black
female
servants laboured also in lower income families. Usually, the children grew
attached to them
no matter the amount of house servants or the family’s wealth (128). Although the
Mammy
stereotype was created by whites, Black women cared about their biological families
to such
an extent that turning themselves into a faithful servant might have benefited her
and her
family against exploit, mistreatment or sale. Moreover, it amounted her indirect
allegiance to
her own people (129), luring her white masters into believing this fabricated
version of a
loyal, happy and subordinate Black servant.
If Sambo and Mammy stereotypes caused mockery and relief among the white
audience, the notion of Jezebel triggered an utterly opposite reaction, coming
however from
the same position of fear. During slavery, the female character of Jezebel,
depicted as
malicious, provocative and promiscuous, became a hyper-sexualised and most dominant
portrayal of Black women in the U.S., attractive to white males. Contrasting the
asexual
categorisation of the Mammy, light-skinned Jezebel guided by her libido employed
another
vision in the white mind; the justification of sexual exploitation of Black female
slaves and
the mulatto community (Hine 17). As a counter-image of the mid-nineteenth century
model of
44
a Victorian lady, Jezebel saw no benefit in prudery, and the need for domesticity
paled
compared to the matters of the flesh (Healey 125). During the sixteenth and
seventeenth
centuries, the contrast between women of European ancestry and of African descent
influenced the false interpretations associated with African American women’s (lack
of)
decorum and morality (Nicol 96). While white women were the prototypes of good
wives and
personified the virtue of womanhood, Black American women having the appearance of
Jezebel were associated with high sex drive and immanent evil. Misinterpreting
African
folklore and traditions – for instance when tribal dances were mistaken for orgies
– led to
incorrect predicaments about Africans being polygamous, or salacious due to their
nakedness,
further perpetuating the sensual and shameless Jezebel driven by her sexual
appetites.
As well as many slaves who would represent Sambos while biding their time,
pretending to be lazy, drunken thieves while secretly plotting against their
masters, some
Mammies created an outside image of themselves, playing a role of sheer morality.
The
mentality of pretended sentiments and formed identities of enslaved Africans and
African
Americans continued in Black consciousness as a need to protect their moral
virtues. Noting
how Black female servants were placed on the periphery, existing everywhere yet
nowhere,
the insufficiency of sources regarding gendered insights casted a long shadow on
the private
world of enslaved Black women. However, recognising the benefit of secrecy and
silence
while dependent on slaveholders, the servants hid their actual thoughts. In
consequence, the
women and men shielded themselves by acting passively and submissively in front of
the
white males (Hine 16), which allowed them to outlive the (sexual) abuse and
dehumanisation
(15). Just as slavery had to be morally justified to keep white supremacy upheld,
Sambo,
Mammy or Jezebel stereotypes in minstrelsy shows lived long after the institution
was
officially abolished in 1865. As a result, just as the status of freed slaves
remained ambiguous,
the entertainment industry continued reinforcing Black inferiority at its centre by
exaggerating
Black expressions, AAVE, or degrading towards other ethnical aspects. Entering
Black and
white public’s homes for decades to come, what presented a comedic relief for white
people
precipitated further self-hate in Black people’s consciousness. Their distorted
sense of self,
45
combined with their double consciousness, further forced African Americans to keep
finding
ways to survive.
46
5. The Art of Layered Detection
Rooted in African and African American folklore, Black detective fiction accepted
conventional detective tropes and reinterpreted them on the basis of their needs.
By modifying
the vernacular, religion, music, medicine or food of the U.S., the detective novel
became just
another instance of such reconstructions. By alternating traditional detective
formulas, a new,
African American detective persona was created. Drawing upon survival strategies by
employing art of mimicry through their detectives, African American crime fiction
writers
reinterpreted white detective fiction through their commentary on social and
political issues in
the U.S. Further, the authors signified on the traditional American crime writing
by applying
double conscious detection, AAVE, or refining characteristics of the detective
(Soitos 28).
The detective persona as such represents an unwavering sense of justice, pursuing
the truth by
condemning the perpetrators, whether they are professionals or amateurs, classless
or part of
the nobility, American or intercontinental. Whether the investigators behave in an
eccentric,
detached, desolate or unfriendly manner, or act violently or diligently, there is
always a crime
to be solved (29).
To begin with, as an inventor of new tropes and locked room mysteries, Edgar Allan
Poe’s nineteenth century work has been continually credited as an invention of the
modern
detective genre, influencing writings of Agatha Christie or Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
Poe’s
detective Dupin, who served as a template for future writers in the genre,
proffered two stories
within one; that of a murder already committed and of an investigation currently
undertaken.
As a prototype of now the classical detective, Dupin decides to investigate his
first murder for
his personal amusement, with no interest in financial gain, but out of his
loneliness and
boredom. His solitary nature transferred to future detectives in a form of distinct
alienation
from stereotypical societal norms attached to religion, matrimony, and community
(Soitos
24). Poe’s reformed style helped creating English whodunit narratives with
reoccurring
characters, closed, familiar countryside communities, moderate level of violence,
and typical
47
murder for money or revenge, and where detectives get more personally involved
within the
classist British patriarchal social structure. The detective-amateurs usually
single out a suspect
whom gets taken away and after the puzzle is solved, society gets back to normal
with no
alteration of the society. The whodunit stories of Christie’s Miss Marple or
Doyle’s Sherlock
Holmes conform to formulas of Poe’s classical detective genre, referring hence to
both
American and European narratives in which a detective-amateur investigates a crime.
Developing already established standards means improving upon detective fiction
while disrupting the conventional tropes (Todorov 43). As a second dominant
category in
detective fiction that evolved from the classical style, hard-boiled genre focused
primarily on
American urban scene, with more brutal crimes, no puzzles, and wider societal
implications.
Unlike the closed setting of whodunit, scenes in hard-boiled stories are placed far
apart yet
still remain interconnected through walking, driving, and meeting people, and apart
from the
initial acquaintance who brought the case to them, hard-boiled detectives are not
familiar with
any suspects beforehand. Nonetheless, classical and hard-boiled detectives share
similar
characteristics of recurrently amoral decision-making, being antisocial, reserved,
eccentric,
and highly self-assured. Further, they are frequent alcohol and/or drug users, with
no
indication of apparent sexual activity. Their analytical skills determine the
character of the
crime scene, the motive behind the offence, while thoroughly observing the clues.
From a
narrative standpoint, the novels are typically told either in the first person from
detectives’
standpoint or their closest associate. Moreover, suspension of conventional federal
practices
leaves the detectives not keen on interacting with the police, combined with a
sense of
hostility and ridicule towards the incompetency of the police to solve the crime.
Despite
English classical detectives being located mainly in rural areas, American
classical and hard-
boiled detective fiction has largely an urban character. With detectives either
working in or
coming from populous cities, elements of the urban terrain advance the progression
of the
plot. Due to the detectives being lonesome and mysterious, their individual values
towards
religion or community recede so the plot development is the cornerstone of the
narrative, with
decreased accentuation on character building (Soitos 24).
48
Through Dupin, Poe introduced the process of reasoning, the rational discovery of
circumstances that lead to particular mysterious events, and argued that one cannot
trust their
senses for senses are deceiving. The investigation can become successful if the
focus is on
observing what lies below the surface. Dupin’s analysis stemmed from coherent
thoughts and
facts derived from one’s consciousness substantiated by intellect, deduction and
imagination.
Relying on a detective not only as a one-dimensional observer but an examiner with
remarkable imagination and literal facts, his brilliance disconnects him from
“ordinary”
humans as well as from himself, which, in “The Murders in the Rue Morgue,” Dupin’s
only
friend, an anonymous narrator, recounts as follows:
His manner in these moments was frigid and abstract; his eyes were
vacant in expression … Observing him in these moods, I often dwelt
meditatively upon the old philosophy of the Bi-Part Soul, and amused
myself with the fancy of a double Dupin – the creative and the
resolvent … What I have described … was merely the result of an
excited, or perhaps of a diseased, intelligence. (Poe)
As a fundamental feature of the detective genre, the divided self combines
detectives’
intuition, romanticism and creativity – the idealistic and irrational – in one
half, with their
high sense of reason and science – the materialist and rational – in the second.
The duality,
relying upon detectives’ imaginative employment of reason and found within their
selves, gets
further affiliated with myths, folk stories, and written and oral traditions of
good versus evil.
This notion has formed a trademark in detective novels in a form of a detective
versus
criminal partition. Dupin’s “Bi-Part Soul” has outlined a pattern for succeeding
detectives by
integrating materialist and idealist schools of thought; whereas materialism
narrows the mind
down to the physical form, idealism upraises the material level to the spiritual
(Craighill 19).
The two contrasting philosophical approaches distinguish between the importance of
the matter and inner self by highlighting either the matter or the spirit as a
subsidiary product
of the other. The interrelatedness of the objective – concrete, and the abstract –
intangible
(Craighill 20) serves in the detective fiction as a “medium for moral and
philosophical
49
expression” (23). Therefore, the split of inner self gets associated with the
genius of the
investigators. This viewpoint relates to the classical stories – where detectives
get portrayed
as heroes – more than to the hard-boiled novels. There, heroism ceases to exist
since
detectives can be corrupted just as the police. Having said that, it can tie to the
genius of the
dual experience, subverting the nature of one’s identity, uncovering hidden layers
of an
isolated mind. The alter ego element arises from unstable identities, from Dupin’s
split inner
self between good and evil that relates to his work as a public persona with
private life.
Accordingly, the genius takes its toll, ascribing it to the “excited, diseased
intelligence” that
emanates from the scientific and artistic binary of the Bi-Part Soul (29). To
develop a
perfectly reasoned mind, one half of the soul needs to complement the other. As
“rationalists
of the irrational,” detectives manage to unfold the structural friction between the
logic of
deduction and the disorder that violent storylines can be composed of (Gomel 69).
That way,
they pursue the chaos and disruption of otherwise rational circumstances.
Upon closer examination of the necessity between intuition and creativity, a
broader
formula of a dual split within Dupin, which extends throughout the detective genre,
formed a
mental framework for successive fictional detectives, including Sherlock Holmes.
Holmes,
whose split personality manifested itself in his substance abuse and his ability to
play the
violin, became known for his disguise strategies. For instance, he regularly
altered his
appearance through wearing costumes to enter even highly private communities
without being
recognised. The camouflage technique later became assumed by Black authors. They
wrote
their detectives as masters of disguise, associating the duality as a pivotal
principle of
detection connected to Du Boisian trope of double consciousness and the trickster
folklore
(Soitos 18). African American writers thereby utilised the modified narrative form
of the
crime genre to express their distress and illustrate the disgruntled relationship
with the
government and the police. Furthermore, Black American detective authors adopted
the
introduced formulas of white American hard-boiled writers, including Dashiell
Hammett or
Raymond Chandler, regarding the male behaviour towards women; despondent,
chauvinistic
and threatening by rule. This acting accentuated the general hard-boiled
straightforward and
50
brusque language, and the rugged individualistic nature of the detectives, together
with the
symbolism of displayed violence related to their moral values and critique of a
degenerated
society (20).
Since every fragment of the plot gets revised by consciousness and receptivity of
the
detectives, integration of Black investigators into the genre meant redefining the
traditional
portrayal introduced by crime fiction as a whole.14
These rewritings depended on the
conditions upon which the story progressed, and later also concerned white and
Black female
authors and female (Black) protagonists. Consciously diverging from standard
principles,
African American detective fiction transformed through its direct association with
the
community and a shared sense for family that does not belong to the mainstream
detective
tropes. Further, the protagonists’ Blackness became an essential constituent in
their
interrogations. Apart from hard-boiled detectives being evasive, leaving sparse
tracks,
carefully hiding their motives and concealing their identities (29), Black
detectives further
employ AAVE and double consciousness and examine their Blackness within their crime
scene investigation (31).
Nonetheless, as new African American authors emerged in the 1980s and 90s, they
were able to reach wider readership by retaining traditional hard-boiled elements
(Soitos 179)
while reflecting on contemporary issues and expanding Black crime fiction. One of
their
signature approaches was writing a series of detective novels with one central
protagonist,
undertaken by for instance Walter Mosley, Barbara Neely, Eleanor Taylor Bland,
Valerie
Wilson Wesley, or Gar Anthony Haywood. As African American hard-boiled fiction
became
more diverse, authors gained a certain degree of recognition while using the
platform as
14
Crime fiction comprises of numerous subgenres, such as detective fiction,
thrillers, or hard-boiled fiction. The
subgenres have multiple shared characteristics, thus often overlap and include
mystery, suspense and detection
by rule. For this reason, the names of crime and detective genres can be often
confused and substituted for one
another. For instance, in 1997, Carl Malmgren wrote in his study that despite a
wide variety of types of “murder
fiction” novels (classic mystery, hard-boiled detective, spy, crime, police
procedural novels etc.), the subgenres
are often included together in one place despite being set in diverse worlds,
targeting different audiences, or
offering varied challenges. In contrast, in his 2005 book on detective fiction,
Charles Rzepka listed Edgar Allan
Poe and Raymond Chandler among the “most important writers of detective fiction.”
According to Malmgren’s
viewpoint, Poe is a representative of a classical detective mystery of the crime
genre while Raymond Chandler
of a hard-boiled American crime fiction. This demonstrates how the lines between
crime and detective fiction
have often been blurred.
51
means to dismantle the notion of African Americans being either victims or
criminals. Rather,
they set an example of their protagonists balancing the disorder (English 772) and
introduced
a new possibility of Black people’s position among the white majority. Their
writings further
dismantled many stereotypical tropes present in the entertainment industry.
Pursuing the conventional hard-boiled fiction, Walter Mosley’s urban male-dominated
novels offered a potent transformation of the genre in the end of the twentieth
century.
Published in 1990 as the first novel in the Easy Rawlins mystery series, Devil in a
Blue Dress
marked the beginning of Mosley’s renowned series of fourteen novels. While each
book
follows the protagonist Easy Rawlins, the first novel especially deals with
revealing Easy’s
double consciousness, and his dealings with inner and outer struggles connected to
his race
and his identity as a former World War II veteran. The novels trace Easy’s
behaviour and
mental progression by reflecting upon the society surrounding him. His race enables
him to
access social circles not as easily approachable by a white person. While Mosley’s
first-
person narrative and some of Easy’s character traits maintain standard hard-boiled
tropes, as
his life progresses, he diverges from the conventional tropes despite still being
classified as a
hard-boiled figure.
Deviating from the “urban male-oriented noir writings of Walter Mosley” (Witt 167),
African American female writers exerted both feminist and racial awareness.
Further, they
emphasised the survival skills of Black females in social and political climates.
As an African
American mystery writer, Barbara Neely was one of such authors who remodelled the
masculine narrative, setting her first out of four novels in a Blanche White
series, Blanche on
the Lam, in an affluent country house of North Carolina. The protagonist of the
series,
Blanche White, finds herself caught in crimes by a mere circumstance. Unlike
Mosley’s
Devil, Neely’s third-person narrative and the first novel’s rural setting diverge
from the hard-
boiled tradition. It is however Blanche’s amateurism, her very compassionate, human
spirit,
together with her inability to “sustain a healthy adult relationship with any
African American
person other than [her friend Ardell]” (English 774), that intertwines her story
with Easy’s
and his solitary nature. Both characters recognise their invisibility based on
their race, and the
52
potential that this invisibility brings. It allows them to hide while employing
their primarily
self-taught knowledge about African folklore, black culture, and, in Blanche’s
case, women’s
rights (Soitos 231) into their investigations.
53
6. Double Consciousness in Devil in a Blue Dress by Walter Mosley
Easy’s Materialism, Abandonment, and Toxic Masculinity15
In 1990, Walter Mosley introduced an African American war veteran Ezekiel “Easy”
Rawlins as the central character of his series of hard-boiled detective novels
beginning in
1948 Los Angeles. Mosley addresses social divisions between genders, races or
classes, and
uncovers how the protagonist’s decision making gets affected by predominantly white
capitalist society. Easy’s life in the post-war American society is continuously
torn between
diverse worlds, uncertainty and confusion within his own self as he establishes
himself as a
private detective. Further, the novel follows other Black characters struggling to
embrace their
Blackness while battling inner feelings of self-hate and internalised racism. Devil
in a Blue
Dress delves into racial discrimination and consequent inequality in the United
States under
the segregation laws of the late Jim Crow era lasting until 1960s. In the 1940s, a
portion of the
Black American population challenged constructed norms of discriminatory laws
preventing
them from procuring property outside of Black neighbourhoods. Legally enforced
constraints
especially on housing to prevent non-white citizens from owning property came into
force in
1922 to maintain both racial and social homogeneity (Alonso 73). During the same
decade,
first prominent Black clubs were established in LA as a response to violence
against Black
15
The term toxic masculinity comprises of views on how men should behave, harmful to
everyone in the society,
including men themselves. Katherine Ingram et al. mention that past theoretical
studies define toxic masculinity
as “the constellation of socially regressive [masculine] traits that serve to
foster domination, the devaluation of
women, homophobia, and wanton violence.” The behaviour encompasses “adhering to a
traditional masculine
ideology, being dismissive of sexual harassment, internalising social dominance,
having positive attitudes related
to bullying … and engaging in homophobic teasing.” Toni Cade gives an example how
such socially expected
behaviour taints individuals: “if a woman is tough, she’s a rough mamma, a strident
bitch, a ballbreaker, a
castrator. And if a man is at all sensitive, tender, spiritual, he’s a faggot”
(Bambara 125). In his study on gender
and power in hard-boiled fiction, Jopi Nyman declares that hard-boiled fiction has
been a fantasy of the male
mind and perceived as an attempt to “reconstruct a privileged form of masculinity,
an appropriate code of
conduct, which the protagonists try to follow.” This way, hard-boiled fiction seeks
to “secure a position of
power, control, and dominance by locating masculinity and masculine values as the
most central and desirable
ones” (69).
54
Americans that had been afflicting the community for decades (72). Such events
aggravated
the racial tension as Black people were often attacked outside of the segregated
clubs.
Moreover, Black gang-related homicides often encompassed inter-gang rivalry and
territorial disputes. Watts, the neighbourhood where some of the largest Black
gangs operated
(6), is where Mosley’s protagonist lives and regularly visits his friend Joppy’s
bar. On his
quest to find a known gangster Frank Green, Easy repeatedly enters Black bars in
his
neighbourhood where he is a regular customer. While desegregation aimed at
dismantling the
legal doctrine of “separate but equal” that discriminated against Black Americans
in public
schools, facilities or transportation, breaking Jim Crow laws did not result in the
end of Black
people’s oppression. Thus, Mosley’s depiction of institutionalised racism points at
the Black
characters’ individual inability to dismantle the system while they engage in
subtle acts of
resistance just as their enslaved ancestors. Nonetheless, forms of their
unconscious
assimilation stem from identifying with white values as a mode of survival, and
double
consciousness instilled in Black people’s minds is reflected in Easy’s acting and
inner
dialogue. Mosley’s attempt to create a protagonist who would appeal to white and
Black
audiences alike stems from resembling white hard-boiled detective figures. Mosley’s
practice
gets acknowledged on the outside by audience’s positive reception of the novels
following the
biracial appeal (Gray 489). On the inside, the novel shows how American society has
contributed to the detachment of one’s self by marginalising ethnic groups,
contemplated in
Easy’s African American identity and his internalised shame. Additionally, Easy’s
longing for
becoming an owner of multiple properties conveys the racial struggle of the 1940s
paired up
with the white society’s negative perspectives and stereotypes about Blackness. The
novel’s
critique of mainstream attitudes towards Black people employs traditional hard-
boiled tropes
and positions Black characters on the inside, rather than presenting them as
outsiders peeking
in.
