Fortress of Solitude by Jonathan Lethem

In his book Fortress of Solitude, Jonathan Lethem tells the story of two boys Mingus Rude who is black and Dylan Ebdus who is white. These two boys are friends, but the difference in their races makes their friendship quite hard.Advertising We will write a custom book review sample on Fortress of Solitude by Jonathan Lethem specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The two live in a Brooklyn neighborhood where most of the inhabitants are exclusively black. In this novel, Lethem tells the story of America in the 1970s when a lot was happening concerning racial issues. The reader can also relate this novel to the 1990s when no one seemed to care about the other person. Fortress of Solitude is the story of racial tension and this paper will focus on analyzing this theme and how this book relates to the American Dream. This novel concentrates on issues of race, gentrification, music and culture. However, the theme of racial tension dominates t he book especially with the story being centered on two friends who have racial differences. Although Dylan is white and his friend Rude is black, both boys share similar tastes in music and comic books. Dylan is a white kid living in the midst of a black community in Brooklyn and just like the other children in the neighborhood he attends the public schools. Dylan’s childhood is demonstrated as one filled with â€Å"public embarrassment, yoking, and bullying† (Lethem 3).It is clear that there exists a racial tension between the society, Rude and Dylan and as a result their relationship has to be kept a secret. Dylan’s experiences while growing up gives a clear picture of racial tension; he and his parents Abraham and Rachael belong to the â€Å"self styled gentrification project† that is led by a white woman named Isabel Vendle. According to Lethem gentrification means â€Å"uncool† therefore this project demonstrates blacks as â€Å"uncool† (12). The intention of Isabel to start the project was to change Gowanus into Boerum Hill by having the brownstones â€Å"figuratively bleached of their colors, and the Puerto Rican and black populations yielding to richer whites† (Lethem 13).Advertising Looking for book review on american literature? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Dylan was impressed by the gentrification project and this is evidenced through his refusal to play with a black girl simply because she is of a different race which is said to be uncool. The girls’ description in the first few lines of the novel indicates racial tension; â€Å"the two white girls in red vinyl roller skates with white laces on a cracked blue slate sidewalk looking like a match struck in a darkened room† (Lethem 3). This description casts a picture of contrast between light and dark in the terms of race. Dylan’s friendship with Mingus Rude can be viewed has a pole which he uses to triangulate his own racial identity. With the fact that he is a white boy living in the middle of a black neighborhood whose amusements include muggings and bullying, his friendship to Rude is a gift to him from the heavens. In such a neighborhood and the fact that he is white, Dylan needs a lot of protection from the blacks; this can only be achieved through befriending Rude who is black. As a matter of fact, Mingus Rude is a good friend as well as a role model to Dylan. Dylan depends on Rude for protection and his entrance to power structure of Dean Street. As their friendship progresses, the two boys get attracted to each other romantically. The tension in racial relations here can be thought as the relationship that is expected to exist between a white and a black; a relationship of master-servant. Racial tension is seen where Dylan befriends another white boy Arthur Lomb so as to get through the school years normally. The difference comes in where b oth white boys take different approaches towards life. Dylan decides to go to a white and elite high school while Arthur chooses to hang out with black kids. Arthur befriends Mingus Rude and Robert Woolfolk who become his role models teaching him â€Å"niggerfication.† Dylan believes that, the contrast found between being black or white does matter even where it is expected not to. About the Chinese children, Dylan says that â€Å"the Chinese children in school weren’t white and they weren’t so that was a plus† (Lethem 32).Advertising We will write a custom book review sample on Fortress of Solitude by Jonathan Lethem specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More He continues to say â€Å"anyway it wasn’t their fault they were Chinese† (Lethem 32). It was not Dylan’s fault as well; his cultural inheritance of being white gave him class and racial dislocation. For this reason, Dylan emulates the black culture by listening to black music, keeping an â€Å"afro† and having a black girlfriend (Lethem 56). In this case, Dylan seems to deny his race thus causing more racial relationship tensions between the black and the white community. The opposing irony of Dylan being white seems to torment him most of the times. His life as a â€Å"white boy† is met by endless humiliations (Lethem 56). All the same, his â€Å"whiteness† also affords him an opportunity to leave the oppressive black neighborhood to a richer and famous one in Vermont. Racial tension is seen where even with white children surround him, Dylan does not actually fit in. when Dylan attends the college party, he says â€Å"that easy appropriation of dance-floor funk was a first taste, for me, of something I desperately wanted to understand: the suburban obliviousness of these white children to the intricate boundaries of race and music which were my inheritance and obsession. Nobody here cared it was only a danceable song† (Lethem 59). This quote illustrates the racial tensions which may exist between people of the same race. Although racial relations are the main theme of this book the characters play roles that seem to be predetermined. All blacks in the novel are sentimentalized despite their varied occupations; whether a mugger or a musician, if the person is black, he o she is sentimentalized. As a racial experiment, Dylan fails when he decides to adorn â€Å"black leather jackets and white boy rock† to be a part of the Stately Wayne Manor band. Discrimination against the black community is evident where Rude is left to be â€Å"a prisoner of the streets† (Lethem 66). At this point, the reader can tell that there exists a racial tension between Dylan and Rude; Dylan exclaims â€Å"hey, it’s not racist to find blacks earnest as hippies, broad, and embarrassing as a comic book these boys are punks and punks sneer that’s what they do d eal with it† (Lethem 66).Advertising Looking for book review on american literature? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The American dream promises success and prosperity for any citizen of the US despite their racial background. On the other hand, the American Dream suggests that for people to succeed, they must work hard. In the novel Fortress of Solitude, the American Dream of equal rights for every one is found to fail. There is rampant racial discrimination in the Brooklyn neighborhood which makes it hard for the minority to live the American Dream. It is stated in the American dream that â€Å"all men are created equal† but in Dylan’s society there are people who are â€Å"more equal than others.† In conclusion, Fortress of Solitude is a book that explains tensions that exist between people of different races especially the black and the white community. The author Jonathan Lethem actually tells his own tale when he was growing up in Brooklyn and his expectations of the American Dream as a descendant of Greece. The relationship between the main protagonist Dylan and Mingus Rude clearly demonstrate the tension in racial relationships. The race difference in these boys leads them to totally different worlds in the end. While Dylan becomes a journalist, Rude ends up in prison. This is the picture in our modern world especially in countries where racial discrimination is evidenced. Work Cited Lethem, Jonathan. The Fortress of Solitude: A Novel. New York: Doubleday, 2004. Print. This book review on Fortress of Solitude by Jonathan Lethem was written and submitted by user Hindsight Lad to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Erics drinking Essays

