Devil in a Blue Dress, by Walter Mosley, focuses on the racial inequality and police corruption in Los Angeles after post-war’II in the 1940s. The main character, Ezekiel “Easy” Rawlins, is a WWII veteran who is asked by a rich white man, DeWitt Albright, to find a white woman who has gone missing. Along the way, Easy struggles with race issues from police targeting him about several murders throughout his investigation. The novel was published in 1990 and five years later turned into a movie, directed by Carl Franklin. The movie and novel have very similar plots; however, between the movie and novel, some important parts were missing, thus affecting the overall message. One element is the depth of the character, Daphne Monet. She was the elite,
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Her relationship with a rich, white businessman, Todd Carter was ended because of her race. In the movie, Easy said how a white, rich guy like Carter was afraid to cross the color line even though the war happened to keep the world free. This comment shows how black and white people in the 1940s, were afraid to make relationships because of the possible consequences it could create. Easy’s comment wasn’t mentioned in the novel so it can be concluded that the movie wanted to express more about how racial inequality was still an issue when the movie was released. In the novel when Easy wanted Daphne to stay, she said to Easy, “You know what’s wrong. You know who I am; what I am” (Mosley, 208). The fact that Daphne was half black made Daphne think that was wrong. Thinking that being black was wrong showed what America thought about black people. In Mason’s article he said, “As a genre, the novel…concerned with the relation between the social whole and the possibility of transgressions, or the maintenance of social norms” (pg. 174). This relates to the novel because Easy, Carter, and Daphne didn’t want to break the social norm of same race relationships. Interracial relationships during this time period were not a social …show more content…
In the novel, Daphne left town for the sake of Carter but took $30,000 of Carter’s money with her, without his permission (Mosley, 124). Stealing the money made Daphne look to be monstrous and that she did not care about the relationship she had with Carter. In the movie, Carter’s family gave money to her to protect herself and Carter. The way she left in the movie made Daphne seem to be a loving and caring girlfriend, unlike the novel. This makes Carter to appear to be a weak boyfriend because Daphne took the money without Carter’s approval, and he couldn’t protect himself and his girlfriend in the
Her relationship with a rich, white businessman, Todd Carter was ended because of her race. In the movie, Easy said how a white, rich guy like Carter was afraid to cross the color line even though the war happened to keep the world free. This comment shows how black and white people in the 1940s, were afraid to make relationships because of the possible consequences it could create. Easy’s comment wasn’t mentioned in the novel so it can be concluded that the movie wanted to express more about how racial inequality was still an issue when the movie was released. In the novel when Easy wanted Daphne to stay, she said to Easy, “You know what’s wrong. You know who I am; what I am” (Mosley, 208). The fact that Daphne was half black made Daphne think that was wrong. Thinking that being black was wrong showed what America thought about black people. In Mason’s article he said, “As a genre, the novel…concerned with the relation between the social whole and the possibility of transgressions, or the maintenance of social norms” (pg. 174). This relates to the novel because Easy, Carter, and Daphne didn’t want to break the social norm of same race relationships. Interracial relationships during this time period were not a social …show more content…
In the novel, Daphne left town for the sake of Carter but took $30,000 of Carter’s money with her, without his permission (Mosley, 124). Stealing the money made Daphne look to be monstrous and that she did not care about the relationship she had with Carter. In the movie, Carter’s family gave money to her to protect herself and Carter. The way she left in the movie made Daphne seem to be a loving and caring girlfriend, unlike the novel. This makes Carter to appear to be a weak boyfriend because Daphne took the money without Carter’s approval, and he couldn’t protect himself and his girlfriend in the