The novel starts with an interaction in Joppy’s bar between Easy, Joppy and DeWitt
Albright. As a white man of suspicious manners, Albright is scrutinised by Easy’s
observation
skills at once. Easy has worked among white people in an aircraft construction
factory long
55
enough to know how their movements and expressions match with their upcoming
actions.
While Easy knows how to behave around white people to go unnoticed, he cannot help
but
feel a pinch of fright after seeing Albright for the first time. After admitting
how he killed
enough white men in the war to recognise the same fear of dying as he felt then
(Mosley 9),
the veteran’s ability to observe both sides of the conflict is shown. For instance,
as Joppy
faces Albright, Easy senses Joppy’s nervousness despite the bar owner being a
“tough ex-
heavyweight who was comfortable bragging in the ring or on the street” (10).
However, Easy
is preoccupied with Albright’s act of unbothered familiarity, and does not think
about the
possibility of Joppy knowing Albright beforehand. It is the first sign of Easy’s
future
formation into a detective; at first, he is not yet experienced in reading between
the lines. He
sees Joppy’s tension as a sole result of a white person’s presence. In fact, Joppy
recommended
Easy to Albright, and the tension thus emanates from Joppy’s fear of Easy rejecting
the white
man’s offer. Overall, the first chapter showcases the impact of white presence in
Black
people’s spaces, and how Albright uses his white privilege to manipulate Black
people. The
more Easy questions Albright’s intentions, the more his rage resurges. This first
interaction
discloses Easy’s skill of close monitoring of verbal and physical mannerisms of
white people.
Furthermore, it marks his transformation into someone who challenges the system
through
navigating his awareness of injustices inflicted upon his community by systemic
racism and
his consequent inner rage.
Easy enters the story as someone valuing his possessions and having dreams of a
regular American; expressing the desire to own a property potentially derives from
discrimination of his race as well as his ancestors’ enslavement. However, given
Mosley’s
aim at appealing to a white readership, his detective aspiring to become a
prosperous landlord
may also originate in the capitalist agenda. Under capitalism, economic prosperity
is the
leading cause of material possessions being valued over wellbeing of the country’s
citizens.
When Easy remarks how jealous he feels of Joppy owning a business, something that
is only
his (16), it is the first sign of tying property ownership to happiness and
financial capital to
one’s long-term inner satisfaction. By accepting the job from Albright, Easy has a
vision of
56
fast money that he needs to pay his rent to continue living in his house that he
aligns with the
same sentiment that he attached to Joppy’s bar. The veteran describes his home with
deep
longing. The idea of owning a property illustrates the difference in his values as
a future
detective compared to white hard-boiled investigators when he notes that he
loved going home. Maybe it was that I was raised on a sharecropper’s
farm or that I never owned anything until I bought that house … But
that house meant more to me than any woman I ever knew. I loved her
and I was jealous of her and if the bank [took] her from me I might
have come … with a rifle rather than to give her up. (Mosley 20)
Traditionally, hard-boiled fiction illustrates the detective as a solitary figure
with no
desire to own a property. Yet, a sense of home is necessary for Easy regardless of
him
becoming a detective, which is solidified in the end when he becomes a private
investigator as
well as a landlord of another property. The vision of establishing a place for his
future family
leads Easy on a path for justice that turns to be beneficial for him financially.
By using
personal pronouns to describe his house and commenting on how it means more to him
than
any woman, the view supports the notion of objects treated as humans; a reverse
practice to
the treatment of living beings as objects. He admits being jealous of his home,
indicating that
his treatment of possessions is one of his most recognisable qualities.
Furthermore, Easy’s
notion traces back to his upbringing and feelings of abandonment. He reveals that
many
people often walked into his life and left, adding that “my father was like that;
my mother
wasn’t much better” (Mosley 23). His recollection of early abandonment from both of
his
parents left wounds that would later translate into viewing possessions as more
stable than
real life connections.
Perpetuated by slaves being perceived as little children by slaveholders and
occurring
in the Jim Crow era, Easy is referred to as a boy or a little helper multiple times
despite being
an adult. Later in the novel, Easy himself describes the main female character
Daphne Monet
as a child while sexualising her at the same time. Connecting to the stereotypes
that he is
subjected to as a Black man, he subconsciously decides to link these implanted
racist notions
57
onto a woman. For instance, Easy mentions how Daphne’s “eyes were just a little
closer than
most women’s eyes; it made her seem vulnerable, made me feel that I wanted … to
protect
her” (Mosley 96), how she smiles like a child and that “only a child could ever be
that happy”
(97). Further, he states that “she was just a girl. Nothing over twenty-two” (98)
and how her
“childish pleasure touched him” (183). Although both are underprivileged in
different ways,
this infantilization of women by American mainstream society is depicted in Easy’s
own
treatment of white16
women. Generally, language as a form of communication influences
either reinforcement or debilitation of social stereotypes and people’s impression
of
themselves and others. As a result, characterising an adult woman as a “girl” or a
“child”
invalidates her adulthood (Huot 1). Likewise, girls are habitually labelled as
sweet in order to
conform to feminine conventions, with males pushed to comply with masculine
stereotypes
(4). Due to social norms classifying women and men as dissimilar with each gender
completing character qualities of the other, applying such stereotypes and
categorising women
as “nice” on the first glance assigns them positive, “feminine” traits.
Nonetheless, once this
standardisation is defied and a woman shifts from the ascribed traits, she faces
alienation due
to violating the feminine prototype. By not qualifying as stereotypical
individuals, women are
subjected to varying forms of critique and punishments (6), with the overall gender
myths and
expectations harming both women and men (7).
While Easy is attracted to his friend Coretta who is a Black woman, his interest in
and
bordering obsession with Daphne connect to Easy’s perception of Daphne as a
helpless white
girl. However, Daphne’s behaviour is far from juvenile; she is unapproachable yet
seductive,
shy yet daring, soft spoken yet firm and titillating in her speech. Upon Daphne’s
entrance in
the novel, she represents a fragile female character. Her disempowered effeminate
position in
the middle of male-conducted violence shatters as her suspicious behaviour
increases. Easy’s
absence of focus to identify Daphne’s femme fatale character at the start could be
attributed to
either his lack of investigative experience, or to Daphne’s decentralisation from
her gender
homogeneity (Delamater and Prigozy 80). As Easy starts falling in love with Daphne,
he
16
At this point in the story, Easy does not know of Daphne’s passing, thus considers
and treats her as white.
58
describes her as someone he usually desires to own. In a hard-boiled manner, he
thinks how
he “wished that my life was still so simple that all I was after was a wild night
with a white
girl” (Mosley 182) and that he “never felt drawn to a woman the way I was to Daphne
Monet.
Most beautiful women make me feel like I want to touch them, own them. But Daphne
made
me look inside myself” (185). Possessiveness uncovers the patriarchal treatment of
women,
especially those who seem fragile by appearance. Daphne’s light, tanned-looking
skin adds to
her appeal, but it is her unattainability that ultimately charms Easy the most; she
presents a
mysterious entity that does not let herself be caught and controlled.
Whilst Daphne uses her seductiveness for her own interests, Easy’s temptation in
response to the passing woman ties to his sexual preferences. The feeling he
develops towards
Daphne highlights his own internalised racism in a form of his variating approach
to Black
and white women. In the novel, Easy clearly distinguishes the type of women that he
is
attracted to. One night, Easy sees a Black woman Rita Cook at the bar surrounded by
five
men and dismisses their taste in women according to what he himself finds
attractive. He
admits to never understanding how an “ugly, skinny woman like that attracted so
many men.”
He recalls asking her about it, to which she responded: “Well, ya know, Easy, it’s
only half
the mens is int’rested in how a girl look. Most’a your colored mens is lookin’ for
a woman to
love’em so hard that they fo’gets how hard it is t’make it through the day” (36).
The
protagonist follows the mainstream pattern of conventional beauty to note how too
skinny
equals ugly, taken aback by Cook’s appeal to other men. Further, Easy sees no sense
in
Cook’s explanation, which demonstrates the primary distinction between her and
Daphne’s
attractiveness. Easy’s fleeting thrill of fascination with Daphne can be associated
with his
childhood trauma of his father leaving and his mother dying. His previous mention
of
everyone eventually leaving him may link to his previous short-lived relationships.
Since
Daphne presents familiarity and inconsistency in Easy’s life, it is this unstable
emotional bond
that he develops a strong connection to. Cook’s openness and playful spirit get
overshadowed
by Easy’s notion that it is in fact her appearance that explains his distaste.
59
During the same night, when Easy meets his friend Odell, they comment on another
Black woman’s looks. When Odell says that “fat Wilma Johnson come in with Toupelo
and
danced up a storm. She jump up in the air and come down so hard this whole room
like
t’shook,” Easy replies with a deprecating, shaming joke to make Odell laugh: “She
probably
eat hard too” (43). As an accessible woman, Cook gets introduced as an ugly
seductress; as a
fat woman who happily dances like nobody’s watching, Wilma Johnson evokes the
unattractive, cheerful Mammy stereotype. While it is a barely noticeable remark in
an
innocent exchange, Easy’s degrading comment stems from the customary
objectification of
women and media depictions of them as sexual objects accredited to provide men
sexual
pleasure through their physical attractiveness and sexual availability. On top of
that, it relates
to the need to controlling women’s reproductive rights and body politics based on
superficiality (Wright and Tokunaga 956).
Regardless of Easy’s past hardship with his familial and romantic relationships,
the
representation of toxic masculinity in hard-boiled novels is reflected in creating
a femme
fatale figure. The ominousness of her character may potentially endanger the male
protagonist
and cast him to his downfall. Hence, the woman’s presence is depicted as a doom to
otherwise
collected man. In Devil, Daphne’s behaviour towards Easy leaves him confounded; as
an
apparent catalyst of his troubles, all she brings is disarray, and shatters the
life as he knew it.
In fact, it is Easy who fails to separate work from sentiment, and who continuously
places
Daphne on the forefront of his mind, leaving himself emotionally exposed. The
responsibility
for Easy’s troubles falls into Daphne’s hands. Perceived as having enchanted
numerous men
to fall in love with her in order to do her bidding, she is then portrayed as
reckless, unstable
and villainous. In the end, Easy feels glad that Daphne decides to leave for good
with all her
money, a few murders under her belt and no man to further exploit.
When it is revealed to Easy that Daphne is passing, his yearning for her
diminishes.
His thoughts get clouded by Daphne not being white, as he thinks about “making love
to
[Daphne] when she was still a white woman” (Mosley 211). Ultimately, the man
considers
Daphne as the “death herself” whom he would take back immediately if she asked him
to
60
(208). By condemning her as evil and remarking that she is not white anymore, he
suggests
that race can be eradicated as one pleases. As if Daphne’s Blackness makes her
wicked and
sinful; her character of femme fatale is reinforced by Easy’s constant
objectification. The
difference between his treatment of Daphne when he thinks that she is white and
when he
knows she is not is palpable; it goes beyond Easy’s established hard-boiled persona
of
growing more daring and courageous. When Daphne confesses to Easy that her father
was
molesting her as a child, it is to be expected that Easy’s perception would alter.
Instead,
indifferent to her vulnerable revelation, he proclaims she is the devil shortly
after. With Black
men sustaining the patriarchal conventions by mirroring white sexist notions
(Woodard and
Mastin 268), Daphne’s image as the seductive, sexually aggressive Jezebel is
imprinted in
Easy’s mind through his fostered white image as promiscuous and animalistic (272).
Therefore, the constant reminder of Daphne’s non-human and diabolic nature leaves
no
speculation of Easy’s innocence in his infatuation. Due to his own experience from
war, Easy
should understand that Daphne battles her own traumas, making her own relationships
unstable and toxic. When Easy still considers her to be white and already knows she
caused
death of two characters, he disregards it completely; however, upon revealing her
true
identity, she is regarded as vicious.
The image of the Western male identity classifies expressing emotion publicly as
weak, especially in positions of power and in male-dominated environments. Hence,
Easy’s
toxic masculinity is further uncovered by his shame of other men, which becomes
apparent
when he meets with Todd Carter in Carter’s company called Lion Investments. When
Carter,
who hired Easy through Albright to find Daphne, discloses he loves her, Easy
mentions his
near humiliation for Carter. When Carter tears up, Easy thinks that he is not
trying to act “like
a man at all” (Mosley 123), his eyes pale and child-like (122), which further
demonstrates
Easy’s repetitive association with child-like behaviour and conventional
emasculation. As an
essential constituent of the U.S. capitalist system, sexist perceptions have
corrupted Black and
white men alike. Although the critique of sexism among Black communities is
present, Easy’s
misogyny exists primarily under racist and capitalist structures (Staples 63). It
is not only
61
about the gender tension between Black men and women, but as exhibited, there is a
need to
address where the sexism originates from. Carter discloses things to Easy that “men
should
never say about their women. Not sex, but he talked about how she’d hold him to her
breast
when he was afraid and how she’d stand up for him when a shopkeeper or waiter tried
to walk
over him” (Mosley 125-6). Easy thinks that Carter’s feelings should not be shared
publicly.
His deep embarrassment of what the white man says is yet another of Easy’s
implanted
instances of whiteness necessary for integration into the mainstream public.
Clearly, Easy
links weakness with infancy and immaturity, which men can escape by toughening up.
The protagonist follows a similar pattern as he did with women of the two races,
this
time in regard to the behaviour of Black and white men. When Easy’s friend Dupree
finds out
his lover has died, he notes how Dupree has been upset and crying the whole
evening. When
the police officers told him about his partner, Dupree “broke down” (174). Although
Easy
judges Carter’s vulnerability, Dupree crying over his partner’s death leaves Easy
understanding and hence impartial towards his ingrained patriarchal standards.
First, it
suggests that Easy thinks a white man’s anxiety over his loved one missing is more
shameful
than a Black man’s grievance. Attributed to the white patriarchal preconditioning,
a Black
man is taught what kind of behaviour is socially acceptable and thus needed to be
mimicked
and adopted. However, Carter as a white man should know better because he is the
prototype
of what the socially accepted man should look and behave like. Having said that,
there is a
probability of Easy seeing Carter’s weeping simply as exaggerated due to Carter’s
relationship with Daphne appearing as one-sided. This way, Easy may convince
himself there
is no need to be jealous. Dupree is excused of Easy’s scrutiny possibly because he
is Black
and is still about to acquire some standards of the mainstream society.
Lastly, at the end of the novel, Easy’s friend Mouse comments on Easy’s Blackness
by
saying that once Easy learns something, he thinks like a white man; that what is
right for the
whites is right for Easy. In spite of Easy thinking like he is white, a Black man
can never be
happy if he does not accept what he is (209). Mouse’s talk indicates Easy’s denial
of his white
values, and the change that Easy undergoes during the period of working for Carter.
62
Nonetheless, Easy’s internalised whiteness comes to the surface and instead of
letting it
consume him, he eventually uses it to his advantage by applying it to his
investigative skills.
By coming to terms with his position in the society, Easy benefits from his newly
found work,
which supports Mouse’s claim of his content only if he fully embraces the position
that he
finds himself in.
Layering Identities: Investigation of Easy’s Self and Other
On his new path to establish himself as a private investigator and to reconnect
with his
inner self and Otherness, Easy encounters various characters that aid the
development of his
own polarising identities. Easy’s Otherness, as a state of divided self, starts
evolving
throughout the novel. Reaching self-awareness regarding one’s identity can only be
achieved
by hardship, facilitating self-knowledge through which people obtain a sense of
self (Nelson
27). Suffering thus has both humanising and redemptive elements (28). Throughout
the story,
Easy has to navigate his buried trauma in various forms which he then utilises to
solve
numerous murders, some of which he initially does not even plan to resolve. Due to
the first-
person narrative, the seemingly straightforward tangibility of Easy’s emotions gets
blurred by
his own indecisiveness in how to navigate his multiple identities as a war veteran,
former
factory worker or a Black man in California, encompassed by his rage and loathing.
How
Easy regards himself and his self-worth impacts his ability to empathise with
others and to
take on various identities due to which Easy’s detective character begins to be
constructed.
In chapters where Easy reminiscences of his earlier life, it is demonstrated how
his
loathing encompasses Black and white people alike, including himself. He remembers
that he
ran away “to go to the army and then later to L.A. I hated myself. I signed up to
fight in the
war to prove to myself that I was a man … I was frightened but I fought. I fought
despite the
fear” (Mosley 54). Amidst Easy’s confession to his self-loathing, his approach to
dangerous
situations proves to be advantageous in working as a detective. That being said, it
further
overlaps with Easy’s white values, feeling the need to show the resilience of a
strong man.
Furthermore, Easy recalls questioning his service designed to benefit the white men
in power,
63
and how racism occurred between fellow soldiers. He would ask himself why he was
willing
to die “in this white man’s war,” remembering how white soldiers mocked Black
soldiers by
calling them cowards and saying that “it was the white boys that were saving
Europe. I knew
they were jealous because we were behind the lines with good food and conquered
women,
but it got to me somehow. I hated those white soldiers and my own cowardice” (105).
Easy
tries to lessen the feeling of inadequacy deriving from the lack of Black soldiers
on the
frontlines by highlighting the positive side. Nonetheless, he is aware of the pain
that he tries
to conceal and of the laziness that the society assigns to Black men. Easy’s
recollection of
white men deeming themselves white saviours may be what leads him inclined to
undertake
Albright’s task. By this, Easy does not aim at reaching the same recognition and
respect, but
subconsciously stands up to himself despite his preconditioned inner voice telling
him to keep
hating himself.
When Easy enters Carter’s company and gets asked if he needs help, he remains
paralysed, unable to answer. Easy states how it was a habit he developed in
childhood.
“Sometimes, when a white man of authority would catch me off guard, I’d empty my
head of
everything so I was unable to say anything. I hated myself for it but I also hated
white people,
and colored people too, for making me that way” (Mosley 21). Against his inner
conviction,
the signs of inherited trauma prevent Easy from breaking away. As an instance of
his self-
loathing caused by his inability to find strength when facing a white man, he
remains
powerless to voice his distaste. Easy’s service in the military has led to
intensified anger in
perilous circumstances, and white risking his life in the process, has also
encouraged tenacity
to uncover injustices surrounding his new job. When Easy decides to accept
Albright’s offer,
Easy notes how full of violence the white man appears to be. However, it is not
Easy’s
agitation for which he accepts; on the contrary, the disquiet fuels Easy’s daring
nature of
taking risks despite the fear. This character quality then ties to Easy’s
development into a
hard-boiled detective whose weaknesses are suppressed in the name of hard-boiled,
patriarchal principles.
64
Since hard-boiled fiction comprises of brutal crimes, corrupt politicians and the
police,
and infected society, the detective, knowing the implications of the system that
cannot be
fixed, feels bitter. In Easy’s case, this repugnance arises from being constrained
by systemic
racism, experienced at the very start when Easy gets fired. When Easy’s co-worker
Dupree
tells him their boss Benny wants him back, Easy returns only to be met with
demeaning
attitude. Earlier, the reason for Easy’s immediate release was when Benny demanded
Easy
and his fellow co-workers to stay longer after a tough shift. Easy objected that it
could wait
till the morning because the work done would be mediocre otherwise. Although Easy’s
white
co-workers agreed with him, Easy was fired while the rest did not even get a
reprimand.
Consequently, such discrimination that Black people are subjected to, reminded of
their
disposal and easy replacement if they do not oblige, amplifies Easy’s anger. Hence,
Easy
compares his job in the factory to working on a plantation in the South and his
boss to a
slaveowner who needs Easy to be grateful that he allowed him to work at all (71).
