The White Boy Shuffle is very much a novel that defies stereotypes. Gunnar Kaufman is able to identify with so many different groups that he isn’t compatible with any of them. The best way I can articulate Beatty’s use of this phenomenon is that Gunnar is an example of a transcendent outlier that redefines, if not undefines what it means to be black. Of course, this is not to say that Gunnar isn’t black, but that his qualities too frequently contradict one another for him to be defined in any one light. In fact, he is fluent in so many cultural settings that it’s impossible to classify him as anything other than an individual. As anticipated, we as socially apprehensive adolescents, had high expectations for him and were most bewildered by why, with such high aptitudes in so many fields, he refuses to take the role as a precursor for any of them -- who wouldn’t want to be a basketball star or attend Harvard? In terms of individual identity and not allowing race to limit one’s potential, Beatty’s message is reminiscent of Invisible Man as opposed to the naturalistic leanings of Native Son, but the difference is that while the narrator seeks recognition, Gunnar is a unique individual only for the sense of himself and not for the sake of standing out from others.
I think Beatty does something interesting with Gunnar's character. Often when authors are trying to defy racial or social stereotypes they purposely make them bad at something, but in this case Beatty makes Gunnar really good at basketball naturally, but he has to work at being a good poet. He also chooses to work hard at poetry, and although works at basketball and respects his coach, he doesn't feel strongly towards basketball.
ReplyDeleteWell actually, I can think of a few thinks Gunnar isn't good at--dancing, talking to women, and initially he even struggles to assimilate into Hillside. I don't necessarily see this as a bad tactic on Beatty's part because it does effectively convey Gunnar as someone whose proficiencies and deficiencies aren't necessarily in areas we expect.
DeleteIn a way, yeah, Gunnar is doing everything that white boys are allowed to do. If a white guy can be good at poetry and basketball while being bad at dancing, why can't Gunnar? At the same time, Beatty isn't trying to transcend race. No matter how "white" Gunnar acts, Beatty makes it painfully clear that people will always see skin color, even if they're blatantly trying to ignore it. It's good that Gunnar learns to accept his race rather than distancing himself from it. I only wish he didn't let it consume and disillusion him...
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