Dutchman is a play by Amiri Baraka; it is a one act drama set in a train. Dutchman’s debut was in the Cherry Lane theatre in New York, more specifically Greenwich Village. The date of its debut was March 1964; on the date of its debut it also won an Off-Broadway award or the Obie award. In short this play features an African American man by the name of Clay who is on a train. On this train there is a woman by the name of Lula, she is older than Clay and she is white. Lula attempts to sexually seduce Clay and when Clay isn’t engaging in her flirtatious banter and just giving her short responses she starts to provoke him. She begins to dance around the train harassing Clay racially. He throws her to the ground, slaps her, then yells at her. As he is getting up she stabs him in the heart and has the other people on the train dispose of his body. There are many themes to this play such as identity confusion, anti-Semitism, manipulation and of course racism. The focus and the aspect of the play that will be addressed in this essay is the racial aspect of the play. More specifically how the characters are rendered in regards to each other, the conflict between white vs black, and the social “weight” that the two clashing races have.
The characters in the play are both rendered very uniquely to each other. Clay is a young African American who is college educated and appears to the audience to be an average kind person. Lula is in her 30’s, she is very attractive, and she is white. A more in depth look into her character is that she is very manipulative and toward the ending of the play the audience might even come to the conclusion that she is a bit mentally unstable. The racial dynamic between these two main characters; her being white ...
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...w white people had dominance over African Americans and respect from peers of the same race. Clay was meant to be submissive towards Lula; representing an African American being submissive to a white person.
In Summation there were many themes that Amiri Baraka had incorporated into his play Dutchman. A particular aspect that Baraka placed extra emphasis on was racial issues between white and black. This conflict was displayed through the actions of Clay and Lula, both characters being rendered in very contrasting ways even to their own stereotypes. Baraka presented the conflict between black and white through the treatment of Clay by Lula and his response to said treatment along with his demise. Lastly, to even further instill the importance of race in Dutchman, Lula’s and Clay’s roles in society are displayed through their conversation, environment, and actions.
In this analysis includes a summary of the characters and the issues they are dealing with, as well as concepts that are seen that we have discussed in class. Such as stereotyping and the lack of discrimination and prejudice, then finally I suggest a few actions that can be taken to help solve the issues at hand, allowing the involved parties to explain their positions and give them a few immersion opportunities to experience their individual cultures.
In this particular play we are more focused on black identity in a sense as they are trying to find themselves whether it be as an African American, woman or man. More in a sense they don’t feel complete because of their past and current circumstances that they are in. And just like Dutchman, this play does deal with some racial discrimination. Herald Loomis is taken from his family to work on the fictitious “Joe Turner” chain gang. Joe Turner serves more as a representation than an actual character. He represents the racist Southern white men. He would illegally kidnap free and runaway slaves making them work in spots along the river where labor was
Then, in the play, Wilson looks at the unpleasant expense and widespread meanings of the violent urban environment in which numerous African Americans existed th...
The novel ‘Jasper Jones’ and the film ‘Jindabyne’ both use the representation of characters and their relationships to challenge the treatment of individuals with regards to race, class and gender. The historical contexts surrounding these two texts sets the basis for the stratification and racial discrimination present. The lack of dignity that is depicted between the relationships formed between characters displays the regard in which communities treat each other. ‘Jasper Jones’ and ‘Jindabyne’ are comparable texts as it is clear that the gap between these communities has reduced since the time period of ‘Jasper Jones’ when compared to ‘Jindabyne’, however, it is identified that this gap still exists.
An Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man tells the story of a man’s journey living as a biracial person in the time of legal racial segregation in the United States. The novel not only describes the life of the narrator, but also emphasizes his journey into becoming a proficient pianist. The story describes his upbringing, family history, and adulthood experiences. As a child, the narrator was not aware of the concept of race. This, in a sense, led him on a journey of discovering African-American culture. Growing up in a privileged household, he wasn’t aware of the typical African-American’s experience. As a child, he thought he was “white”. For example, he talks about one occasion where his elementary school teacher asked, “’I wish all of the white scholars to stand for a moment (11).’” Since the narrator was not aware of his race, he stood up with his white classmates. This experience led him on the road to discovery of race, racial segregation, and the differences between white and African-American people. This journey brought him to the South and...
However, his desire conflicts with the racial situation during the time of the play. The play is set during a time when blacks were primarily slaves and considered property. They also didn't own any property. His belief that he is of equal standing with a white man could probably be traced to his lineage with the piano. The piano had symbolized his ancestors since the piano has been around during his grandfather's ...