Easy notes
how “the bosses see all the workers like they’re children, and everyone knows how
lazy
children are … [Benny] was the boss and I was the child. The white workers didn’t
have a
problem with that … because they didn’t come from a place where men were always
called
boys … He would have laughed and realized how pushy he was being and offered to
take
[them] out to drink a beer” (69). Easy recalls being treated as a child, which is
further
sustained by Albright who calls Easy his “little helper” (13). The disrespect that
Benny shows
in regard to Easy can be further noticed in how the boss addresses him; while Easy
formally
calls Benny “Mr. Giacomo,” his boss impolitely calls Easy either by his given name
or simply
as “Rawlins.” It is the first time that Easy stands up for himself and demands
being treated
with respect after realising that securing his job in the company is no longer
possible. Later
on, Easy applies his newly found voice to his dealings with Albright who, in many
ways,
shares similarities with Benny.
Although his former boss shares patterns of behaviour with Albright, Easy admits
feeling more comfortable in Albright’s presence. When Easy mentions how “Albright
had his
bottle and his gun right out there in plain view. When he asked me what I had to
say I told
65
him; I might have been a little nervous, but I told him anyway. Benny didn’t care
about what I
had to say. He needed all his children to kneel down and let him be the boss. He
wasn’t a
businessman, he was a plantation boss; a slaver” (72). Albright’s openly violent
nature and his
superior manner displayed towards Joppy and Easy paradoxically gives Easy a sense
of
security because he does not hide who he truly is. Easy’s perception of Benny as a
slave
owner emanates from the hatred Easy feels when treated as inferior in instances of
racist
micro-aggressions. Nonetheless, Albright’s approach makes Easy feel more respected
due to
Albright’s option to kill Easy whenever he wants but deciding not to do so.
Easy’s initial instinct to hurt in exchange of being wounded himself is an adopted
mechanism not only from the military but also from the violent crimes displayed by
the police
and general public. In his mind, he moderates outside violence by thinking of
inflicting as
much pain and brutality towards those who showed their cruelty towards him. When
Easy
gets surrounded by a white group of teenagers with one boy threatening him, Easy
thinks
about breaking the boy’s neck, putting out his eyes and breaking all his fingers;
“I could have
killed all of them too … I was still a killing machine” (60). He further tells
himself to get out
of there before there end up being “two or three dead bodies, one of them being
mine” (61).
Nonetheless, suppressing his initial thoughts further helps him grow into a
professional
detective. Violent thoughts resurface when Easy is interrogated by officers Miller
and Mason
and imagines himself as a convict crushing one of the policemen and leaving him
shapeless in
the corner with his eyes out of his head (80). Easy’s confrontation with the
officers represent
the antagonistic relationship with the police that hard-boiled investigators
commonly have,
which further solidifies Easy’s position in the underground network.
As he is unjustly held in a cell, starving and abandoned, Easy ponders an idea of
blending into the darkness. He thinks of how all he does is “trying to become the
darkness. I
was awake but my thinking was like a dream. I dreamed in my wakefulness that I
could
become the darkness” (80-1). This desire contains two contradictory viewpoints; the
first
translates into an objective of recognising the thoughts about killing and
injuring, and giving
in to his violent imaginings which Easy ultimately does not fulfil. Second, it
serves as another
66
illustration of the formation of his hard-boiled persona; the need to become the
darkness
without regret and fear of being judged by his community. In the popular media,
having
violent thoughts would classify Easy as an example of an uncontrollable Brute who
endangers
the educated society by his non-adaptability. In hard-boiled fiction, however, the
detective’s
inner darkness presents the notion that everyone in the society is guilty in one
way or another.
Depicting an individual hero who solves the crime is overshadowed in hard-boiled
fiction by
individual villainy of all characters. Portraying Easy as a morally ambiguous
figure whose
race and ever-present past have shaped the darkness within that Easy decides to
embrace,
further facilitates his development as a detective.
Recognising Two-Ness: Easy and the Double-Voiced Narrative
As demonstrated, working among white people helps Easy to recognise white people’s
fears and thoughts. His duality of simultaneously despising and respecting his
self, displayed
in his anger, derives from the numerous worlds that he has inhabited. Upon entering
his life,
Easy is moreover established as someone who has occupied roles of a soldier and
civilian, and
is thus aware of racism in diverse layers of society. Delving into the criminal
underground of
LA, Easy’s character traits get refined not only to stay alive but execute
Albright’s task to find
Daphne. Whether Easy’s trickster qualities benefit commencing his detective career,
or his
early investigation accentuates his trickster traits, the fact that Easy passes
through various
social layers but never stays anywhere for too long emphasises his methodical
boundary
crossing. Furthermore, Easy creates a new boundary himself by becoming a private
investigator, stressing his sense of right and wrong according to his personal
experience.
Being constantly underestimated by white characters due to his Blackness lets Easy
enter
different spheres where he has to navigate the stereotyping that leads to and stems
from racial
injustice. These deliberate misjudgements point at some of the traits that the
Signifying
Monkey exhibits against his opponent, the Lion. Nevertheless, despite Easy
labelling his boss
Benny, who regards his workers as children, a slaver, his employment under Albright
is
67
ultimately the one paralleling the story of the Signifying Monkey where Easy as the
Monkey
symbolises slaves and Albright as the Lion represents slaveholders.
Being hired by Albright for Todd Carter whose company is called Lion Investments
begins Easy’s new path. While Easy is not physically small, his social standing
makes
Albright call him his little helper, similarly to Benny treating Easy as a child,
when he tells
Easy that sometimes, he needs a “little helper to get the job done. That’s where
you come in”
(Mosley 13). On the one hand, it is how slavers regarded their slaves. In contrast,
it is also
Albright’s derogatory way of pointing out Easy’s proficiency in passing unnoticed
among his
own community. Considering Easy is the Monkey and Albright, an employee of Lion
Investments, is the Lion, the uneasiness that Easy feels in Albright’s presence and
taking the
job anyway demonstrates Easy’s cravings for danger and for the prospect of fast
money. Easy
remarks that Albright is a “big man, and powerful by the look of him … The more I
was
afraid of him, I was that much more certain to take the job he offered” (20).
Easy’s
carelessness is influenced by his tiredness of the world of scarcity and
inequality, and by his
figurative hunger for material possessions. Recognising that Albright is not a
friend but has
what Easy needs (28), Easy takes the job without caring about its legality. It
further reveals
Easy’s inclination towards mindless actions. The recklessness with which the
Signifying
Monkey talks to the Lion is demonstrated in Easy’s secure feeling in talking to
Albright
openly. When Easy meets his boss Benny after being fired, having already accepted
Albright’s offer, Easy does not show any contempt towards his former boss, but it
is clear that
he has become more daring after his involvement with Albright.
As Easy enters the residence of Carter’s company, he sees names of “all the
important
partners of Lion Investments … Lawyers, bankers, and just the plain old wealthy
folks” (118).
The company of Lion Investments partnering with affluent associates may serve as a
credible
evidence of all slaveholders sticking together. In the meantime, Easy is struggling
with his
work but still expects that Benny changes his mind. Unlike the Monkey, Easy is not
bored and
does not thrust himself into disrupting Albright’s dead-end investigation with his
presence.
Moreover, he lets Albright be in charge, dependent on the white man’s instructions.
If it was
68
not for Albright saving Easy from the group of the white teenagers by threatening
them back
with a gun, Easy’s trouble with the officers Miller and Mason would advance even
farther.
Concurrently, Easy manages what Albright could not; to find Daphne. For this
reason, the
first attestation of Easy possessing trickster traits would reflect in his
imitation of Albright’s
hard-boiled behaviour. By observing Albright giving instructions and not
intervening, Easy
learns the rules of the hard-boiled discourse quietly and steadily.
In the end of the novel, Albright as the Lion uses his ways in a form of a
particular
violent code to achieve his objective and ends up bleeding to death. Oppositely,
Easy not only
survives in the midst of ruthless crimes and brutal murders, but decides to buy a
second
house, becomes a landlord, and starts working as a full-time detective for his
acquaintances.
Since Albright cannot change, he does not survive in the world that is constantly
reshaped,
despite being a privileged white man. As a disruptor of the world, Easy thrives due
to
mimicry that he eventually fully embraces. Initially, Easy gets uncomfortable
entering white
spaces. He feels “unhappy about going to meet Mr. Albright because I wasn’t used to
going
into white communities … But the idea that … he’d give me enough money to pay the
next
month’s mortgage made me happy” (58). Nonetheless, by the task he undertakes, he is
forced
to go against his attitude, which ends up profiting him. In launching of Easy’s
career, Albright
stands as a powerful representation of whiteness, physically strong and mentally
unwavering.
He reminds Easy of his position in the society; a little helper who can emerge from
the
shadows and just as easily disappear when the forces of white supremacy attend to
it. In the
end, Easy is astounded that Albright the Lion could be killed when he ponders how
“a man
like DeWitt Albright didn’t die, couldn’t die. It frightened me even to think of a
world that
could kill a man like that; what could a world like that do to me?” (210).
Apart from the Signifying Monkey reflected in some of Easy’s actions, Easy’s
trickster traits are further exhibited by him using a double-voiced tradition,
traced back to the
two-mouthed trickster Esu Elegbara. Mentioning how his inner voice first came to
him in the
army, his inner dialogue has served the detective as another type of a coping
mechanism.
Sometimes, Easy talks with himself back and forth, for instance when he commands
himself:
69
“Easy, get a good night’s sleep and go out looking for a job tomorrow.” Again, he
answers
out loud with “I’ll get it,” asking himself how. Then, he notes how “we went on
like that but it
was useless from the start” (20). This detachment from one’s self, constructing
another
identity that helps him suppress his emotions ties to Easy’s sentiments of loathing
and disgust.
Inevitably, creating another voice to confide in serves as an ability to stay
detached in order to
think rationally in combat, whether literal or metaphorical. Also, it aids
separating troubling
thoughts by recognising them as not his own. By noting how “the voice only comes to
me at
the worst times … Then [it] comes to me and gives me the best advice I ever get …
The voice
first came to me in the army” (104), Easy expects the voice, his second tongue, to
appear
when he is at his worst. Such practice surpasses just talking to oneself and
creates a division
between simple dealing with Easy’s waves of rage and establishing a completely new
identity,
sustaining his duality.
Although tricksters act upon their hunger and listen to their voices’ cries for
unethical
actions to have fun, no matter who gets hurt or killed, Easy’s voice clashes with
his strong
sense of morality and appears as a survival tool. This is apparent when Easy states
that “the
voice has no lust. He never told me to rape or steal. He just tells me how it is if
I want to
survive. Survive like a man. When the voice speaks, I listen” (106). Moreover, Easy
recalls a
moment from the army when the voice told him to kill a German soldier: “‘Kill him
an’ rip
off his fuckin’ face … Even if he lets you live you be scared the rest’a yo’ life.
Kill that
motherfucker,’ he told me. And I did” (105-6). The voice offers him a different
solution to a
situation, acting as a second sight. By assigning the voice a personal pronoun,
Easy has
established the voice as a separate persona. Thus, it reveals that the only person
who Easy
could have trusted in the army was himself, while also recognising its
protectiveness which
then Easy uses in his detection. Whereas Easy admits that he listens to the voice,
knowing he
can fully rely on his inner dialogue, his comment on surviving like a man provokes
another
instance of ill values of his self-worth. It is the trickster notion of survival
where life and
death blend in one another, mixed with a hard-boiled violent nature of crimes,
where no one
eliminates death without extinguishing life at the same time (Hyde 179). Therefore,
it is a
70
testament of for how long Easy has moved between other two opposing worlds; of life
and
death.
Another instance of the power of Easy’s voice and self-deception comes when he
reminiscences of the racist tensions between the U.S. soldiers being terminated as
the soldiers
united against the common enemy; the Germans. When Easy declares that “the major
thing
we had to worry about was killing Germans … There was always trouble between the
races
… but we learned to respect each other out there too” (Mosley 105), the use of
“too” implies
that the white soldiers respected Black men outside of the war as well. This
statement
eradicates Easy’s comment on the same page about white soldiers naming Easy and his
men
by the n-word and as cowards, hence not granting even a mild shred of respect, and
consequently uncovering Easy’s deeply rooted trauma of racism. In addition, it
amplifies
Easy’s statement of hatred towards Black and white people, and himself, by
suggesting that
he respects the white people’s treatment of his race outside of the war. The novel
unveils how
Easy learns to oppose to the unjust conditioning. Hence, in this case, Easy’s voice
causes
confusion and deceit towards himself, lying to Easy who is trying to escape his
internalised
racism.
Two-Ness as an Investigative Tool: Implementing Trickster Ways
Behind my friendly talk, I was working to find something. Nobody
knew what I was up to and that made me sort of invisible; people
thought that they saw me but what they really saw was an illusion of
me, something that wasn’t real. (Mosley 135)
Due to investigating in unsafe places, Easy now hears his voice more frequently for
the first time since returning from the war. As he recognises the outer deceit of
the world that
surrounds him, the detective himself discovers new forms of imitation. Easy’s work
in the
shadows is facilitated by his race; the illusion he mentions links to his
Otherness, inner two-
ness, but also to his implementation of invisible tools of inspection. In case of
an accident,
instruments of invisibility can save an individual if employed correctly. For Easy,
presence of
71
mind does not negate a sense of Otherness and alienation, nor his multiple emerging
identities; it coexists with his proficiency to start using his wit that responds
to the world in
constant motion. Easy finds imitation especially valuable in his becoming of a
detective but
also loses his own former ways in the process by letting the work and the danger
consume
him. It then leaves a question of Easy’s true trickster nature.
While Easy’s split personality keeps learning how to invent credible lies, it is
more the
recognition of other person’s artifice that Easy excels in; his multiple identities
enable him to
detect cunning when employed by another person. A mind like Easy’s, the one that
has
travelled through some of the world’s most outlandish places, observes the meaning
of words
connected to specific contexts. For instance, he recognises falsehoods told by
Californians
due to his Texan origin when he notes how Albright told him a few stories, “the
kind of tales
that we called ‘lies’ back home in Texas” (Mosley 28). Hence, knowing what
something
means because Easy is aware of what it does not further helps him in observing the
crime.
Because Easy does not want to reflect on the events of the war, he sits down with
Dupree “to
tell lies” about their service (46); his earlier remark about soldiers respecting
each other in and
outside of the war then solidifies Easy’s self-deceit. When Easy observes that
“Daphne looked
down … long enough for an average person to formulate a lie” (98), his ability of
detection is
disclosed. At this point in the story, Easy is yet to be fully captivated by
Daphne’s spirit,
continuously neglecting his instincts; upon their first meeting, Daphne’s
hesitation does not
pass Easy’s attention.
Although Easy tries to persuade others by lying, his way with words becomes greatly
influenced by who he is talking to. Once, he lies to his acquaintance Junior about
Mouse
when Junior is too preoccupied answering Easy’s questions to doubt his sincerity
(38). On
another occasion, he ponders the idea of tricking Mouse – “I decided to ignore it
and if he
ever asked I’d just look simple and act like it never got delivered” (56) – which
he never
executes and only thinks about how effortlessly he would look performing it.
However, where
Albright is concerned, Easy’s persuasion grows to no avail. He lies to Albright and
knows that
the man does not believe him (66). While the Monkey regularly uses his verbal games
to
72
outwit his rivals, once met with Albright, Easy loses his way. Not being convincing
enough
suggests Easy’s uneasiness around white people in general, not being able to cajole
Albright
into persuading him. Besides, Albright indirectly threatens Easy when he tells him
to
remember that “you’re still telling me everything” (110), thus reminding Easy of
his place. As
the Lion, Albright senses even the minimal hesitancy and knows when things are
amiss.
Notwithstanding, Easy’s sparse moments of deception bring him no joy when he
reveals that
it feels good to tell the truth (86). His attempts at signifying always carry an
agenda, such as
to keep Daphne’s picture to himself because he wants to keep her close, or to hide
Mouse’s
whereabouts away from Junior so Easy does not have to think about Mouse at all.
An example of Easy’s wavering self-control is when he, in moments of anger,
switches from SAE to AAVE. When he comes to meet Albright, he is confronted by
another
white man questioning Easy, and Easy replies, disgusted: “Forget it man … You tell
[Albright] that the next time he better give me a note because you cain’t be
lettin’ no street
niggahs comin’ in yo’ place wit’ no notes!” (22). While Easy light-heartedly uses
AAVE
amongst his Black friends, he always uses SAE when dealing with white people. It
appears as
a conscious decision of trying to act formal in front of the people who judge him,
which then
occasionally contrasts with Easy’s rage ruling his tongue. If Easy truly was the
human
representation of the Monkey, his involvement in the game would be focused on
controlling
the behaviour of more powerful characters by provoking fights between them as a
mediator
(Abrahams). Even though Easy initially presents the middleman between Carter and
Daphne,
and is seemingly weaker than Albright, as the trickster, he would aim at finding
Daphne by
using his wits, without trying to protect her. Moreover, his employment of AAVE
would
serve to achieve his objective of solving murders, precisely used to his advantage,
just as the
Signifying Monkey plays his deceitful games of the dozens to provoke his foes.
Nevertheless,
this is not the case; Easy’s shame leaves AAVE deliberately concealed from white
people and
resurfaces only when Easy stops paying attention.
Easy’s potential to be the trickster is highlighted when he notes how once he
obtains a
piece of information, he has to show it off (Mosley 64). Viewing this as boasting
further
73
shows how tricksters can lose their way if they are not careful enough. In the
process of
learning their ways, they can easily lose in a game due to their immaturity and
childish need
for validation. Not only are they disrupting the world around them by inflicting
chaos, they
inappropriately share sensitive information that can further intensify the
disorder, not
recognising the right time to use it. However, Easy’s remark is the only proof of
such
behaviour, and his bragging may in fact exhibit his sense of honour. As an
unreliable narrator,
Easy provides the readers with a subjective image of himself; being a talker. The
truth is,
Albright asks him a question and Easy answers, attesting to Easy’s integrity as an
investigator
more than to his trickster character, as well as his wary attitude towards
withholding
information from Albright.
For Easy has always been cautious of his surroundings, his calculating nature
manifests in various aspects. Easy decides not to act on his impulses and declines
Coretta’s
offer to have sex with her while her partner Dupree sleeps drunk in the next room,
saying he
would be sorry if he decided to stay (48). This resolution points at Easy’s sense
of honour as
well as lack of sexual appetite compared to tricksters who would not hesitate to
accept
Coretta’s offer. Moreover, Coretta shares valuable information with Easy and tries
to
persuade him to give her money in exchange. Coretta further tricks Easy into
talking without
him realising at first. This unveils Easy learning detective ways early on in the
story when he
later registers that Coretta kept him talking (49). If the detective was a
trickster, he would
attempt to trick Coretta by offering her money first before she did.
Another manifestation of Easy’s evolution as a detective using his experience with
racism and discrimination is when he insists on protecting not only Daphne but
other people
as well. Caring for others comes forth when he insists on Albright promising him
that “no
harm is going to come to that [Daphne], or anybody else” (64). In the second half
of the
novel, the instances occur more frequently. While Easy seeks Frank solely to find
Daphne, he
masks his sense of honour in front of Mouse to save Frank by persuading Mouse he
needs
Frank alive because if Mouse kills him, one of Easy’s sources “dries up” (156).
Reminiscing
on his time in war with Mouse, and how Mouse was the reason innocent people died,
Easy
74
feels guilt over their deaths, stating that “when everything was over I had two
dead men on
my soul” (158), though he was not even there himself. It is a manifestation of a
receptive and
responsible detective, which sets him apart from Albright and from the trickster
figures.
Whilst Albright is a hard-boiled figure just as Easy, the white man employs
merciless
violence to mitigate his fury. Further, Easy states that guilt does not tell time
(159); once
wrongdoing is done, it cannot be reversed. While Mouse is indifferent towards
Easy’s
sentiment, expressing no shame or understanding, Easy’s guilt serves as a reminder
of rights
and wrongs.
