A Provocative Title

Angry Black White Boy. At first glance this title is quite confusing, but then you think about about it. Is it a black or white boy who is angry? Who is he angry at? Why is he angry? It turns out that Macon Detornay is a would be average white boy starting his freshman year of college. I say would be because he's not quite the picture you bring up when thinking about a generic white boy. Sure he may look the same, but what's different is his mind. Macon has adopted a "black" mentality. He has adopted Hip Hop as his way of life and is extremely in favor of black rights. But the way this comes across isn't as a normal protester protesting for equality. Macon is a pure radical. He wants revenge for the injustices that have been brought against the black community by the whites for years. He is militant. He is willing to use force and violence to attack white folks just on the premise that they are white and therefore deserve it. The story almost begins with him robbing people and spouting off black power statements. There is also a scene where he takes a trashcan and throws it through a cop car's windshield. I'd say its pretty easy to come to the conclusion that Macon has gone a little far off the deep end here.

The most prevalent question throughout this book is: Does Macon have the right to be such a black power radical when he is white? This is a really tough question and I can only add my thoughts to the discussion. I think that everyone has the right to ask for equality, no matter who it is for. But at the same time, the way Macon goes about his "activism" is something that you would expect from black people who have gone through the struggle of being oppressed for being black. Macon simultaneously assumes a black person's sense that he has been wronged by the system and the white man's guilt for all the oppression that he has put black people through. It's one of Macon's biggest contradictions. He wants himself to be hurt because he is white, but also wants to be accepted by the black community as a race traitor and forgiven for being white. I think that it is perfectly fine for Macon to support black rights however strongly he wants, but he is putting himself in a position where he might be seen as fighting a fight that is not his to fight.

But then his tactics change. Towards the middle of the book, Macon is discovered by the media and becomes an instant celebrity for his radical position. At the same time that this happens, he starts focusing more on changing whites, rather than attacking them. There could be a couple of reasons for this slight shift in methodology. One of them is media appropriateness. Macon might have of recognized that advocating for violence against white people is probably a bad idea. However, maybe, during his first speech coming out of the police department, he did realize that that wouldn't solve much and that whites needed to change how they think. One really important line is when Macon is talks about how the civil rights movement changed laws when it needed to change minds. I think this subtle change is extremely important even though it hasn't quite played out yet, and I wonder if it will really impact Macon on his quest.

After ROOM

So this post may be a little late in dealing with the ending of Room, but I still think that I should say something about it.

I think that Donoghue finished Room in the most satisfying, yet logical way possible. It made sense to have Jack and Ma revisit Room and realize that its not where they want to be anymore. I guess that it was a bit predictable, but it still did everything for me that I believe an ending should so. It left me with few questions. I was not left wondering what Jack's relationship to Room would be after spending time in the world. I do not have to wonder if Ma will forever reject the idea of visiting Room. There was an immense amount of closure that Donoghue put forth in just a few paragraphs. Jack, to the relief of the reader and Ma, is letting Room go - he doesn't even remember what Room was like before he left. He is able to say goodbye to Room without sadness, which means that he is looking forward to learning about everything that the world has to offer and won't look back.

Ma's portion of the ending is a little more interesting because she absolutely hated Room, especially right when they escaped. Jack convinced her to visit Room one last time. The emotional roller coaster she experienced was something I could feel as a reader. The intense physical reaction of seeing the place where her daughter was buried just highlights the deep impact of Room on her psyche. But then she gets inside, and it seems to cause unexpected feelings to rise up in her. She starts remembering and reliving the good times that she and Jack had. I can just picture her giving a sort of nostalgic half-smile as she reminds Jack of where Plant was. When Jack finds the picture that Ma gave to him for his fifth birthday, she breaks down. Ma no longer seems to hate Room. I think this is the part where she realizes that she is going to miss the closeness of being all alone with Jack in Room. Because as the world gets bigger for Jack, he is going to be further and further removed from Ma's presence and oversight. And yet, this is something that Ma can look forward to.

As for what will happen to Ma and Jack after they say goodbye for the last time, I can only speculate. It will most likely become easier and easier for Jack to grow into society. By the end he was starting to have almost normal interactions with people. He is not afraid of everyone, and he quickly became attached to some of his other family members. Unfortunately there is still a lot more to be done in making Jack "normal". It will probably be a couple more years until he goes to school and when he does, it is hard to imagine where he will fit in. He most likely has more educational knowledge than a lot of kids his age, but he will be socially stunted and may not be able to handle being with kids his own age. Another problem is what Ma will do to make a living. It doesn't appear that she has a job by the end, but she will most certainly need one. She will make some money off of royalties for selling her story, but those will only go so far. Fortunately, she has family that can help take care of at lease Jack if need be. Ma also needs to deal with her depression. I do think that it is not likely to be a problem since their situation is really starting to look good, but if she does have another relapse, Jack may not be able to take care of her or find someone who can.

Those are mostly the negative possibilities of the future. It probably won't be bad at all for Jack and Ma, and I think that their reintegration to society will go fairly smoothly.