Character Clues

Character Analysis

Family life

We all have them. It doesn't matter if you're estranged, tightknit or adopted: everyone has a family. It doesn't matter if you're black or you're white. In Black Like Me, Griffin uses family as a weird kind of characterization tool.

Most of the time characterization tools make distinctions between groups of people. This time, Griffin uses the fact that everyone has a family to show that black people are just as human as white people, and that they have the same desires for their children to grow up happy and healthy. The problem was, a lot of white people in the 1950s thought that the black family was in shambles.

Check out these little kids:

The children kissed their parents and then wanted to kiss Mr. Griffin. I sat down on a straight-back kitchen chair and held out my arms. One by one they came smelling of soap and childhood. One by one they put their arms around my neck and touched their lips to mine. One by one they said and giggled soberly, "Good night, Mr. Griffin." (15.96)

Don't your teeth just hurt from how cute they are? This super-adorable interaction underlines one of Griffin's key points: that the black family unit was just as heart-warmingly affectionate and stable as the white family unit.

Actions

Continuing to buck the characterization tool trends, Griffin uses a character's lack of action to define them almost as much—if not more—than their actual actions. For example, when Griffin is hitchhiking with all of those icky guys, the man who stands out is the only one who isn't sketchy. This is how Griffin describes him,

As we drove, the tensions drained from me. He was boisterous, loud and guileless. I could only conclude that he was color blind, since he appeared totally unaware that I was a Negro. He enjoyed company, nothing more. (13.93)

He doesn't do anything. He doesn't talk about sex, he doesn't threaten Griffin, and he doesn't ask him to see his genitals. He just drives and talks about his kids. And that makes him awesome; because many times in the book being against racism is as much about what you don't do as what you do.

On the other hand, there is another man who is not remembered fondly for his inaction. while on a bus, Griffin and some black people are threatened by white riders. Here's what this guy says after everything is over:

He bent over to speak to the young Negro. "I just wanted to tell you that before he slapped you, he'd have had to slap me down first," he said. None of us smiled. We wondered why he had not spoken up while whites were still on the bus. (20.64)

His lack of action lets us immediately know what type of person he is. He's the type of person who likes to think that he would take a stand against racism, and that he's not racist himself. But his lack of action betrays him.

Speech and Dialogue

We're not done with that guy yet! That smarmy guy on the bus shows his true (spineless) character by not acting, and his speech really seals the deal.

"Well, I just wanted you to know—I was on your side, boy." He winked, never realizing how he had revealed himself to us by calling our companion by the hated name of "boy." We nodded wearily in response to his parting nod. (20.66)

Whoops.

It seems that these kinds of situations, where closet racists reveal themselves, are even more illuminating than the straight up hate speech. If you think about it, most of the people who are just flat-out racist in their speech don't reveal very much about themselves. But the people like this man on the bus tell us a lot about their image of themselves, of racism, and of black people just by how they talk.

These guys are patronizing, and it almost (but not quite) seems like they are worse than the other types of racists because they don't even believe that they have a problem. Yeah, buddy, you have a problem: it's called being a wimp with a spine like an overcooked noodle.