Erics drinking Essays Erics drinking Essay Erics drinking Essay But after he returns from leaving the Birlings house he tells them that he meet a friend who is on the force and asked him if he had ever heard of an inspector called Goole but he hadnt. After telling the Birling that the inspector is an impostor he believes that he is in the clear about having a mistress and offers Sheila the engagement ring again. At the end of the play he has not change unlike Sheila he does not think that there is nothing to worry about. This makes Sheila feel unsure whether to take make the engagement ring. Sybil Birling is described at the start as about fifty, a rather cold woman and her husbands social superior. She is very aware of the differences between social classes. She is irritated when Mr Birling makes the social gaffe of praising the cook in front of Gerald. When the inspector starts to question her she tries to deny things that she doesnt want to believe: Erics drinking, Geralds affair with Eva, and the fact that a working class girl would refuse money even if it was stolen, claiming She was giving herself ridiculous airs. At the end of the play she has to come to terms that her son is a heavy drinker who got a Eva smith pregnant and stole money from his fathers business to support her and also her daughter will not marry a good social catch and that her own reputation within the town will be ruined. Yet like her husband she refuses to believe that she did anything wrong and doesnt accept responsibility for her part in Evas death. At the start of the play Eric Birling is described as in his early twenties, not quite at ease, half shy, half assertive. Eric seems embarrassed and awkward right from the start. The first mention of him in the script is Eric suddenly guffaws, and then he is unable to explain his laughter, as if he is nervous about something. It soon becomes clear to us although it takes his parents longer that he is a heavy drinker. Gerald admits, I have gathered that he does drink pretty hard. When he hears how his father sacked Eva Smith, he supports the workers cause, like Sheila. Why shouldnt they try for higher wages? at the end of the play Eric is disappointed in his parents just like Sheila and he forcefully tells them Im ashamed of you. But unlike his parents he is fully aware of his social responsibility. He doesnt want to be Included in his parents plot to cover the incident up. As far as he is concerned, the important thing is that a girl is dead. We did her in all right. J.B. Priestley is successful in exposing the shallowness and uncaring side of the human nature through his characters. He shows this through the two characters of Mr. Birling and Sheila.  For example Mr. Birling starts off being extremely stuck-up and pompous whereas towards the end of the play he becomes ashamed of what he has done and realises he has to save his reputation. After he finds out the inspector is an impostor he is very pleased that he has not jeopardised his reputation. Sheila on the other hand starts off being ungrateful and is only bothered about the ring from Gerald and being engaged. Towards the end she realises that she has played a part in the death of a young women just because she had been in a furious temper that day. This shows that people even though they are in a higher class then common people they still make mistakes and responsibilities.  Finally I think that even though the play was written in 1945 it can still appeal to modern audiences and teach them that even though there are not any certain classes in the present there are still people that think they are better than other and have higher authority which gives them the right to be correct but they must remember that every one is the same we all make mistake and problems but we sort them out in the right way.

Self Assessment Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Self Assessment - Assignment Example There are different tools and mechanisms that have been designed to not only examine a person’s character traits, but also use this information in practical evaluation and classification activities (Archer & Smith, 2008). Commonly referred to as the Big Five personality test, the five-factor of model of personality is an important personality analysis tool. The entire assessment presented in this character analysis tool is founded of five important dimensions forming part of the reason for human behavior. The five dimensions of human behavior comprise of agreeableness, extroversion, openness to experience, emotional stability, and conscientiousness. People vary from each other with regards to their utility of these dimensions undergirding social behavior. The difference in the applicability of these qualities from one person to another is the basis through which this study test classifies people into distinct groups (Groth-Marnat, 2003). According to results from the Big Five test, there are important personal traits I learnt about myself. The test was designed to examine 15 different elements and each of this was important in the general study of my character trait. According to the Big Five test, I scored an eight on extraversion tests and the test gave me 11 on agreeableness related study. I had 13 on the conscientiousness and emotional stability tests. The analysis on openness-to-experience was giving me an overall score of eight. The element of agreeableness is used to assess to what level a person is good-natured, trusting and cooperative. Conscientiousness is used in the study of a person’s responsibility, persistence, and dependability levels. This test also analyzes the nature and level of achievement focus in a person. The test analyzed the element of extraversion through assessing how sociable a person was, how reserved they tend to be, and whether they are a quiet or talkative person. Personally, I am a bit quiet and reserved. I