... generations. Racial tensions have resulted in tragedies; Clay’s murder in the end of the play is a symbolic portrayal of an innocent man attacked for the color of his skin and nothing more. The art of theatre attacks the audience to consider these social issues. At the end of Dutchman the audience is left uncomfortable, shocked and left to piece together the role of Lula, Clay and the flying Dutchman subway cart are metaphors for problems greater than the play’s conflict.
In the novel, the author proposes that the African American female slave’s need to overcome three obstacles was what unavoidably separated her from the rest of society; she was black, female, and a slave, in a white male dominating society. The novel “locates black women at the intersection of racial and sexual ideologies and politics (12).” White begins by illustrating the Europeans’ two major stereotypes o...
Race: The Power of an Illusion was an interesting 3 part film. After watching this, it made me questioned if race was really an illusion or not. It is absolutely taboo to think that the one thing that separates people the most may be a myth in itself. “We can 't find any genetic markers that are in everybody of a particular race and in nobody of some other race. We can 't find any genetic markers that define race.” (Adelman and Herbes Sommers 2003). Racism is something created in the U.S made to create supremacy for the creator. Racism is not just the way someone thinks, it is something that has is manifested in our society to separate us and can be traced to our everyday activities.
Racism is often considered a thing of the past, with its manifestation rarely being acknowledged in the United States today. Race: The Power of an Illusion, is a documentary that addresses the legacy of racism through its significance in the past, and its presence in society today. To understand racism, it is vital to understand the concept of race. Race is a social invention, not a biological truth. This can be observed through the varying classifications of race in different cultures and time periods. For instance, in the United States, race has long been distinguished by skin color. In nineteenth century China, however, race was determined by the amount of body hair an individual had. Someone with a large amount of facial hair, for example,
I think this play is a lot about what does race mean, and to what extent do we perform race either onstage or in life:
Racism is everywhere; it is all around us and at most times it resides within us. Racism basically refers to the characterization of people (ethnicity based) with certain distinct traits. It is a tool with which people use to distinguish themselves between each other, where some use it to purposely inflict verbal, physical or mental attacks on others while some use it to simply distinguish or differentiate from one another. It all depends on the context in which it is used. The play Fences by August Wilson, takes place during the late 1950’s through to 1965, a period of time when the fights against segregation are barely blossoming results. The main protagonist, Troy Maxson is an African American who works in the sanitation department; he is also a responsible man whose thwarted dreams make him prone to believing in self-created illusions. Wilson's most apparent intention in the play ‘Fences’, is to show how racial segregation creates social and economic gaps between African Americans and whites. Racism play a very influential role in Troy’s but more importantly it has been the force behind his actions that has seen him make biased and judgmental decisions for himself and his family. Lessons from the play intend to shed light on how racism can affect the mental and physical lives of Troy Maxson and his family.
In the short story, “The Moment Before the Gun Went Off”, written by Nadine Gordimer, many characters are extremely different whether it be from race, class, or gender. Although many of them are left feeling victimized due to an unintended shooting, which leaves this small town in disarray. As a result the community looks down negatively on the apartheid leaders for being racist toward black people. There are many times the narrator leaves us to make assumptions. Due to all of these contributing factors, the narrator can really show all of these scenarios through different lenses. Van der Vyver is the most victimized though, due to an accident in which he is now shamed by the community.
The play “Fences”, written by August Wilson, shows a detailed interpretation about the life of a typical African-American family living in the twentieth century. Troy Maxson, the main character and the man of the house, a strict man with the family, hardworking, and at the same time a pleasure seeker. Jim Bono is Troy’s best friend from thirty odd years, a very friendly fellow who works with Troy and is really close to him. They both enjoy the company of each other every Friday on a bottle of an alcoholic beverage. Both characters are characterized based on being typical African American men living in the twentieth century. Even though Troy and Bono are very close friends, their actions and personalities sometimes conflict each other; this essay will focus on similarities and differences between the two characters to prove that even though they are close friends and acquire similarities, they still have different believes and behaviors.
The color of your skin determines how half of your life will be and whether one will be successful or they will end up in prison with nothing but a criminal record. In the play A Raisin in The Sun written by Hansberry Lorraine, the writer talks about a lot of topics, but I will mainly focus on race relation in regards to the play and how being black made the family in the play was indecisive about how they want to use the money, why they wanted to buy a house in a white neighborhood and what race relation means in terms of the play and in our society.