Furthermore, the traditional hostile relationship that hard-boiled detectives have
with
the police is in African American crime fiction intensified due to the police
harassment
exercised against Black people. In the novel, the police force is represented by
officers Miller
and Mason.17
As they threaten Easy, incarcerate him, enter his house without a warrant and
deliberately ignite fear, Easy feels obliged to keep his friends safe when
preventable. Easy
notes how “it’s hard acting innocent when you are but the cops know that you
aren’t” (76). He
angers himself for not trying to escape once he finds out the two men left the door
unlocked
(77). While tricksters bring chaos to the world and act innocent while doing it,
Easy’s
objective is to bring order due to knowing the true cost of wrongful accusations.
As a result of
his own involvement, he cannot bear the thought of Black people dying where he has
survived. Due to his non-consensual detainment, Easy learns how to do things
correctly.
Despite seething at himself for not opening the door of his interrogation room, it
is a lesson
that he would not forget. Unfortunately, his infuriation also arises from realising
that while he
does survive the two policemen’s harassment, it is not the reality of others.
17
While in the 1940s, racism was rejected as an adequate public policy due to growing
concerns for economic
and political development (Kellogg 18), police reforms enforced to prevent violence
against Black people, under
the American Council on Race Relations, did not in fact insinuate wider set of
rights for the community. For the
purpose of regulating racial brutality, even stricter segregation policies,
concerning housing and recreational
spaces, were imposed (30). Although after the World War II, assumptions of racial
superiority seemed to cease, a
number of white counterparts equated Nazi ideologies with white supremacy (31).
Therefore, just as lynching,
the belief of racial homogeneity could have not been as easily eliminated, no
matter the workplace, including
federal police departments.
75
As Easy gets released from prison, he walks the streets where he feels “like a
small
rat, hugging the corners and looking out for cats” (83). As Hyde notes, “the shape
of [an]
animal comes to represent the shape of the social and spiritual worlds” (256). This
interprets
Easy’s inferior position of a prey amongst the more powerful predators.
Nevertheless, by
looking out for cats shows his objective to become an agent dismantling the system
which led
him believe in fabricated truths. Shapeshifting abilities are among Easy’s
trickster traits that
get highlighted by him assuming he can become the darkness and blend into the
shadows of
the night (Mosley 81). Moreover, he recognises these abilities in Albright whom he
compares
to a snake; though in the beginning Easy does not know who Albright is yet, he
notes how
Albright’s grip “was strong but slithery, like a snake coiling around my hand”
(10). The
ability to recognise pretence in others accentuates his observation skills, which
are later
further developed by Easy identifying Albright’s “snake grip” (66) again. This
repetition
shows that Easy’s intuition does not fail him the first time.
Nearing the end of the novel, Easy’s voice reappears and whispers that Frank “ain’t
worf living’.” Unlike during his time in the war, where Easy killed the German
soldier under
the voice’s guidance, this time, he does not listen to obey (172). It is an
attestation of Easy’s
development; acting against his inner judgement marks one of the final shifts in
his detective
persona. The quick exchange shows how he does not let the voice determine his
actions.
Likewise, Easy disregards it straightforwardly as opposed to earlier instances of
talking to the
voice as if to another being. Furthermore, Easy’s voice talks him into mentally
returning into
the war zone to save Daphne when it tells him that “all you gotta do is make sure
they don’t
see ya comin’. Just like in the war, man. Make believe you is the night” (200).
Quite literally,
Easy has to pass through Joppy and Albright who hold Daphne captive. With Mouse’s
help,
both Joppy and Albright die that same night. Once more, it is about Easy as
Daphne’s saviour,
before he realises that Daphne is actually passing. As a culmination of Easy’s
devotion, he
76
welcomes the voice again, suggesting the possibility of navigating it beyond Easy’s
love
interest in his further investigations. Despite Easy not being established as the
trickster of the
story, his shapeshifting serves as an allegory of someone occupying multiple
identities. In the
end, it helps him recognise the recklessness towards unfamiliar women.
Once met with the fright of potentially dying whilst saving Daphne, Easy’s mind
wanders back to the beginning of his adventure. Making long-term plans and
imagining a
great life for himself marks the primal difference between African American and
white hard-
boiled fiction, specifically Easy having dreams which “didn’t have me running in
the streets
anymore; I was a man of property and I wanted to leave my wild days behind” (55)
which he
ultimately fulfils. This achieved goal ends the novel on a hopeful note; despite
the rotting
society, there is still something to fight for. Easy notes how he can count on his
friends not to
expose him, saying that “there wasn’t one Negro in a hundred who’d talk to the
police. And
those that did were just as likely to lie as anything else … so I was safe, at
least from the
testimony of friends” (165). The optimism regarding Easy’s fate also lies in the
detective not
being completely alone. With Daphne leaving for good, Easy ends up content and
unbothered
by Daphne’s absence.
The Devil’s Reveal: Daphne’s Shapeshifting Ploys
Following the path of having no way at all serves a great deal for Black tricksters
in a
racist world. Due to them adapting to white supremacy more skilfully to get fairer
treatment
in the society, tricksters can even get away with murder. As a passing woman,
Daphne Monet
has already tricked Easy before even meeting him. While his detection skills
develop
throughout the story, Daphne’s most guarded secret stays hidden from Easy till the
very end.
With other people telling Easy that Daphne is white, he never doubts her race
despite strong
evidence laid in front of him. When Daphne first calls Easy on his landline, her
pretence is
77
instituted by using a fake French accent to underscore what Easy already thinks he
knows;
that she is white. When he first hears her speak, there is a hint of suspicion that
he however
does not draw further. At first, he mentions how her “accent was mild, like French,
but it
wasn’t French exactly” (Mosley 92) and how he “didn’t have the time to wonder at
her loss of
accent” (100). Upon meeting her, she is dressed in a blue dress, revealing that she
would be
the devil from the novel’s title.
Daphne’s established persona as an innocent girl is crafted with such precision
that
even the slightest waver of her accent does not make Easy doubtful. In spite of
discovering a
dead body of Daphne’s friend Richard McGee in the man’s own house, Easy is too
preoccupied to question Daphne. Easy’s own voice tells him that Daphne is not
French –
“messin’ with French white girls, who ain’t French” (104) – but Easy dismisses his
instinct.
Noting that he served in France where French girls wore simple blue dresses (96),
he is fit to
reveal Daphne’s fake identity. Whether it is the idea of her whiteness that offers
him a false
sense of security, the act of her naïve, childlike character, or his concentration
on the main
task as a whole, Easy’s lust for Daphne overshadows his better judgement. Further,
it is the
first time when the colour blue is associated with Daphne; when Carter asks Easy
what she
was wearing later on, it is revealed that apart from the dress, her shoes and
stockings were
also blue (125). As a significance of stability, loyalty and trust as primary
meanings of the
colour blue, Daphne fully covered in the shade forms another layer to give Easy a
false idea
of her identity, luring him into feeling completely safe when being with her.
Adjusted to the stereotypes of femininity, Daphne manages to look innocent, smiling
shyly and “like a child” (Mosley 98) when she first meets Easy. She is aware that
being
perceived as a girl would spark protectiveness in him, gasping and grabbing Easy’s
sleeve
(99), which is how she masks her secrets. Categorising herself as “just a girl”
(97) may further
lead to Easy’s justification of infantilising her, which offers Daphne leverage in
Easy’s
certainty. As the first example of her shapeshifting abilities, her femme fatale
nature is at first
concealed. In a matter of seconds, Daphne is capable of switching to her other
identity of
78
femme fatale. She comes for a suitcase of money, which she obtains with Easy’s help
and
does not need him any longer. Neither her nor Easy expect to find Richard dead,
though it is
Daphne who stays collected and tries to lure Easy into forgetting, saying that
“nobody will
know that I was ever here and you just go on home. Go to sleep and treat it like a
dream …
That’s a dead man, Mr. Rawlins. He’s dead and gone. You just go home and forget
what you
saw” (101). She does not need to play a child in front of Easy anymore; despite
being shocked
that Richard died, there is no remorse preventing her to give Easy direct orders.
By suggesting
that Easy can let go, Daphne insinuates that a Black man working for white people
has
already decided to stay oblivious to white people’s behaviour so he could earn some
rotten
money too. While Easy panics, she switches from calling him by the first name to
addressing
him formally.
Daphne’s behaviour is unpredictable; she suddenly changes from a childlike-looking
virtuous woman into a mysterious, temperamental individual of salacious manners
when she
kisses Easy. Despite being controlling of Easy since she first demands him to see
her over the
phone, it is the moment of the kiss that presents Daphne’s transformation from a
girl into a
woman, from innocent to erotic and greedy. At first, Easy tries pulling away but
“she held on
strong … She leaned back … and then she kissed me again. This time it was fierce.
She
lunged so deep into my throat that once our teeth collided and my canine chipped.”
Then,
Daphne regretfully regards how unfortunate it is they would not have the chance to
get to
know one another, because otherwise, she would let Easy “eat this little white girl
up” (101).
Lacking morals and control, tricksters cannot resist temptation. Here, Daphne’s
amorality
manifests itself in stealing money from a dead man. Deciding to never be seen
again, she
reveals the possibility of her trickster nature as a restless wanderer. It is not
clear why she
wishes to leave so abruptly, however, kissing Easy is not something she has planned
to do; it
is a spontaneous action that she decides to conclude by an explicit suggestion.
While calling
herself white for the first time, it is clear how deliberately she guards her
identity. Easy does
not question Daphne’s acting and does not compare it to the behaviour of white
people he
knows, which further reveals how convincing Daphne’s shapeshifting is. Since Easy’s
own
79
double consciousness presents inner chaos, he seems to be accommodated in Daphne’s
presence which offers him security and calm in the midst of feeling agitated.
Daphne’s refusal
to abide by societal rules by passing shows her daring nature. Even so, it
discloses the desire
to fit it and reap the advantages that Black people have been deprived of, further
indicating
her cunning.
Easy thinks that he has seen Daphne’s soul; that she disclosed her hidden
personality,
not realising that what seems unrevealing and disturbing to him is actually what
Daphne uses
to cover up her real inner self. Hence, Easy identifying her as a “chameleon
lizard” who
changes “for her man” (187) is truer than he thinks. He feels confident in seeing
Daphne as a
door that has been closed all his life, a window of opportunity, as someone he
longs to have a
relationship with. His observation of Daphne’s capacity to change her appearance
and
demeanour then reflects in her later masculine behaviour. Transforming “for her
man” as
Easy surmises is nonetheless revealed to be changing for herself instead to not be
hurt by
another man again. Daphne’s double-voiced narrative lies in verbalising a thought
in a
specific way with the other person receiving it in a different light. She tries
calming Easy
down, which causes him pain (185). As Easy hurts in her presence, he feels he is
losing her
for she is not opening up to him. He further notes how all he cares about “was the
pain I felt
loving that white girl … I knew that I was losing her, but I was too satisfied to
care” (188).
Nevertheless, Easy cannot lose what he does not possess; his satisfaction comes in
a state of
infatuation. Once Daphne mentions other men, Easy’s interest lessens. However,
after
spending time alone with the woman, Easy is presented with death, pain and
contentment at
once. Daphne’s two-ness lies in not distinguishing between life and death; she
appears in
between one world known for its opportunities, and another known for irreversibly
taking
them. This chaos that Daphne inflicts upon Easy’s mind prevents him to see her as a
potential
perpetrator. Easy feels alive when he is with Daphne, at the same time, his
thoughts of death
further point at Daphne’s trickster traits and her effortless traveling between
opposing layers
of one’s being.
80
When the two characters meet again, Daphne baths Easy and pulls down her pants,
sits
on the toilet and urinates “so loud that it reminded me more of a man.” The
detective further
notes how he “never knew a man who talked as bold as Daphne Monet” and how he does
not
like how Daphne talks because it feels masculine (186). Considering the stereotypes
about
Black and white women that Easy implements in his thinking, it is plausible that by
comparing Daphne to a man, a seed has been planted to detect her Blackness through
her
directness and, according to Easy, distasteful manners. Again, Easy’s patriarchal
notions
equate masculinity to power, violence and protectiveness, and femininity to
weakness, purity
and innocence. As Toni Cade writes, “generally speaking, in a capitalist society a
man is
expected to be an aggressive, uncompromising … provider of goods, and the woman, a
gracious, emotional … attractive consumer of goods” (Bambara 124). However, as a
shapeshifter and boundary-crosser, Daphne’s comparison to a man, together with
Carter
noting how she would stand up for him in restaurants, symbolises her effortlessness
to
embody the conventional mannerisms of both genders. As a woman with trickster
traits,
Daphne’s amorality is expressed in not concerning herself with the perception of
her
unprincipled actions. In this case, her indifference towards Easy’s opinion shows
her
confidence and blurred notion of the social boundary that she is crossing. Whether
acting
masculine or being chased by her lover Carter, she appears outside of the moral
code that
society usually associates with white, or passing, women. In other words, while
passing as an
opposite race, Daphne as the trickster enters the game of the predators – white
people – and
prey – Black people – and uses her invisibility to feed herself by obtaining money
and rich
man’s protection. As a mulatta, she shares her double consciousness with Frederick
Douglass.
However, belonging to both worlds and not fitting in either presents her ultimate
pitfall.
Despite her actions leading to death of multiple people, Easy lets her go in the
end with no
repercussions and does not even regard her complicity despite pointing out how evil
she is.
Hence, to Easy, this villainous nature does not tie to the murders.
Daphne’s shameless speech is the first sign of her appetites, the neediness and
evil
doing that drive trickster’s belly. Easy notes how shameful Daphne’s words make him
feel
81
when she holds him around the testicles, looking straight into his face while
stroking his
“erection up and down” (Mosley 186). When she stands over the tub and looks down on
Easy,
she tells him: “If my pussy was like a man’s thing it’d be as big as your head,
Easy” (186).
This time, it is not Easy who views Daphne as a man, but Daphne herself. It
exhibits Easy’s
perceptiveness of how she wants to be perceived. Her deliberate behaviour mixed
with
vulgarity proves the multiple identities that hide behind her two-ness. Just as
Coyote with his
tactless nature, not knowing when to stay quiet (Hyde 153), neither Daphne stays
silent.
While Easy bears guilt for his time in the war and his moral penalisation is
exhibited by an
ever-present conscience, Daphne shows no guilt with no inner judgement expressing
disdain
as Easy’s does. Hyde describes shame as a positive human flair; with shame binding
people’s
tongue, one’s accessibility to silence unlocks protective instinct, modesty, or
self-respect.
Daphne presents a femme fatale figure, recreating the common trope of the
antagonist, while
destroying Easy’s idea about white woman’s traits; she provides Easy with her ways
of being,
showing him how to sharpen his detective ways, while negating his one-sided
perceptions.
In general, white femme fatales have been categorised into two roles; as phantoms
of
male desire and fright, or as symbols of power entailing social commentary on
female
unlimited power whose lust is driven by a greater, ambiguous motivation (Grossman
19).
Commonly portrayed as agents of evil whose intent is to murder and defraud,
Daphne’s verbal
and physical belligerence fits into the trope haunting other femme fatale figures.
Propelled as
a typical femme fatale and corresponding to gendered fantasies, Daphne’s intricate
backstory
gets deluged by the central story of the male protagonist. That being said, the
novel avoids the
divisive creation of common hostility between femme fatales and other female
characters
since Daphne interacts solely with men. The only exception is Daphne meeting
Coretta off-
page, which ends with Coretta dying in the hands of Joppy. Employing the figure of
a “bad
woman” as a self-governing and psychologically driven antagonist with an equivocal
set of
morals eventually ends with continuation of her independent existence. Although the
end
suggests Daphne escaped to refrain from further confrontations, her exit as a femme
fatale
82
more likely proposes the need of agents of the patriarchy to classify her as
deviant (Grossman
21).
Daphne’s trickster-like shamelessness further lies in explicitly expressing her
sexual
desires. She does not wait for Easy’s consent when she grabs his penis and asks if
it hurts him
to love her (Mosley 187). To think that sexual advances are Easy’s primary goal
might have
been preconditioned by her abusive Black father. After they have sex, Daphne
reveals to Easy
that Richard was her boyfriend, and she still loves Carter, hence she cannot see
Carter again.
Unlike Easy, both Richard and Carter are white. While Daphne has been often seen
around
the Black community, having white lovers corresponds with her passing. However, she
suggests to Easy that they could stay in their room as it is the most suitable
place for them.
Easy opposes; if they love each other, it does not matter where they are or who
would want to
hurt them (191). This contradiction of her approach towards Easy may point at
Easy’s race,
thus his resemblance to her father. She explains to Easy how her father molested
her when she
was young:
“… then he kissed me on the lips like lovers do … but when he
finished kissing me he started to cry. He put his head in my lap and I
had to stroke his head.” The disgust must’ve shown on my face
because she said, “You think that it was sick, what we did. But my
daddy loved me. From then on, my whole fourteenth year … Always
at first he’d kiss me like a father and his little girl but then we’d get
alone … and act like real lovers … after he’d cry so sweet and beg me
to forgive him. He bought me presents and gave me money, but I’d've
loved him anyway.” (Mosley 195-6)
It is not clear if Easy’s look of repugnance that crosses his face when Daphne
confesses to the
abuse translates as disgust towards her, her father, or both. Notwithstanding, by
Daphne
saying “what we did,” she confesses to her feeling of complicity. She initially
assigns the
initiative to her father, saying it was him who finished kissing her. Her
perception of loving
her father even as a grown woman displays the foundation of her lying; denying the
lack of
83
her consent and consequently the refusal to see herself as a survivor of sexual
abuse.
Daphne’s associations with love are driven by toxicity; from an early age, she has
been taught
that being appreciated sexually is the sign of a healthy relationship with a man.
Her
confession reveals how she has applied trauma to adulthood; when Carter tells Easy
how
Daphne would soothe him when he got emotional, she applies what worked for her
father’s
cries and guilt. Easy’s revulsion with Daphne’s childhood may reflect her explicit
suggestions
and lack of shame; it is inconceivable for Easy to understand that her trauma
manifests itself
in a potential imitation of her father.
When Daphne meets Easy for the first time, she instantly takes the initiative when
they
find Richard dead. On the night they have sex, Daphne bathes Easy and he remarks
that her
straightforward erotic behaviour is masculine. Imitating the behaviour of her
father by acting,
according to Easy, as the opposite gender, she keeps controlling situations that
involve her.
Convinced that instituting sexual practices means that sex is what she chases, she
subconsciously avoids being sexually harassed in her adulthood. Further, it keeps
her mind
away from unlocking her hidden childhood trauma. Besides, by telling Easy about
what she
and her father did, not what her father did to her, highlights her ability to
persuade even
herself. That way, she managed to convince herself that she had a say in what has
happened to
her. By this, she takes a share of the power back, pretending she had control over
the
situation, and employs it in a damaging way.
Due to exerting socially inappropriate behaviour, Easy labelling Daphne as evil in
the
end is not deemed surprising. Despite Easy being a misfit due to his skin colour,
he is still
protected by established sociocultural norms of the patriarchy. When he and Daphne
share the
first kiss, it is Daphne who institutes the action. It is her whom Easy is supposed
to find, and
if it was not for her, he would not engage in life-threatening situations. Hence,
the story
establishes her as the villain, the devil. As Easy confesses to Daphne about his
arrests, being
suspected of at least two murders, and threatened by different people, he feels
something dark
inside him that he compares to “jazz when it reminds you that death is waiting.
