Racial Self-Loathing And The Americanization Process

One of the themes common to minority writers of the twentieth century is the concept of Americanization. Sherman Alexie, Americo Paredes, and Toni Morrison each use some form of racial loathing or self-hate in presenting how their particular ethnic group deals with the Americanization process. This paper will examine a novel by each of the aforementioned authors and analyze how each one develops the attitude of self-hate in their characters.

In Sherman Alexie’s Reservation Blues a group of Native-Americans form a band and attempt to integrate themselves into mainstream American society. Their talent is ultimately overshadowed by their inability to be acceptable Indians. The attitude and perception of Alexie’s characters concerning their identity only borders on self-hate. While he does not have any of the characters display an outright hatred for their race; some of the characters do resent traditional Indian customs. In her article “Native American Culture and Communication through Humor” Charmaine Shutiva asserts that an important element of Native American world is its oral tradition and that a storyteller is present in every Tribe#. While Chess and Thomas embrace

Morrison uses flashbacks into the lives of Pecola’s mother and father to show their development into a self-hating person. The incidents she presents for each parent provide the formula and bridge to their current understanding. The hopes and aspirations that never came to fruition are blamed on their blackness and Pecola is a reminder of the uselessness of blackness. Morrison also presents a black woman who has managed to achieve a respectable existence due to her brown, not black, hue. She keeps a nice house and wears nice clothes. When she sees Pecola’s blackness it reminds her of what she could have been and it conjures hate. The hate directed at Pecola weighs her down and makes her long to look acceptable. Brown eyes are not acceptable. She must get the bluest eyes in order to have self-worth.

mprison a black man in 1941 produce no fear in him. Prison, white men, and women conjure no fear in Cholly. After being abandoned by his mother, rejected by his father, and condemned by his skin color, Cholly has nothing more to lose.

Morrison also uses freedom to show the destructive consequences of the Americanization process. She deals with the issue of freedom as it relates to the African-American race in 1941 in the life of Cholly. Morrison describes his early existence as one full of disappointment, struggle and lack of control. The thing that most imprisons Cholly is his belief that he matters. Most writers would present the idea of self-worth as a liberating notion, but Morrison offers it as a lock rather than a key. This departure from the norm is in harmony with the theme of the novel. The black characters are not released by believing that there is worth in their blackness, rather the black person who accepts the societal definition that black is ugly finds peace. Cholly does not become free until all his hopes are shattered. He has accepted the fact that he will never amount to anything and whatever good thing is hidden behind the blackness does not matter. Cholly has no fear. The things that i!

Alexie uses the desire to leave the reservation as a symbol of leaving their tradition and culture. The band is popular on the reservation, as long they do not leave the reservation. Once they get a gig off the reservation the tribe begins to disapprove of the band and call for their dismissal from the reservation. The message is that they cannot have both the traditions of the reservation and the American dream. This idea of Alexie’s held steady to the end of the novel. The band’s

Some topics in this essay:
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