The narrator of James Weldon Johnson’s The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man is a biracial man on a journey. On this journey the Ex-Colored Man is searching for an identity. Through various people and encounters he is able to construct a persona by the end of the novel. One group of people that influences that narrator while on his search is the various women that he encountered. His grade school teacher, teenage crush, his wife, a widow, and his mother all either affirm or reject his identity. In the novel, the narrator bases his treatment and perception of each woman on the effect they have on him and his identity.
A paragraph discussing his various identities? And who encounters which one? The first woman to challenge the persona of …show more content…
When the narrator first introduces his crush he describes her as being his “first love” (Johnson 18). However, the narrator is sure to inform his audience that he loves her in secret. The narrator accredits his secrecy to his fear that “she would find it out’ (Johnson 19). In “The Color of Money in The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man” Ariel Balter draws attention to the ambiguous “it” (55). One meaning that Balter assigns to “it” is the Ex-Colored Man’s confusion over his racial and sexual identity (55). Whatever identity the narrator is presenting at that moment is the one that the crush affirms through referring to him as her sweetheart and beau (Johnson 19). The narrator interprets this action as an approval of him. Therefore, he must conceal “it” so that he does not lose the approval he believes he has from …show more content…
After they were reunited, the Ex-Colored Man and the woman were married (Johnson 109). Through this marriage, the Wife affirmed his identity. Once made aware of his race, the Wife could have rejected him and ceased any further contact with him. Yet by going on to marry and have children with him, the narrator and his identity were given his approval. As a result, the narrator only reflects on happy times with his wife and he honors her for giving her to their children (Johnson 109). His wife both rejected and affirmed him, but he never faltered with how he depicted her. Even when she died he was sure to show his adoration of her because she had affirmed
A paragraph discussing his various identities? And who encounters which one? The first woman to challenge the persona of …show more content…
When the narrator first introduces his crush he describes her as being his “first love” (Johnson 18). However, the narrator is sure to inform his audience that he loves her in secret. The narrator accredits his secrecy to his fear that “she would find it out’ (Johnson 19). In “The Color of Money in The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man” Ariel Balter draws attention to the ambiguous “it” (55). One meaning that Balter assigns to “it” is the Ex-Colored Man’s confusion over his racial and sexual identity (55). Whatever identity the narrator is presenting at that moment is the one that the crush affirms through referring to him as her sweetheart and beau (Johnson 19). The narrator interprets this action as an approval of him. Therefore, he must conceal “it” so that he does not lose the approval he believes he has from …show more content…
After they were reunited, the Ex-Colored Man and the woman were married (Johnson 109). Through this marriage, the Wife affirmed his identity. Once made aware of his race, the Wife could have rejected him and ceased any further contact with him. Yet by going on to marry and have children with him, the narrator and his identity were given his approval. As a result, the narrator only reflects on happy times with his wife and he honors her for giving her to their children (Johnson 109). His wife both rejected and affirmed him, but he never faltered with how he depicted her. Even when she died he was sure to show his adoration of her because she had affirmed