‘Death,’ the
saxophone rasps. But, really, I didn’t care” (Mosley 184). Moreover, when Daphne
sweetly
84
whispers into his ear, Easy recalls the first time he felt love and loss, when he
was only eight
years old and his mother died (185-6). Nonetheless, according to Hyde, “the Devil
and the
trickster are not the same thing, though they have regularly been confused” (47).
Misinterpreting one for the other aims at constructing trickster figures as
homogenous entities,
when in fact it is the ambiguity of tricksters’ amorality that set them apart from
the devil.
Furthermore, the uncertainty of Daphne’s persona is emphasised by her femme fatale
characteristics that lead to even lesser clarity about her indifferent fierceness
(Hyde 50).
Daphne talks in a hard-boiled fashion by calling Easy “honey.” She is also very
daring, with
her duality further unveiled when Easy notes how her soothing causes him pain while
at the
same time having transient fond memories of his mother.
Recognising Daphne as a death-bringer aligns with Easy reminiscing about his dead
mother when Daphne baths him. Since Easy does not feel overwhelmed by the murders
suddenly happening around him, Daphne’s presence causing him pain is not a marginal
thing.
Easy’s association marks his sense of observation when he is close to the agent of
death. At
first, he confides in Joppy that “the girl is the devil … She got evil in every
pocket” (Mosley
151). In the end, Easy classifies her as “death herself” (208). Regarded as someone
who
brings Easy pain and memories of a late relative, Daphne is established as a
traveller between
life and death, and between hell and earth. Besides, when Easy gets hired to track
Daphne
down, she indirectly enables him to move from one world to another as well; from
surviving
to prospering. Anyhow, Easy’s viewpoint opposes the one where Daphne has had a
positive
influence on his life; though he thinks he loves her when in her presence, the way
he depicts
her in the end shows his disregard to the struggles that Daphne herself has been
through. The
lack of understanding on his part, labelling her as evil, while admitting he would
gladly play
her puppet if she returned dehumanises Daphne’s character. It is another instance
of Easy’s
unreliability as a narrator; he dismisses her overall influence on his career
progression and life
development by not mentioning her again. Thus, being painted as a wicked and amoral
character is not the reality of Daphne’s nature but merely Easy’s word to be
believed.
85
During her recollection of when her father would take her to the zoo, Daphne
describes feeling as the caged monkey in her teenage years. She remembers thinking
that it
smelled like death: “Anyone with eyes could see that he was crazy from all those
years of
being locked away; but the children and adults were nudging each other and
sniggering at the
poor thing. I felt just like that ape … I didn’t care about [the] stupid animal”
(Mosley 194-5).
While not able to word the feeling, every time her father cried and apologised, it
developed a
trauma bond between them. His shown kindness made Daphne feel trapped but not able
to
leave until after her half-brother Frank killed the man. The feeling of
worthlessness would
then follow her no matter where she ran away, seeing herself as less despite her
abuser being
physically dead. Mentally, Daphne has been silenced by her own voice, trying to
bury all her
past with her Blackness and her abuser. Projecting her good attributes onto her
father and
humanising him stripped her off the conventional character traits that Easy is
startled not to
find once they meet.
The shame of Daphne’s father locked her abuse away. Since she was raised to love
him, Daphne never contemplated about speaking out. At the zoo, she had a glimpse of
how it
would be if she ever spoke freely; she would not be believed and people would smirk
at her
pain, twisting it into deceitfulness. After her abuser was killed, she decided to
protect herself
in the only way she deemed feasible. By passing as white, she would never be
sneered at as
the caged monkey. Hiding her identity on the outside and her trauma on the inside,
Daphne
has inadvertently decided to imitate the ways of the monkey. Despite losing his
mind with his
cage smelling like death, the monkey persevered. If the monkey could survive, she
would try
too. While she admits she did not care about the animal, she still decides to give
the monkey a
masculine pronoun as if feeling the kinship between her and the animal. Fleeing
from her
home as a different person, she tricked death by exchanging her life for another;
her life as
Ruby Hanks for the life of Daphne Monet. As a result, death comes to her father,
politician
Matthew Teran, his driver Howard Green, Coretta and ultimately to her brother Frank
as well.
Out of them, Frank’s death is the only one Daphne does not stand behind. Hence, the
debt of
inhabiting two lives of two different people is repaid.
86
Ultimately, Easy disregards Daphne’s abuse by thinking that the reason he has
nothing
else to say to her is because he does not believe her. He believes that “she
believed the story
… but there was something wrong with the whole thing” (Mosley 196-7). Together with
the
victim blaming displayed, and his continuous demonization of her character, it is a
manifestation more of Easy’s toxic masculinity and thus unreliability than of
Daphne’s
trickster character. Easy’s incomprehension of the emotional implications of her
story set
aside a subplot of sexual abuse with no supplemental resolution. This then reveals
not the
obvious and understandable secondary focus on the story’s subplots but more the
inferiority
which the female characters are treated with in hard-boiled fiction. Where Daphne
is
concerned, Easy also overlooks her complicity despite his sense of morality
regarding crimes
of others. Although Easy is established as an honourable man engaging in morally
ambiguous
situations that reveal his humanity, his first-person narration subjectively
constructs Daphne
as the villain. As a representation of her disgraceful behaviour, the woman’s
polygamous
nature that Easy witnesses in the course of just two evenings aids Easy’s
perception of her
devilishness. The novel deals with the main character’s inner conflicts, and
subsequently
Easy’s narration assures partiality.
Additionally, Easy’s dismissal can be interpreted by detecting Daphne’s lying, and
attributes his instincts to her story because something about Daphne blurs his
vision. Denying
Daphne’s experience either suggests Easy’s preconceived ideas of male superiority
or him
questioning the truthfulness of Daphne’s character as a whole. Despite Easy not
knowing she
is untruthful about her identity or Frank, the one time she places confidence in
Easy activates
his suspicion of her truth telling. For Easy’s war flashbacks can generate deep
rage and trigger
uncontrollable resentment, Daphne’s gruesome story told with such calm composure is
not
something expected of Easy to understand. Knowing how to suppress her emotion from
a very
early age, it is easier to confide in Easy who is established as someone devoted to
her.
However, Daphne’s confession proves how Easy’s quiet, unspoken defiance is also
relevant
to his desire to own women. Although Daphne’s mystique arouses him, he ultimately
realises
that Daphne would never let herself be owned.
87
In the end, Daphne and Easy talk about her race. After telling him that he shows
who
and what she is, Easy replies that she is no different to him because they are both
just people.
However, Daphne denies this by disclosing that her given name is Ruby Hanks, not
Daphne;
“I’m different than you because I’m two people. I’m her and me” (208). While Easy
denies
his discomfort over Daphne’s past as well as her manly mannerism, he is still
desperately
trying to see her as a reflection of his desires. He fails to notice that he wishes
for her to enter
his life, not the other way around; he longs for a family occupying his house, and
the idea of
Daphne is more comfortable than Daphne herself. For the second time, Daphne tells
the truth,
this time about her real name. She also confesses that her half-brother Frank
killed her father,
which launched her existence as a fleeting sensation who leaves a man before he can
get to
know her.
Her two-ness is the burden of her passing and her freedom. Before Easy came along,
Daphne was a traveller; there has never been an option for her being exposed. Her
freedom
has been secured by benefiting from the illusion of her white privilege, of
constant vigilance
and observation. Although white women shared a portion of discrimination, the
feminist
movement however wholly excluded Black women until the twenty-first century and
thus
lacked intersectionality and inclusion. Recognising underprivileged conditions that
she would
be met with as a being seen as both Black by the white society and a light-skinned
mulatta
within the Black community, passing as white has served Daphne greatly. While the
teachings
of Du Bois comprised of evaluating American ideologies regarding race, class, and
nation,
and of intertwined social, economic and cultural patterns that have shaped the U.S.
system,
his acknowledgement of Black women’s suffering was that of a revolution. Their
roles in
private and public spheres presented Black women with unique circumstances due to
managing oppressive attitudes that race, class, and nation exhibited (Collins 42).
Through Easy’s observation, the significance of colour blue in the story is
particularly
affiliated with Daphne, whether straightforwardly as the “devil” wearing a blue
dress, or
through other characters. Easy meets Daphne before meeting Frank; through Easy’s
investigative skills, his later scrutiny of Frank consequently ties to Daphne’s
true identity as
88
Frank’s half-sibling. When Easy finally meets Frank, Frank is “wearing a dark blue
suit, so
dark that you might have mistaken it for black. His face was as black as the rest
of him” while
his “black face cracked into a white grin” (Mosley 152). Originally, colour blue
was rarely
differentiated from white, light and dark tones. As Emma Taggart states, a number
of
scientists are convinced that the earliest humans were colour blind and could only
recognise
black, white and red. With white and black as first colours described in the
English language,
used even when depicting shades of blue, the colour itself is recognised as black
by Easy.
Therefore, Easy notes Frank’s choice of clothes and how his blue suit is almost as
dark as
Frank’s skin. After Easy first meets Daphne, Carter asks him if she was wearing
blue
stockings with her blue dress and shoes. With Easy confirming the assumption,
Carter
proclaims that it would be Daphne’s evident choice. Dark blue is associated with
the colour
black, and with Frank’s broad smile described as white, it foreshadows Daphne’s
affiliation
with Frank as well as her concealed double identity.
Since the colour blue is a known appetite suppressant, Daphne caring for Easy and
resisting temptation indicate her ability to control herself. After years of hiding
from others
and herself, she manages to shift from one self to another. Despite different
shades bearing
various meanings, too much use of the colour signifies negativity and sadness. Easy
notes
how her eyes change repeatedly from green to blue; first over the water (Mosley
186), then
when she asks Easy for help (191), revealing certain character traits that she does
not disclose.
Once faced with an unfamiliar idea, the colour blue contemplates and examines it in
order to
make it suitable to its own satisfactory version of reality. Moreover, it is a
colour that lives in
the past and relates everything in the present and future to experiences in the
past. Daphne
keeps running away, and with Frank dead, there is nothing connecting her to a
specific place
anymore. When held captive by Albright and Joppy in the end, she is stripped off
her blue
dress, naked, which means that she realises her options of staying and
disappearing.
Regardless, with the changing colour of her eyes, blue is not only on the outside;
it exists
within her, and Daphne’s corporal nudity does not thereby expose her identities.
89
Furthermore, Frank’s yellow tie is recounted as “banana-colored” and the only
colour
that Frank is wearing (Mosley 152), foretelling Daphne’s potentiality as the
Signifying
Monkey. Since Frank wears the tie as an accessory, it shows that his trickery is
only
performative. Described as a gangster, Frank’s money laundering business through a
liquor
store needs someone responsible and calculating with a sense of intimidating
persuasion and
an adequate amount of deceit. However, Daphne’s change from blue to yellow sundress
at the
motel, practicably covering her body (183), hides her identity, and signifies how
fabricated
her persona is. Just as the colour blue, shades of yellow carry contradictory
associations. As a
significance of deep thinking and cognisance (Bourn), it demonstrates Daphne’s
intellect and
talent for plotting. Representing cowardice and deceit (Bourn) then confirms
Daphne’s
inability to dismantle her lifelong shame by embracing her trauma instead of
fleeing whenever
there is a threat of someone peeling one of her layers off. Even the sofa in the
motel where
Daphne and Easy first spend their night is upholstered with a dark brown material
that has
giant yellow flowers stitched into it (Mosley 183), which is a direct linkage to
Daphne and her
choice of clothing that same night. Moreover, Easy recalls long white curtains
drawn over all
the windows in the room (183). Resembling Daphne painted as a white person
throughout the
novel, her invented self hiding from the world and the whitewashing on an
institutional level
display how such white curtains disable to see what is happening outside of one’s
limited
worldview. Hence, the representation of all four colours – black, white, blue, and
yellow –
further underline the deconstruction of Daphne’s inherited self. Therefore,
Daphne’s character
could be the epitome of society as a fictive framework, with social norms
undergoing constant
reformulations. She is an embodiment of all the people who are subjected to
functioning as
constructs of social discourse.
Nonetheless, in a similar environment, tricksters are recognised to uncover the
shame
and unlock the rules of collective silence. Daphne wears many shame covers but
cannot be
shamed in reverse because she stays hidden inside. In spite of moving between what
can and
cannot be said, as a result of such shame, she does not engage with it and hence
aids the
silence (Hyde 154). She tries to change her face but instead of eradicating her
outdated layers,
90
she buries them deeper under the surface, farther into her flesh. When she shares
her story
with Easy, she does not bear any emotional response. After recruiting Joppy to do
her
bidding, Joppy kills Howard and then accidentally kills Coretta too. However,
Daphne herself
directly requests to kill only Teran who is a sexual predator engaging in child sex
trafficking.
She does not aim to kill Easy, hence distinguishes between her enemies and those
she values.
She is not malicious and cares too much to find pleasure in her ploys and lies;
although she
possesses socially deviant behaviour (Vizenor 207), her acting is not disorderly,
and her plans
do not result in chaos nor do they aim to generate it.
Likewise, Daphne knows no good or evil; being forced to grow up early due to her
father’s abuse, Daphne was stripped off her child illusions. At the same time, by
feeling
sympathy for her father, she has never despised him, thus has not recognised evil
that he
presented. Easy’s thoughts on Daphne being the devil are subjective and do not
represent the
actuality of her inner self. Further, the unreliability in Easy’s narration lies in
not
acknowledging Daphne’s trauma and how it might have influenced her relationships or
the
perception of the world that she had survived in. In other words, just as Easy, she
possesses
certain trickster traits which are, due to the specific presentation of her
character, amplified.
While her character relates to that of tricksters, Daphne’s shapeshifting, multiple
identities
and her amorality are used as coping mechanisms of living with unresolved trauma.
Unlike
Frederick Douglass who inhabited both worlds and respected both of his identities,
Daphne’s
movement between the two worlds is fragmented and inconsistent for she hides her
Blackness
out of shame, thus can never fully blend in. Nonetheless, if she decided to embrace
her
identities, she would be forced to confront the repressed memories of her father.
Mouse That Cannot Be Trapped: Killing Foes and Tricking Friends
While both Easy and Daphne’s boundary crossing, shapeshifting or moving between
diverse worlds share characteristics with typical trickster traits, their flaws and
oftentimes ill
behaviour happen to be a product of traumatic life experiences. Suffering in
different ways,
their separate inner journeys are those of carefully outlined imitation, and of
struggling to
91
integrate into a society infiltrated with whiteness. Although Easy’s narration
records the
principal events and determines the chronological order of individual occurrences,
the truth
blends with his subjective retelling of scenarios around him. The trickster
disappears, but
Easy always stays to inform, judge, reminiscence. Tricksters exist in between, in
the worlds of
none and all, of abundance and scarcity. Hunger keeps them eager to steal, to
betray, to
impersonate. They not only disrupt but further outrage and disgust, while laughing
at others’
incapability to sacrifice in order to survive. Tricksters operate in the shadows,
and their
language games minimise their ruthlessness. Raymond “Mouse” Alexander, Easy’s
friend
from Texas, is a character behind the scenes. Nobody in Watts, LA knows about the
man
except for Easy and Junior, who know Mouse from Texas. There is nobody to pay any
attention to Mouse but Easy who would rather not bother with thinking about Mouse
at all.
Already affiliated with Albright, Easy ponders how Mouse reminds him of the white
man. From the start, Easy talks about Mouse less than unenthusiastically; the
detective admits
feeling restless when his mind wanders off to Mouse (Mosley 13). Further, he
describes him
as “a little man … He’s smooth and a natty dresser and he’s smilin’ all the time.
But he
always got his business in the front’a his mind, and if you get in the way you
might come to
no good” (17). There is a silent threat in Easy’s declaration; knowing Mouse’s
impulses, the
man does not distinguish between friends and enemies if any harm should come to his
business. Nevertheless, Mouse rescued Easy at least once back in Texas and Easy
cannot help
thinking that he would have probably died if the man did not step in to save him
(34). Despite
mentioning Mouse’s constant smiling, Easy does not describe Mouse as kind or happy.
Hence, initial impressions of Mouse are already full of contradictions. Mouse
excels in killing
without ever being attached to the crime, which relates to his short figure and his
nickname
that complements his ability to retreat unnoticed. Hence, when Mouse later saves
Easy from
being killed twice – first by Frank Green in Easy’s house, and second by Albright
when trying
to save Daphne, killing Joppy in the process – Easy escapes any further police
investigation.
Mouse’s ability to vanish aids Easy’s own invisibility. Upon entering the story,
Mouse’s ways
are already established; his killings are precise, executed quickly and quietly.
Mouse can joke
92
with Easy while planning a murder or carrying one out; as the trickster, he
embodies the
comic discourse and exhibits the expertise of using wits to get out of trouble.
Moreover, Junior recalls Mouse wearing a blue suit during one of Mouse’s killings:
“Joe had blood comin’ from everywhere an’ Mouse had on this light blue suit. Not a
spot on
it! You know that’s why the cops didn’t take Mouse in, they didn’t even think he
could’a
done it ‘cause he was too clean” (38). Considering that Mouse chose the colour,
with a light
shade connoting honesty and trustworthiness, he planned to provide a sense of
security for his
target, to make him feel relaxed before murdering him. Besides, intentionally
staying spotless
to go unseen exhibits trickster’s ability to move between the lines of clean and
dirty. In
Mouse’s case, his soiled, blooded morals are balanced by his facility for appearing
polished as
if no crime was committed. As some time passed since they have last seen each
other, one of
Mouse’s teeth is now embellished with a blue jewel in it (154); a witty strategy to
always
remind his friends and foes who they are dealing with.
Easy does not shy from impartially stating that Mouse should have long been dead
himself. Easy’s sense of morality comes forwards when he thinks of how “it was
always the
evil ones that would kill the good or the stupid. If anyone should have died in
that bar it
should have been Mouse. If there was any kind of justice he should have been the
one” (40).
Reminiscing how Mouse killed his stepfather, Easy also expresses disapproval of
Mouse
killing his stepbrother as a collateral damage. Easy does not question his friend’s
decision to
kill his stepfather but still classifies him as “evil” for killing the stepbrother.
As Easy is
becoming accustomed to his refining detective voice, his sense of morality pierces
his mind,
certain that Mouse is the one who should have paid by his own death and not to be
amongst
the living. Further, Easy remembers the last time he saw Mouse before coming to LA.
The
man told Easy how his stepbrother looked like he was death, which did not make
Mouse
scared because his stepfather would “beat me four ways from sundown my whole life
and I
sent him t’hell. I sent his son after’im, so Satan stay wit’ me,” after which Mouse
laughed
softly, “laid his head on the bar, and went to sleep” (40). Hence, Mouse admitted
to sending
both men to hell. As the trickster, he has the power to do so; having Satan on his
side, he
93
negotiated the transition from the earth into the Underworld. He overcame the
barrier between
life and death by having seen his dead stepfather watching him as Mouse himself
laid on the
floor shot. The boundary got blurry for a moment before his stepfather’s ghost
vanished.
Mouse’s fearless trickery is enhanced by having the power to navigate the barrier
while the
two contradictory poles remain in place despite being intertwined. There is no
doubt that
Mouse would enact his killings over again; he laughed, his belly filled with a
considerable
amount of alcohol, and then unbothered, he soundlessly fell asleep. With Mouse’s
smiling,
this image perpetuates the Sambo stereotype.
As a natural occurrence in human beings, oral speech emerges from the unconscious
(Vizenor 200). The imaginary in trickster stories serves as a presentation of an
artificial world
to examine if the said new world of artifice can combine with the old one, and
survive (Hyde
64). In other words, Mouse’s realisation that he cannot change the society around
him but
only his approach, not abiding by the law, provides him with the will to execute
shameless
thefts and lies. He does not know that murder should never be discussed out loud
(Mosley
39). He has no problem turning up on Easy’s doorstep, no matter how far away he
happens to
be. For he attaches diverse meanings to conventional tropes of the society, his
actions carry a
new significance. Accepting who he is as a Black man, he knows the stereotypes that
society
connects to his race, and decides to embrace them by acting as the smiling, drunk
Sambo as
well as the delinquent Brute. This is apparent when he tells Easy that a Black man
will never
be happy unless he accepts what he is (209). Not only does Mouse engage in
violence, he is
the one who generates it. Knowing that according to what the mainstream society
deems as
righteous and sinful, he would be perceived as a criminal, the man adopts ways that
are
expected of him. Thus, there is no boundary that he is unwilling to cross. Besides,
Mouse is a
storyteller; when he described the bloodshed to Easy, it was not a confession but a
story. As
Easy remarks, Mouse would share every detail of his life with at least one person,
no matter
what he did (54). His inventive speech connects to his deceit, and by talking,
Mouse is able to
deflect others’ attention by using the power of an untruthful illusion that appears
as reality.
94
Losing the power of speech whenever one encounters an obstacle is not an issue for
Mouse
since shamelessness never binds his tongue.
Mouse inflicting chaos upon his surroundings is projected onto Easy’s impression of
him; on the one hand, the only time that Easy has felt completely free from fear
was when he
was with Mouse (55). For this, he ties his only undaunted moment to the man, hence
why he
considers Mouse his best friend. Nevertheless, Easy is not naïve and identifies
Mouse’s
unpredictable nature. Even the slightest moment of doubt could have cost Easy’s
life back in
Texas. If Mouse decided that Easy does not rely on him, he “would have put a bullet
in my
head if he ever thought that I was unsure of him. He would have seen me as an
enemy, killed
me for my lack of faith. I ran away from Mouse to go to the army” (54). Moreover,
Mouse’s
trickster nature is disclosed when Easy observes he has to do whatever his friend
wants (55),
but whether due to his fear of Mouse’s unforeseeable reaction or for his own
security, that
remains unclear even to Easy.
In addition, Mouse’s true motivation in Easy’s investigation is revealed when Mouse
overhears Easy talking with Frank about the capital share for Daphne’s return.
Since then,
Mouse longs for his share, hungry to hurt Frank as he tells Easy that “you said you
had a five-
hundred-dollar deal” (155). The first thing he wants to figure out is “how I can
get that money
you told Frank about … Com’on Easy, you let me in on it an’ we both come outta this
wit’
sumpin’” (157). Mouse’s story in the novel takes place on the margins; he is
constituted as
Easy’s rescuer whose unhinged manners highlight the hard-boiled trope. Yet, his
appetite for
money and the potential to quiet his hunger by obtaining a share of money too does
not mean
that he does not expect to kill any more. On the contrary, he does not see his
hunger as a trap.
Mouse knows that others long for silencing their unfulfilled appetites, not
experiencing
scarcity again, just as he is aware that a Black man like him, depicted as
uneducated and
savage cannot escape tricks of this social construct.
Therefore, Mouse does not fantasise about an absence of craving (Hyde 31). Rather,
he acquires desires for what society deems as immoral; killing for money, or for
the mere idea
of having fun. This becomes obvious when Mouse smiles “an evil grin” as he whips
Frank
95
with a pistol, with bloodlust in his voice (Mosley 156). As he advises Easy, the
objective is to
not conform to the racist values, to not become white. If the harmful principles
cannot be
dismantled, Mouse’s way of surviving is to disregard expectations of being content
with
systemic racism, and to turn his devilishness into an instrument of thriving. What
Easy
regards as immoral introduces not Mouse’s corruption, but his unscrupulous way of
making
the world his own without employing the standards of whiteness. Hence, it is
amorality that
makes Mouse an epitome of a fictional, human trickster through his experience with
interconnections between good and evil. By his actions, he destroys and creates
boundaries,
taking his power back, without ever agonising over dying himself or his inability
to feed
himself. His perception of death is just as of any other trickster, considering it
as part of the
world of change.
96
7. Double Consciousness in Blanche on the Lam by Barbara Neely
In Defiance of Adopted Standards: Blanche’s Darkies’ Disease
Female representation in detective fiction marks yet another subcategorization
which
required an expansion of constricted white-male accustomed detective framework
(Soitos 25).
As an African American domestic worker who turns into an amateur sleuth, Barbara
Neely’s
Blanche White is a clever protagonist who breaks the stereotypical notion of the
happy and
benevolent Black domestics who hear everything but lack the intelligence to
understand the
affairs of those they work for. Published in 1992, Blanche on the Lam revises
stages of Black
reality for Black women who were commonly expected to be mothers, domestic workers
and/or prostitutes since jobs like teaching or social and office work were only
open to those
with a high school or college degree18
(Bambara 107). Between the 1960s and 80s, when the
women’s liberation movement in the Western world significantly grew in its
importance,
Black women found themselves in a severe dilemma. As the Black movement was
primarily
concerned with the emancipation of Black people as a class, prioritising the
experience of
Black men,19
the feminist movement was likewise focused on the discrimination against
women as a class and predominantly consisted of white women. Therefore, Black women
existed between the Black and the feminist political movements, and yet, they were
underrepresented and undervalued in both (103).
By creating the character of Blanche, Neely combined her self-identification as a
Black American woman fighting for equality with the hypothesis that just as she
stays true to
18
In her essay The Black Woman as a Woman published in 1970, Kay Lindsey explains the
discrepancy between
the perception of Black and white women as follows: “Where white woman is the wife,
the Black woman is the
mother … and the bearer of future workers for the state; where the white woman is
the call girl or mistress, the
Black woman is the street prostitute; where the white woman is married to a man who
can afford it, a Black
woman takes over the care of the home and children for her” (Bambara 108). Lindsey
discloses the general
acknowledgement of Black domestics in the U.S. society.
19
For instance, in 1870s, Black American men gained the right to vote under the
Fifteenth Amendment which
prohibited states to deny male citizens the right to vote according to their race,
among others. Female suffrage
for all American women was ratified in 1920 under the Nineteenth Amendment, i.e.
fifty years later.
97
her womanhood, she should respect her Blackness; two concepts that should be
treated
impartially, and by talking back, Neely honoured both (Mickle 77). Although Black
female
activists fought against racial discrimination and aimed at supporting anti-racist
liberation,
where Black men were emasculated and Black women stereotyped and sexually abused,
they
found themselves conflicted. Drawing inspiration from African societies as
plausible models
to replicate, they discovered that many of them were also based on patriarchal
principles
demoting women and positioning them into roles of wives and mothers. Through her
investigation, Blanche learns how to navigate her existence between perceiving and
understanding reality; she views, decodes and narrates in order to clean up the
soiled reality of
human misconstructions, as well as issues regarding class, or criminalisation of
race (74).
During the Black Power Movement originating in the 1960s, and while traveling from
the American Northeast to American South, Neely observed Black women struggling to
survive, and incorporated many challenges she had faced herself into her own
writing,
including traditional norms accorded to women (Mickle 77). Hence, Neely’s
experience is
encapsulated in her series of novels featuring Blanche in her roles as a house
worker,
detective, and mother as she undertakes her journey for autonomy and future without
stereotypes. As Neely pushes past mystery, she explores racism, classism and
violence against
women. Blanche’s internal duality is revealed right away with the introduction of
her name,
Blanche White, signifying white twice. At the start, the protagonist feels guilty
for not being
able to provide for her family the way she would hope, recognising her disadvantage
in the
oppressive system. When she compares discrimination of Black people and women with
con
game, being tricked to lose her money, it is the first indication of Blanche’s
perception of the
mainstream standards.
Although Blanche recognises what institutionalised racism does to Black people
around her, in some instances she cannot prevent feeling similar sentiment. Upon
entering the
98
country house of Grace’s family, she notes how “the inside of the house was cozier
than the
house in town … large photographs of people in old-fashioned dress on the
whitewashed
walls” (Neely 36) and how it gives a feeling of warmth and comfort to a greater
extent than
Grace’s house in the city. As Abbey Lincoln writes, Black women dwelled “in the
hell-hole
ghettos all over the land” and were “tracked down by white degenerates in our own
pitiable,
poverty-stricken, and prideless neighborhood” (Bambara 99-100). This reveals how
Blanche
ties excess of affluence to a more pleasant environment than what she and her
mother grew up
in, including the dated photographs on the white walls. Subconsciously, Blanche’s
association
of excess of material possessions to comfort signals what she has desired since
growing up.
As a second instance of ingrained values, Blanche’s experience with being called
“girl” by a white male despite being forty years old gets projected onto her
sardonic
assessment of Aunt Emmeline. When a delivery boy gives Blanche “the cheeky ‘Hey,
girl’
greeting,” she associates it with how teenage white boys act towards Black women in
the
South (Neely 37). The notion of Black women internalising condescending treatment
where
racial and gender discriminations may collide in a single event – by being called
“girl” and
hence infantilised – emerges when Blanche thinks of Emmeline as an “old girl
sleeping off
her gin jones” (69). This suggests Blanche’s judgement of Aunt Emmeline’s outward
infantility and reliability on the rest of her family. The degrading assessment of
Emmeline as
an “old thing [that] looks like she invented wrinkles” (31) further shows how
Blanche is
affected by the old woman’s seeming alcoholism preventing her to get out of bed.
Blanche’s
judgement of seeing Emmeline as incapable shows that she lets herself be tricked by
offering
white people the same demeanour they offer to her. The patriarchal notion is easier
to accept
than to question the reality presented by Grace and Everett. By believing
Emmeline’s
intoxication as the reason why Mumsfield is kept from seeing her, Blanche supports
Grace’s
decision to keep the boy from an old alcoholic lady who lost her wits. Hence,
Blanche does
99
not initially observe that anything is amiss, unconsciously employing sexism due to
micro-
aggressions used against her in the past.
Blanche’s awareness of white people’s treatment of Black domestic workers manifests
itself in distinguishing her own treatment of her employers. Since Blanche notes
how Black
domestics were often tricked into feeling as part of the family, she is careful not
to show
Grace the same level of understanding and intimacy that she would extend towards
her friends
and family. Later on, Blanche’s notes how “she’d long ago learned the painful price
of
confusing the skills she sold for money with the kind of caring that could be paid
for only
with reciprocity” (38). This mirrors Nate’s history with Grace and Emmeline who
saved him
from the Ku Klux Klan when Grace was young. As Blanche continues to listen to Grace
confiding in her, she collects information about her newest employer. Therefore,
exploring
her surroundings by challenging the power dynamics between the Mammy stereotype and
her
employer, while presenting her concern of Grace’s distress as legitimate, shows
Blanche’s
grasp of the adopted white model that she has observed in others and aims at
avoiding herself.
Furthermore, Blanche remains unbothered by the notion that the most productive role
in woman’s life is to have and raise children that some Black women, including her
sister and
mother, have (Bambara 113). Blanche has never tended to romanticise roles of a
housewife
and mother that society bestowed upon her. She reminiscences how she has “never
made a
secret of her decision not to have children. [Her sister] had always chided Blanche
about it,
calling her selfish and unwomanly” (Neely 66). While her mother and sister have
been
persistent in their disapproval of Blanche’s priorities, Blanche never let her
family dictate her
life. Resisting the gender politics that tainted Black communities including
domestic workers
in white households, Blanche’s double consciousness has withstood white people’s
supremacist beliefs. However, Blanche’s priorities were forced to change upon her
sister’s
dying when Blanche became a legal guardian of her niece and nephew. When Blanche
admits
100
that “for over a year after her death, Blanche had hated her dead sister for having
proscribed
her life” (66), it shows her strong opposition to the mainstream values.
While it could be stated that her mother is simply strict, she not only assigns
Blanche
the life that she has been expected to lead herself, but also condemns her daughter
for
continuing her work as a domestic worker as opposed to her sister who worked as a
nurse.
Unlike Blanche’s job, being a nurse presented a suitable profession for Cora.
Nonetheless,
cooking and cleaning become a means to liberate herself from her employers within;
what her
mother does not comprehend is that Blanche “exists within the constraints of her
job and
battles against those constraints through the work itself” (Hathaway 326). In this
regard,
Neely’s writing subverts the detective genre and the traditional belief that
working as a
domestic worker has been a job defined solely by its powerlessness.
However, Cora’s scrutiny of Blanche’s life stretches to her daughter’s physical
appearance. Blanche admits having been fighting with Cora for twenty years because
her
mother criticised her for not straightening her hair (Neely 19). In this regard,
the protagonist
has been persistent in not letting Western beauty standards influence her self-
worth. As
Lincoln states, “we are the women whose hair is compulsively fried, whose skin is
bleached
… whose face is ‘too black and shiny’” (Bambara 100) which correlates with Cora’s
attempt
to make Blanche “whiter” and thus more appealing to society. Further, flattening
women’s
afro-textured hair has been labelled as a subtle form of systemic racism (Jackson)
as it has
been discriminated against, with bias towards Black women on the basis of their
hair, and
appropriated by white women, suddenly praised for the hairstyles. Lastly, even Du
Bois
expressed the sentiment when he stated in his 1900 address to the “nations of the
world” that
the problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the colour line, including
the “texture
of the hair” which strips Black people off “opportunities and privileges of modern
civilisation” (Du Bois).
101
Together with Blanche having been pushed to have a family of her own, Cora
interprets tears as a sign of weakness and foolishness. When she tells Blanche “you
got your
front and your back to watch. I didn’t raise you to be neither weaklin’ nor a fool.
Now you
stop that cryin’ and act like you got some backbone!” (Neely 102), she upholds
Westernised
ideas of masculinity and femininity. To explain, by equating the emotion to
weakness, Cora
perpetuates the notion that lacking emotional response on the outside is a sign of
one’s
intelligence and uncompromising nature, which has been attached to men in the
capitalist
society (Bambara 124). The fact that Cora wants her daughter to remain vigilant and
sees
tears as an emotion preventing her from it shows how the world has hardened her own
expressions. Cora worries that Blanche’s tears result in her negligence amongst the
white
people, pushing Blanche to conform and keep a low profile. Blanche sees crying as a
tool to
clear her mind, believes in tears (Neely 102), and realises that she is not crying
due to
uncovering her shame but uncovering the flawed world that she does not feel safe
in. Hence,
the contradictory principles clashing with her mother’s are rooted in the same idea
of Black
people being always in danger while existing among whites.
Another instance of Blanche’s realisation of her double consciousness appears when
she comments on meeting Grace’s eyes for a brief moment, and being the first to
look away,
asking herself if it is “that old race thing that had thrown her off” (111).
Blanche looking
away could stem from her own assigned role of the “submissive maid” sustained by
her
mother’s judgements. Nonetheless, her own reflective nature helps her to understand
that
what white people would think of as obedience, Blanche uses to keep herself safe
from their
judgement and cruelty. Furthermore, not wanting to look “in the eyes of people
likely raised
to hate, disdain, or fear anyone who looked like her” (111) offers a layer of
protection that
prevents her from internalised racism unlike her mother. Hence, this notion gets
projected by
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Blanche’s fear not of the people but of the fact that if she let their eyes speak
into herself, she
might believe their perception towards her and her race.
Once the sheriff is found dead and proclaimed having committed suicide, Blanche’s
suspicion of Everett being the murderer clouds her judgement when she fails to
reconsider the
possibility of another killer. She immediately wonders about how Everett framed the
sheriff
while admitting that “she’d lived too long to rely only on concrete evidence to
tell her
whether something was true” (121-2). However, Blanche’s actions are the complete
opposite
of her claim; her narrow-minded view stems from her failure to remember how white
people
act. On the night when Blanche sees how Everett argues with the sheriff and follows
him, and
the sheriff ends up dead, Blanche is unable to consider her own experience as a
domestic
worker; that whatever may appear real does not necessarily make it so. Later on,
Blanche
starts questioning her own assessment, realising her bleak evidence. Despite not
believing that
the sheriff took his own life, she eventually does try to find a different
conclusion. Attributed
to knowing that when Black people were lynched, it has often been proclaimed as a
suicide to
cover up hate crimes of white supremacists, and thus knowing when a ruled suicide
does not
add up, Blanche does not let herself be tricked. Here, Blanche’s detective
personality starts
being formed; she fights the initial urge to trust white people’s verdicts, though
it takes her
longer.
Blanche’s mind attaches the crime to Everett instantly. It is a mixture of first,
recognising and uncovering the ploy of suicide, and second, viewing the white male
as the
primary danger to all the troubles inside the house that not only Blanche, but also
Nate,
Mumsfield and Grace are subjected to. When Everett acts as his usual self, Blanche
cannot
believe that he would be so unbothered after committing a murder (132), but still
does not
find anything amiss. On the contrary, when Grace comes to the kitchen to confide in
her
again, Blanche listens tentatively for the slightest piece of information about
Everett while
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sympathising with Grace in the process. She deems Grace as “a woman who believed
she
could change a man by marrying him” (144), applying the societal superficial
judgement of a
witless housewife. Further, Blanche’s hate of Everett’s arrogance gets even more
ignited
when she makes herself believe that Everett killed his first wife with Grace
knowing about it
and marrying him anyway out of an unconditional love.
Consequently, suspecting Everett because of his race and gender puts Grace herself
in
a position of invisibility in Blanche’s eyes. Here, Blanche’s blindness towards
Grace’s
possible association to the murders of Everett’s first wife, the sheriff, and Nate
gets unnoticed
primarily because of what Blanche calls the “made-up-lover syndrome” which
surpasses
racial and colour lines. In spite of despising Grace as a white person, there is a
certain amount
of kinship that Blanche feels towards another woman, and hence does not question
Grace’s
morality beyond her employer’s love for Everett. She understands the pressure of
finding a
husband that the upper-class Southern society puts on young women including Grace
(135).
Therefore, Blanche crosses racial boundaries to attach a known emotion to the woman
while
even expressing signs of pity for she knows the unpleasantness of her own mother’s
insistence.
The ability to blend in and understand feelings of someone from a different race
proves to be efficient in her work as a detective, it nonetheless shows Blanche
unsuspecting of
any mischief from Grace. Trespassing colour lines while being aware of their
existence serves
the purpose of reconsidering all available evidence, which is something that
Blanche did not
have to deal with prior to working for Grace. While there is a moment that the
protagonist
considers Grace knowing about the murders from Everett and thus covering for him
(155), she
dismisses her thought of Everett ever confiding his crimes with his wife. When
Blanche tries
to hide crying Grace from Everett when she “turned to face him, shielding Grace
with her
body, giving Grace a few seconds to pull her face together” (174), it further
displays the
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protagonist’s care for the white woman potentially endangered by her husband, which
in the
end proves almost deadly as Grace reveals herself as the culprit. Despite her best
efforts to
avoid acting as the Mammy or listening to Grace as an act of compassion rather than
of
cunning, knowing that she is viewed as an object of inferiority, Blanche feels an
obligation to
protect Grace. Grace’s true identity meets with Blanche’s denial (194) once Grace
confesses
before attempting to kill the maid after chasing Blanche in the woods. This
experience teaches
Blanche that looking beyond the obvious may be crucial for one’s literal survival.
Ultimately, she discovers how Grace’s invisibility has remained prevalent over the
course of Blanche’s stay due to Grace relying on her performative fragility that
the society
assigns to white women. Since white women have been depicted as the foundation of
“purity,
chastity, and virtue” (Accapadi 209), Blanche does not suspect a delicate woman
like Grace to
have any agenda apart from keeping her family’s wealth. Since it is no surprise for
a woman
to get gaslighted by her husband, Grace’s inexcusable and immoral actions get
assigned to
Everett due to Blanche’s own adherence to Western standards. The protagonist’s
blindness
stems from her defiance of women’s treatment under white societal norms. Yet, she
fails to
consider that actions habitually attributed to white men could be committed by the
opposite
gender.
Blanche ponders how Black people “have survived in this country all this time, by
knowing when to act like we believe what we’ve been told and when to act like we
know
what we know” (Neely 73). By this, she acknowledges the emergence of Black people’s
two-
ness. Although Blanche is attentive towards the real issue coming from
institutionalised
racism and not the individuals, her judgement towards others in the minority is
apparent when
she discloses to have named the state of Black people bonding with their white
employers as
Darkies’ Disease (48). Pleased by never having suffered from such an illness, she
remarks on
some Black people’s disillusioned with perceiving their employers as a family of
their own.
105
Her stance is that this facade makes it easier to overcome the evident economic and
social
disparity perpetuated by the same people who the Black workers carry in high
regard.
Notwithstanding, this all changes when Mumsfield grows fond of Blanche who finds
his
company amicable and relaxing. While she reflects on Grace approaching her as the
Mammy,
it is in fact caring about Mumsfield that sustains this stereotype.
Despite noting how she does not aim at being loyal to anyone including Mumsfield,
priding herself in never suffering from Darkies’ Disease, she attaches Mumsfield’s
personality to her own family when she thinks of how Mumsfield reminds her of
“Uncle
Benny … People either ignored him or grew impatient before he could say his piece”
(46).
Moreover, by professing to be “glad [Mumsfield’s] feelings weren’t hurt … All us
invisibles
are probably sensitive about [not being paid attention to]” (103), Blanche
recognises the boy’s
invisibility due to his Down’s syndrome as a trait that she possesses too. These
two instances
shape her relationship with Mumsfield; throughout the novel, Blanche struggles with
keeping
her own priorities first. The constant battle happening within her does not become
easier when
Blanche regards she feels for the boy just as for her children (46) with no regret
attached to
the familiarity and care she treats him with. Further, Blanche’s fondness lies in
the boy
treating her as an “intelligent, knowledgeable person” (49) that her employers
usually do not
recognise her for.
Unlike other white people that she has met and worked for, Blanche can relate to
Mumsfield not only due to their shared sense of invisibility, but also to how he
perceives his
surroundings. She admits “she likes trying to see the world the way he saw it. She
was sure
talking to him was good for her” (104). The sense of kinship is further highlighted
when
Blanche admits his presence aids her own development, which is proven later on when
Blanche is given a clue by Mumsfield about the impostor of Aunt Emmeline. Due to
Mumsfield’s own invisibility, Blanche observes that he can almost become the thing
he’s
106
doing. I could use some of that” (71), and recognises she still has a lot to learn
in her
investigative work. By noting that she could apply his tactics, her slow mental
transformation
into a sleuth is apparent. However, her relationship with Mumsfield also puts her
behind
(110). She cares for his well-being and is constantly perplexed by her ability to
become
friends with an “unknown white boy” (45) with whom she has little in common.
Admitting
that her sympathy for the boy stems from his child-like joyous nature also opens
Blanche to
recognising a different portion of her maternal feeling that she had struggled with
when her
sister died. Although she never felt fit to be a mother, she cares deeply for her
niece and
nephew and has grown to see as her own. In the novel, phone calls with her mother
and
children are Blanche’s most cherished moments. Therefore, her bond with Mumsfield
shows
how Blanche herself has grown. She is aware that Mumsfield “seemed far more capable
of
causing an attack of dreaded Darkies’ Disease … She wondered if her heightened
awareness
of him might have something to do with his child self being so close to the
surface” (49).
Even though she does not long for biological children, Mumsfield reminds her of
what she
values the most in her family, and hence asks herself if anyone has been developing
a vaccine
against the Darkies’ Disease (76).
Despite caring for Mumsfield, Blanche never sacrifices her agency, and always puts
her interests first. Although she listens to Mumsfield and calms him down, she
admits she
does not value his constant presence (45). Her concern about getting too attached
gets
reflected in her dream when Mumsfield chases her. As she records, “she fell into a
fitful sleep
[and was] being chased by Mumsfield … She knew she’d be safe as long as she kept
moving”
(60-1). The need to escape him in the dream foretells the ending of the story when
they part
and Blanche hopes to never see him again. Eventually, she chooses not to continue
working
for Mumsfield after Grace has been caught, and rather decides to prioritise her own
wellbeing
by getting far away from what has happened. She mentions that “he was rich and
white, and
107
his handicap excluded him from much of what went on in his own world. It …
minimized
what little ability he might have had to understand her life” (76). While she
becomes close
with Mumsfield for his character, he would never be able to understand her
struggles as a
Black woman for the same reason. By leaving Mumsfield behind, Blanche overcomes her
Darkies’ Disease and shows that fractions of her double consciousness do not
overshadow her
self-awareness of oppression and stereotypes.
Adjusting Two-Ness to Outer Identities
As a domestic, Blanche’s occupation usually consists of numerous tasks; depending
on what her employers need and can afford, she offers services of a “cook,
housekeeper,
lady’s maid, housemaid, waitress, laundress, seamstress” (Neely 22). Such roles
that she
carries out show her versatility and ability to adapt. On the outside, the main
protagonist
occupies various identities, including the one of a new mother in her private life.
After
escaping from court, Blanche plans to start a new life in New York, having her
friend Ardell
bring the children once she settles in. As the sheriff gets killed, the lingering
thought of her
children when she is in a constant state of peril enables her to persevere. If it
was not for her
family waiting for her at home, Blanche might have chosen to rather leave Grace’s
house and
risk being framed for the murders. As a result, Blanche’s acquired role as a parent
form her
decisions throughout the novel. Occupying different identities while also dealing
with double
consciousness creates in one’s mind a series of contradictions. Resulting from her
loneliness
in the household, Blanche heavily relies on the advice of herself through her inner
voice.
By consoling herself just before being convicted by the judge, Blanche’s inner self
comes to light. She wounds her arms “tightly round her body, comforting herself in
the same
way she did her children,” telling herself that she “shoulda known better … shoulda
known”
108
as she rocked back and forth (3). Relying on herself foreshadows her solitary
presence as an
African American woman in the novel, and her individuality that she has been forced
to
preserve as a house worker in white neighbourhoods. Further, it is the first time
her voice
appears, bringing a sense of tranquillity. Her voice offers constructive
reflections on when she
should have been more watchful, for instance scolding herself for not hiring a
lawyer, and
thus suggesting that her inner voice can be separated from her subjective thinking.
Besides,
her two-ness is reflected in her ability to look at herself outside of her persona
when she
“stood away from herself and looked at where she was” (145). Her capacity to
command her
mind to separate itself facilitates Blanche’s survival skills in an already
dangerous
environment.
In the beginning, Blanche fights the urge to wish the sheriff ill, and unveils her
superstitious nature by noting how “those kinds of wishes often seemed to boomerang
… All
she had to hope for was that life provided him with exactly what he deserved” (81).
Convinced that bad thoughts would find their way to be redeemed, Blanche explores
her
morality and sense of justice regarding sheriff’s behaviour. In spite of the
sheriff not
recognising her, the woman is watchful not to get in his way, indicating Blanche’s
antagonistic relationship with the police. While having a personal opinion on what
should
happen to people working in law enforcement who support the discriminatory system,
she
also knows that justice should come to everyone equally. Hence, she chides her
voice and
dismisses her potentially hostile thoughts. Besides, this instance also suggests
how the voice
needs to be controlled in order not to betray her, disclosing the difficulty of
identifying
enough perspectives to form an objective case.
When Blanche speaks with her mother about under which circumstances Everett’s first
wife died, her incapability to control her physical voice makes Blanche cringe
(133). It
suggests the disproportion of how Blanche talks to herself inside, being used to
analysing her
109
observations with her inner self only. Earlier in the novel, her primal anxiety
comes from the
sheriff possibly recognising her, and she remembers her long forgotten coping
mechanism
that her cousin has taught her after being bullied for existing in a Black body.
She looks back
on becoming the Night Girl when her cousin told her that “people what got night in
‘em can
step into the dark and … disappear! Go any old where they want. Do anything” (59).
She has
learnt to be able to blend into the night owing to the colour of her skin, which is
an advantage
that she has never needed since then as urgently as she does now. Furthermore, she
talks of
the Night Girl inside of her as of an autonomous person, expecting her other self
to rescue her
(161). Consequently, when talking to her mother, adjusting her inner voice to her
outer speech
proves to be challenging. She manages to guard her emotions, making sure not to
reveal the
true nature of her thoughts, even to Mumsfield, and sharpens thus her observation
skills which
leaves her determined and focused. When she calls her mother, she is resolute on
clearing her
mind of any signal of worry (99-100) that could betray her shield of toughness; by
emptying
her mind, she dismisses her inner voice that often exposes her fear. However, when
Blanche
needs to, she can promptly inspect her mind to find any forgotten information which
shows
how both her halves slowly learn to communicate with one another as two intertwined
entities.
This symbiosis that Blanche wills to find within herself proves beneficial in her
final
recognition of Grace’s wrongdoings. Despite not believing Grace after she confesses
to the
murders at first, blinded by the false lead she was following, Blanche’s
acknowledgement of
her own two-ness helps to recognise it in Grace as well. After rediscovering her
Night Girl,
more grounded in her perceptions and now having experienced Darkies’ Disease
herself, she
can sense Grace’s falsity just by the white woman’s expressions. By noticing that
“Grace’s
eyes didn’t match. One eye – the right – was almost almond-shaped, but her left eye
was
round and unwavering as a blue marble. Grace began to whimper. But there were no
tears in
110
her left eye” (183), Blanche’s internal transformation into a detective reaches its
peak. It is the
moment where the lessons she has been acquiring throughout the few days come to
fruition.
Further, perceiving such duality in Grace, who has grown up in the house, enables
Blanche to observe not only mannerisms of living beings but also of the house.
Introduced as
sentient entities, the two houses owned by Grace’s family that Blanche encounters
in the
novel present a mystery from the start. Blanche feels the animosity that the houses
treat her
with, which contrasts with how Blanche thinks of the night and the nature
surrounding the
Southern country residence. In the end, the contradictory nature of the two
locations – inside
of the country house and outside in the woods – shows how Blanche learns to
navigate her
strengths to her advantage. Accordingly, she decides to escape Grace, who knows the
house,
into the woods where Blanche can use the power of her invisibility by keeping quiet
and
biding her time before she hits Grace and knocks her to the ground.
Assigning emotions to houses seems like a natural occurrence to Blanche. By
personifying them, she discloses that though she is not a woman of religion, she
does have
beliefs that surpass logic. She becomes wary of the first house being just as
demeaning to her
as Grace by considering how “the house they approached was … graceful … Blanche
believed in the power of houses. She’d worked inside too many of them to act … as
though a
house were just a building. She could often tell what a house was going to be like
by the way
it either fit into the landscape or imposed itself upon it” (14). This suggests the
house is not
forgiving as it recognises Blanche’s trickery of lying about her previous
employment for
Grace. Contrarily, Blanche’s initial deceit may not play a significant role in the
house’s
treatment of her at all, considering that she compares the house to Grace’s
behaviour towards
her hired Black workers. By mentioning how “this house had nothing to say to her,
personally. Much like the woman who lived in it, the house recognized her only as a
function.
Fortunately, she wasn’t going to be there long enough for it to matter” (15), it is
more than
111
plausible that the house’s hostility stems from its general loyalty to its owners.
Overall,
Blanche’s sentiment regarding the power of houses is not to own one, rather to
always detect
its agenda.
Unlike the house in town, Blanche feels the country house is more perceptive
towards
the change in its surroundings. She can sense its anxiety, “as though something of
which it did
not approve had taken place on its premises … Blanche wondered if it was her
arrival or
something else.” Despite being set in nature, the protagonist notes how it lacks a
“fairy-tale
air,” and together with the trees that seem to “whisper” about their arrival (35),
it has a sinister
aura of either something that has happened or is about to. Blanche’s ability to
detect a silent
threat represented by the house however does not mean that she can refrain from
falling for
the house’s tricks. Despite hoping the house would collaborate with her, the silent
dislike
Blanche attributes to its atmosphere does not cease. Not only the residence does
not
cooperate, it works against Blanche instead. Although Blanche notes how the house
could
sense a murderer residing in it (145), she mistakes its tangible concern for hiding
Everett and
not a concern for Grace who is the actual murderer to be in risk of persecution.
Unsettled about the plausibility of Grace being exposed, the house’s rushes of
anxiety
influence Blanche’s detection. Upon exiting her room one day, she has the feeling
of the
house’s disquiet over its privacy having been shattered; however, what she still
does not
realise is that it reacts to her digging deeper to expose the truth. Blanche
recalls how at first,
the house seemed frightened, “like a dog who’d been kicked too many times” (147).
Nonetheless, nearing Grace’s confession, the residence now grows even more
agitated.
Blanche’s comparison to an abused animal further proposes Grace’s violent nature;
the fact
that Grace killed her cousin when they were young near the house points at the
house’s
entanglement in the crimes that Grace has committed, knowing its contribution by
protecting
112
her. However, when the house feels that Grace might be threatened, it takes her
side, unable
to erase years of guarding her.
As a demonstration of Blanche being more secure in her observations and in
inhabiting the house, she slowly gets used to its treatment of her, just as she has
adapted to her
white employers’ behaviour towards her. Despite its unwavering unfriendliness,
Blanche not
only braces herself mentally but also physically, not feeling the coldness
inflicted upon her in
her bones, noting that “while the house was no warmer, the cold didn’t cut to her
marrow”
(167). The last interaction between Blanche and the house happens when she is
chased by
Grace and the house slams all its doors in her face; “you can’t hide in here, it
told her. Grace
had known the house since she was a child. All its secret spaces were open to her”
(196).
Blanche runs into the woods for she knows the night and the surroundings. Such
decision
making in that moment shows her strengthened spirit of engaging her two-ness
outside of
herself; she turns to be not only mentally tenacious to survive but also physically
determined
to endure.
Mimicry and Deceit: Blanche’s Trickster Nature
Just as the trickster Ananse the Spider who, in many West African folktales, stands
in
front of the council of elders for his wrongdoings, Blanche enters the story
standing in front of
a judge who sentences her to thirty-day incarceration for unpaid checks.
Paralleling Ananse,
who takes his flight by running, climbing and hiding in the corner of a house,
Blanche takes
an advantage of using the restroom on her way to a cell. Outside of the restroom,
guarded by a
police officer, chaos ensues, and Blanche manages to sneak out, and comparably to
Ananse,
escapes to hide in a house to which she should have come that morning for work
(Tolson 74).
Apart from Blanche’s initial convenient flee, other unpredicted conveniences arise;
she runs
113
in the direction of the house where she got hired, and just as she gets introduced
to her
employer’s family, she is informed that they are all leaving to their country home,
including
Blanche. Further, her mother’s connections in the Black community provide a
backstory to
Grace and Everett’s past, and thus prove to be valuable for her later detection.
For Blanche as
the potential trickster, these advantages are not unusual since tricksters often
find their way
out of no way, able to adjust themselves to any situation to survive, thus
initiating endless
adventure.
Through the exploration of her identities, beliefs and values under the scrutiny of
principles that she has battled all her life against, Blanche’s journey is one of
transformation.
By confronting racism in her profession every day, Blanche’s hidden yet non-
conforming
approach leads to silent interference in the order of her world dominated by
whiteness. Due to
hiding from the law, the main character needs to solve the murders in order not to
be framed
for them by the real culprit. By already existing on the margins of society,
through her
unpronounced investigative work, Blanche disrupts strictly set conventional rules
by playing
tricks on her employers. Through her shapeshifting qualities, intellectual
abilities and
recklessness, she initiates chaos. Hence, by uncovering diverse layers of Blanche’s
self, her
trickster traits are implemented to aid her inspection. Shared characteristics with
divine
trickster entities ensure that Blanche manages not to get herself killed as well as
to
successfully ensnare the murderer.
Upon encountering Blanche, first signs of her defying conferred stereotypes on
women around her, including her mother, appear as quickly as she thinks of her
family.
Blanche’s lack of prescribed Christianity in the moment of despair, thinking how
“had she
been the woman her mother had raised her to be, she would have prayed” (Neely 5)
shows
removal of male-led religions from her spiritual life (Tolson 72). While she could
have prayed
just as gotten a lawyer, which she decides to do, she pushes through despite her
fear and
114
anguish. While feeling the heaviness of nearing imprisonment, she does not regret
not
following her mother’s footsteps in religion or maternity expectations bestowed
upon her
gender. Intertwined with her mother’s principles, Blanche not being religious ties
to her
defiance of Westernised norms including white feminist theories, and the way many
religions
are used to oppress women and perpetuate misogynistic ideals to remain in power.
As a built-in feature, misogyny appears in most modern religions due to being
constructed by men to control populations. Including the use of masculine “God and
Lord”
language, Blanche’s mother demonstrates this impact by exclaiming “Lord forgive me.
I don’t
like lyin’, it ain’t right!” (Neely 72) and “I swear you gon' make me lose my place
in heaven!”
(74). Therefore, Blanche not only deals with whiteness but also with patriarchy
concealed
under benevolent sexism of her mother and late sister. Accordingly, many standard
tricksters
in mythologies and folk stories are male, established through the lenses of
patriarchal-
religious communities. Worldwide, the representation of female tricksters is fairly
minimal.
Hyde deciphers this as a result of disregarding female tricksters that have already
been
introduced (Hyde 335) which as a result limits the establishment of other diverse
female
tricksters. For trickster tales assert certain distinctions between males and
females, even in
matriarchal settings trickster figures would be males (336), meaning that
ultimately all well-
known tricksters are male by design. Nonetheless, Blanche disrupts conventional
religious
tropes by establishing a powerful connection with nature instead.
Once outside, Blanche can feel the presence of all living beings and organisms
around
her, reflecting on the existence of good omens (Neely 34), how the moon is full of
magic (59),
and how easily she can become the Night Girl again, observant yet undetected. Being
able to
sense not only spirits of nature, but also attribute emotions to non-living
objects, she reflects
on her mother being convinced that Blanche has second sight. Blanche does not
revoke this
sentiment and instead notes how she can often count on her talent (60),
corresponding to the
115
two-ness that originated with Esu Elegbara’s double-voiced tradition. While
established as a
non-religious woman, Blanche has formed her own kind of religion based on ancestor
worship through her reliance on nature (Kainulainen 45). Her trust in nature is a
way to
uphold her heritage and be proud of her identity, and shows her tenacity in going
against
forces trying to defeat her into submission (46). Relying on old spirits, she also
draws on
superstition, remarking how her wits have helped her to save herself twice already,
and that
given that “old folks said things happened three times” she would have to prepare
for yet
another strike of faith (Neely 81). Disclosing her beliefs in myths, the
protagonist is aware of
the need to rely on anyone but herself, accepting her individualism in approaching
Black
female identity, ancestral spirituality, or domestic employment. As a trickster
copying ways of
others, she can guise herself and integrate by adopting other people’s customs.
Moreover, by perceiving incorporeal presence, Blanche is alerted not to come near a
chair that Grace has been crying in before, sensing “gloom and tension” around the
furniture
(64), which, just as with the house’s treatment, even the chair catches Grace’s
guilt and
misdeeds for Blanche to detect. On top of that, despite not uncovering that the
absence of the
real Aunt Emmeline, Blanche notes how confident she is that Emmeline is making
mischief
(54). From the beginning, Blanche observes there is something wrong with Emmeline,
and,
given to Blanche’s own trickery and detective self, her instincts do not fail her.
Nevertheless,
Blanche has never experienced Darkies’ Disease before, meaning that at the start,
she has a
harder time understanding her ability to detect Mumsfield approaching her. She asks
herself
how it can be possible that this skill gets extended to Mumsfield when it has
always been
those closest to Blanche whom she could intuitively discern (45). As an evidence of
Blanche’s
own confusion about her identity while suddenly caring for a white boy, it further
shows her
transformation and expanding versatility as she develops another side of her self.
The split of
the self grows into a sense of Otherness as she expects to see an unfamiliar face
in the mirror,
116
“as though her ability to fool the sheriff had been aided by a newfound ability to
alter her
looks and turn herself into someone else” (81). Although Blanche is aware of her
invisibility
which she utilises to her advantage, this new layer of obscurity tying to her
detective persona,
including strategies of employing them, is something that she still feels unsure
about.
When in danger, Blanche’s common sense gets overridden by her recklessness to
disappear as quickly as she can, trying to utilise the power of invisibility,
moving with “as
much of an air” (6). However, she knows how to use this trick more inside of white
people’s
houses than outside in the broad daylight, unprotected from unfamiliar, suspecting
eyes,
knowing that her briskness could give her away. Despite being a plump woman,
Blanche is
noted to move swiftly, once again her recklessness betraying her. Nonetheless, her
hastiness
pays off; she gets nervous about appearing as a suspect, and this nervousness
enables her to
move from one place to another without anyone paying her attention regardless of
her fear. As
a trickster, it is unsurprising that despite her impulsivity, she does not
encounter any obstacles
in her way. With noting the petite size of her feet (7), her flee from the court is
moreover the
first indication of her physical shapeshifting abilities.
Further, Blanche’s impulsive nature gets revealed by forgetting to call her
employer
about not taking the housekeeping job due to her plan on moving to New York. This
gets
highlighted when she mentions how she got her niece and nephew into her care after
her
sister’s passing, and ran away to California while the children stayed with her
mother (9). Her
mother’s disapproval aids the notion of Blanche’s inconsistency. Yet, it is
Blanche’s maturity
that leaves her not trusting her own abilities to take care of two teenagers when
she barely
manages to provide for herself. Her mother’s lack of faith in her own daughter is
underlined
by Blanche always doing things her own way.
For trickster’s tongue is sharp, Blanche’s signifyin’ when she first meets
Mumsfield
and thinks of him as a fellow employee could easily get her fired both from the job
and the
117
agency that employs her. After the boy speaks, Blanche retorts that they all will
be okay if he
keeps his eyes “on the road and obey the speed limit” (24). Knowing she is just as
capable of
treating white people as she has been treated by them, as well as recognising her
work as
legitimate and valuable, Blanche further radiates confidence when Grace describes
Blanche’s
new room as little but pleasant, to which Blanche reacts with: “Well, it ain’t
going to spoil
me, that’s for sure” (36). On the one hand, not knowing when to hold her tongue
exposes her
tactless nature, however, as Hyde accounts, “it is hard to travel in this fallen
world if you lose
the power of speech every time evil meets you on the path” (154). By existing in
the centre of
this fallen world, Blanche knows that staying silent whenever confronted with
racist
demeanour never works, and thus decides to take a portion of her power back,
replicating
white people’s behaviour she has encountered. Since tricksters know no way of their
own,
mimicking others and pretending to be allies of the same species only to deceive
them for
their own gain, Blanche also observes other people’s behaviour to copy them. This
mirrors
their existing reality that Blanche aims to take an advantage of; for instance,
when she tries to
cajole Nate into sharing information, she uses intonation on the same words he has
to appeal
to him (Neely 94-5). Her daring nature of refusing to act grateful for something as
negligible
as a “mousehole” shows the awareness of the systemic marginalisation, and Blanche’s
active
persistence in its deconstruction.
Blanche’s lying about previously working in a house to avoid being incarcerated
reveals the ability to hide her sharp-witted personality from Grace. Tricking her
employer
without any suspicion pairs up with Blanche’s invisibility working as a house
worker as well
as having a way with words and implementing her sharp wit. Grace not concerning
herself
with even asking Blanche’s name plays into Blanche’s advantage to stay hidden from
the
police and undetected from Grace’s suspicion. For Blanche is thoughtful and
perceptive, her
sense of what white people expect of her as a Black domestic worker – a Mammy
figure –
118
masks her true thoughts behind a joyous facade of being allowed to work for a white
affluent
family. By applying signifyin’ to her speech, appearing happy, speaking two octaves
higher
(14), she not only fulfils the Mammy stereotype but also lets Grace know that she
can be
relied on as the “dim-witted Black maid” who does not pay any attention to her
surroundings
while plotting behind every word she speaks.
As the character of Blanche alters the image perpetuated by the media, exhibited as
a
liberated woman whose agency does not revolve around white employers but her own
family,
her practice of signifyin’ aims at playing with her employers as she pleases. By
acting as a
sweet, obedient maid, often broadly smiling and saying what others want to hear,
she gets
away with regularly mocking those she works for. She notes how she “outfoxed her
so-called
betters, tricked those who needed very badly to believe she was too dumb to do so”
(67). As a
collection of utterances of all the selves she carries, Blanche also uses her
storytelling to
confuse people around her, and at one point stops herself from inventing an
anecdote despite
being tempted to deceive. Yet, she uses her convincing powers to calm Mumsfield
down,
making him feel better so he does not lash out or do anything she does not want him
to.
Regardless of Blanche’s appetites not revolving around sexual activities or
indulgence
in food, she revels in benefiting from wealth of her employers. As a trickster,
replicating her
enslaved ancestors, Blanche notes how “sitting in their chairs, looking out their
windows,
using their telephones and stereos” (63) has oftentimes presented a way of not
losing her self.
The idea of one possession blending into another seems to apply to Blanche’s
mentality of
using whatever she can for pleasure, knowing her service is well worth the
advances. She
recalls how she used two of her employers’ bathtubs, which once escalated into her
being
raped. Although Blanche does not share much of her sexual assault, she still hopes
to get her
vengeance (63).
119
Despite her trickster attributes, Blanche’s true trickster nature gets refuted on
many
occasions. She recognises her worth and learns to value her life through spiritual
growth,
including accepting all the diverse layers of her personality. Meanwhile, people
around her
keep spending their time by lust and greed for power, wealth, and social status,
which
Blanche observes with a great distance. Not neglecting who she is, she also knows
there are
responsibilities to keep in mind. Although she sometimes uses her employers’
possessions for
her own pleasure, she only thinks of stealing money, “stuffing the bills in her
bra” (44), but
never takes it farther. Hence, her trickster tendencies never overpower her sense
for justice.
Blanche longs for her old life where she did not have to worry about the children,
and even
plans on leaving them again. Nonetheless, her inconsistency does not match with
irresponsibility for her family is always on the forefront of her mind. While she
does not carry
shame for not living up to her mother’s expectations, the mere thought of being
seen in the
newspaper amongst wanted persons makes her frightened and ashamed (66).
In Lam, the protagonist surpasses straightforward tropes of trickster figures and
double
consciousness, insinuating that standard functions of race operate on many diverse
levels.
Ultimately, Blanche’s role as the signifyin’ detective draws on her ability to use
and recognise
trickster ways in her detection, just as numerous perspectives that rely on the
diversity of her
consciousness. As a mystery novel, Neely’s work entwines race issues of domestic
workers in
the 1980s, slave narratives and detective fiction, and blurs boundaries between
being visible
and invisible, emancipated and disempowered. Just as Blanche’s frequent play with
words,
the novel itself tackles the gap between literal and metaphorical, and between what
exists on
the surface and in the subtext.
120
8. Conclusion
Devil in a Blue Dress follows Easy Rawlins’ hard-boiled detective adventure in Los
Angeles while Blanche on the Lam sets Blanche White’s domestic investigation in a
rural
environment of North Carolina; at first sight, the mystery novels could not be more
different.
Despite living alone, Easy goes to bars where he is surrounded by the Black
community.
While Blanche lives with her mother and her niece and nephew, she spends most of
her days
working amongst white people. In their disparate lives, the journeys of both
protagonists
parallel Frederick Douglass’ way to becoming a free Black man. As a hard-boiled
investigator, Easy comes to contact with the most brutal crimes, and working for
DeWitt
Albright brings out Easy’s own violent thoughts buried deep inside since his time
in the
World War II. When Douglass attacked slaveowner Edward Covey after weeks of abuse,
Covey walked out of the room and never mistreated Douglass again. In Devil, Easy
and
Mouse wound Albright who disappears through a window, and shortly after dies from
his
injuries. By defeating Covey and later escaping from slavery, Douglass ended his
life as an
enslaved African American man. When Albright dies at the end of the novel, Easy is
freed
from his task and can fully begin his new career without being followed by
Albright’s wrath.
The violence that Douglass experienced working on plantations is reflected in the
violence
that Easy undergoes when chastised by officers Miller and Mason.
As a domestic worker, Blanche relies on what she sees and hears inside of white
people’s houses. When Frederick Douglass worked as a house slave for Hugh Auld
whose
wife Sophia taught Douglass to read, he learnt how to deceit and trick his masters
by first
learning to read and write in secrecy and then teaching fellow slaves to read.
Blanche’s work
as a domestic enables her to decipher white people’s behaviour. Furthermore, just
as
Douglass, she previously deceived some of her former employers by using their
bathrooms
and belongings but was caught. As Douglass was sent to Covey’s plantation as a
punishment,
121
Blanche suffered for her schemes as well, raped for her boldness. In her field of
work,
Blanche is able to hear voices on the inside; this is an advantage for knowing how
to act in
front of whites to pass unnoticed. Unlike Blanche with her domestic mysteries, the
voices
Easy hears are not inside people’s houses but mainly outside on the streets, in
bars or offices
as he moves within the urban crime scene. Nonetheless, they both identify having
inner voices
which they rely on in times of need.
Throughout the novels, both protagonists share Douglass’ sentiments regarding their
double consciousness. Easy’s double consciousness is reflected in his inner
dialogue,
disclosing his hate for white and Black people and himself. Therefore, the thesis
identifies
materialism and toxic masculinity as Easy’s main coping mechanisms. Due to being
abandoned by his mother who died, and his father, Easy feels abandoned by everyone.
As he
projects his longing onto the character of Daphne, who he thinks is white, his
biases between
white and Black women emerge. It becomes more apparent when Daphne reveals she is
passing and Easy wants nothing more than her being white again. While Easy deals
with
being stereotyped by white people, something which bothers him, he treats Daphne
the same
way, regularly classifying her as a child.
In Devil, the difference in Easy’s behaviour towards Black and white women is
analysed from two viewpoints. He condemns Black women’s attainability and openness
due
to not having experienced a healthy, long-term relationship, thus connects Daphne’s
inaccessibility to familiarity. Second, he draws from the patriarchal values and
misogyny that
discriminate against Black women, and judges Black women according to the body
politics of
the Western world. Further, Easy’s capitalist views mirror his materialistic values
as the
character attaches a strong emotional connection to his house, talking about it as
he would
about a person. This potentially derives from the past slavery of his character’s
and
consequent economic discrimination of the African American community, together with
the
122
desire to benefit from material possessions the same way as white people do. At the
same
time, it may originate in Easy’s capitalist standpoint that his well-being will be
secured once
he becomes the owner of more houses.
Easy’s divided self is revealed through his voice which has appeared during the
war. It
talks to Easy and tells him what to do; although it never tells him to rape or
steal, it saves him
from troubles many times and through violent thoughts incites Easy’s rage. Through
his two-
ness aided by white people’s presence in Easy’s life, the first signs of his
trickster character
appear. Easy is compared to the Signifying Monkey, and the thesis examines how the
protagonist embraces other people’s mannerisms to use it in his investigation.
Moreover, in
his detective work, he uses his invisibility, but can lose control when angered. In
the end,
Easy is proven to employ trickster qualities into his investigation without being
the trickster,
and his double consciousness proves to be efficient when navigating his
investigation in the
worlds of Black and white.
The first analysis also depicts Daphne as a non-trickster figure possessing
trickster
character traits. In a way, Daphne loves Easy, which she proves by leaving him for
good. Due
to the two souls within her, she has always felt abnormal and exposed, not
realising that in
many ways, Easy is not that different from her. Nonetheless, the way she shapes her
presence
according to the person that she is with, existing thus in other people’s designed
frame of
conscience, shows the tragedy of her being. Insensitive towards her own inner
identity, and
unresponsive to feelings she cannot control, she keeps betraying the essence of her
inner self.
This duality is underlined by her shapeshifting abilities and deception. In
addition, Daphne’s
character study highlights her femme fatale status; since Daphne’s two identities
are layered
and separated, she rarely discloses her true emotion and motives. Blinded by
sentiment, Easy
does not know how to decipher her actions and turns a blind eye to her offences.
Her daring
nature and ability to trick the detective link to Daphne’s trickster traits. The
chapter concludes
123
with the analysis of Mouse’s character who is argued to be the trickster of the
novel. Mouse is
a Black man who does not strain himself from violence, and just as with other
tricksters, the
morality of his actions depends on a specific perspective. While his objective is
to get some
money for himself, he would kill a man just for the fun of it. Equally, Mouse
generates chaos
as well as order when he saves Easy from getting killed. Mouse vanishes just as
quietly as he
arrived after he reminds Easy that every Black man needs to embrace who he is for
it is the
only way to escape his double consciousness.
The second analysis investigates to what extent Blanche deals with her mother’s
internalised misogyny and internalised racism, or how differently she views her
employers’
houses in contrast to Easy’s sentiments. Further, the text examines how Blanche’s
opinions on
Black female stereotypes and white women’s fragility influence her development into
an
accidental sleuth. Through her teenage years, Blanche’s mother kept pressuring the
protagonist to straighten her hair, thus projected the mainstream society’s racism
onto
Blanche in order to conform to the Westernised ideal of beauty. Just as with her
appearance,
her mother and sister pressured Blanche to start a family of her own. This external
influence
did not make Blanche to obey. However, in Lam, the influence of patriarchal
principles arises
when Blanche’s main suspect remains Everett even after her employer Grace confesses
to be
the perpetrator. Throughout the novel, Blanche views Grace as the typical housewife
who has
no say in her husband’s deeds, and cannot imagine that such delicate woman could
commit
the violent crimes. Not suspecting Grace because of her facade mirrors Blanche’s
social
stereotyping as a Black house worker. Therefore, she applies the same strategy on
Grace as
the mainstream society would and almost dies because of it. Besides, although
Blanche
detests what she calls the Darkies’ Disease – when Black house workers bear a
familial
sentiment towards their white employers and are falsely led to believe they are
part of the
family – it is her primal struggle when she grows closer to the cousin of her
employer
124
Mumsfield. As Blanche admits that Mumsfield reminds her of her children, her
principles are
challenged through the need to focus on her investigation and to keep Mumsfield
safe.
Ultimately, she leaves Mumsfield and hopes to never feel the same way.
Lastly, just as Easy, Blanche applies her invisibility to her investigation. She
tricks her
employers into inhabiting the Mammy stereotype, appearing unbothered and cheerful
when in
fact observing everything that happens around the house. Through the many
identities
Blanche inhabits on the outside, she notes how her cousin taught her to become the
Night Girl
and blend into the night. It is how her two-ness was born, though the duality
within her was
created to protect her from the outside world. Her own duality helps her to
eventually
recognise it in Grace as well. In spite of Blanche not being the trickster, just as
Easy, she
possesses qualities that the tricksters use to remain hidden while scheming against
others. In
the process, Blanche often finds herself lost and driven by reckless behaviour.
With her
trickster spirit, she escapes all perilous situations, does not let herself be
caught by the sheriff
or killed by Grace. She does not comply with the rules bestowed upon her, including
religion,
relying on old spirits instead. Finally, the ability to disappear into the night
also connects to
Blanche’s skill of detecting feelings of non-living things, especially houses. She
can sense
their anxiety and their perception of her. This is what saves her; because the
house that she
works in is a property of Grace’s family, she knows she would not have the chance
to survive
if she remained and fought Grace there. The house would help Grace to get rid of
Blanche.
Hence, the protagonist escapes outside into nature where Grace can be defeated.
125
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English Resume
The diploma thesis focuses on two works of American crime fiction written by
African American authors, Walter Mosley and Barbara Neely. Both novels, namely
Devil in a
Blue Dress and Blanche on the Lam, follow the protagonists’ journeys in becoming
amateur
detectives through a series of unprecedented events.
The thesis addresses Du Boisian concept of double consciousness and how African
American double-voiced narrative influenced prominent Black characters in the
novels.
Analysing both novels respectively, the goal of the thesis is to examine
investigations of the
protagonists based on their internalised racism and self-loathing, and their – and
other Black
characters’ – trickster character traits. The text further explores how the authors
modified
traditional tropes of crime fiction based on African American sociocultural
aspects. By
addressing subtle acts of resistance during slavery in the United States and
subsequent
segregation of the twentieth century, both detectives are linked to the prominent
figure of
Frederick Douglass. Implementing African and African American folktales, the
characters are
inspected to resemble trickster entities of Esu Elegbara and the Signifying Monkey.
As a
result, the thesis identifies the position of African American detectives to
correlate with
tricksters in mythologies. While they operate between diverse worlds, as neither
perpetrators
nor heroes, they exist somewhere in the middle, defying stereotypes attached to
their race and
gender.
The analysis concludes that in spite of neither of detectives representing the
trickster
figure, as opposed to other characters, they employ trickster behaviour into their
detection and
daily lives for varied reasons. Similarly, it discloses how the analysed characters
implement
their double consciousness to deal with their Blackness in the patriarchal and
predominantly
white Western society, which helps them to survive in the dangerous criminal
environment of
the novels.
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Czech Resume
Diplomová práce zkoumá dva romány afroamerické detektivní fikce Waltera
Mosleyho a Barbary Neely. Oba romány, jmenovitě Ďábel v modrých šatech a Blanche na
útěku, sledují, jak se skrze nečekané události z hlavních postav stanou amatérští
detektivové.
Práce zkoumá, jak se Du Boisův koncept dvojího vědomí pojí s afroamerickou tradicí
„double-voiced“ diskurzu. Cílem práce je identifikovat, jakým způsobem
internalizovaný
rasismus a sebe nenávist ovlivňují vyšetřování detektivů, stejně tak jako další
černošské
postavy. V druhé polovině analýz se text orientuje na užití šprýmařských
vlastností. Důraz je
kladen i na to, jak autoři modifikovali tradiční elementy detektivní fikce vzhledem
k
afroamerickým sociokulturním aspektům. Práce se také zaměřuje na otroctví ve
Spojených
státech, a s ním spojené projevy vzdoru, a na segregaci ve dvacátém století, čímž
pojí oba
detektivy s důležitou historickou postavou Fredericka Douglasse. V rámci
charakterové
analýzy jsou následně postavy přirovnány ke šprýmařům z afrických a afroamerických
tradic,
kterými jsou primárně Esu Elegbara a Signifying Monkey. Práce se proto zaměřuje na
to, do
jaké míry pozice detektivů v afroamerické detektivní fikci připomíná postavení
šprýmaře v
mytologiích. Vzhledem k jejich existenci mezi různými světy nejsou ani viníky, ani
hrdiny, a
jejich šprýmařství se tudíž vzpírá rasovým a genderovým stereotypům.
Přestože ani jeden z detektivů nereprezentuje postavu šprýmaře, na rozdíl od postav
jiných, analýza identifikuje, jakým způsobem a za jakým cílem zahrnují prokázané
šprýmařské chování do svých detekcí a životů. Stejně tak analýza poukazuje na to,
jak dvojí
vědomí pomáhá či brání všem zkoumaným postavám v přijetí své černošské identity v
patriarchální a převážně bílé západní společnosti. Dané praktiky postavám pomáhají
přežít v
nebezpečném kriminálním prostředí prezentovaném v obou románech.