Black Like Me Themes

The novel Black Like Me, written by John Howard Griffin, was based on the author’s real life experiences in a prejudiced nation. The title of the novel is significant in that it encompasses its content and its underlying themes in only three words, which is one of the copious reasons Griffin chose it. The book leaves a legacy fifty years old and is still considered to be an essential read by many scholars. Griffin’s experiment, though some may find it a foolish pursuit for the sake of research, is a valiant endeavor. Griffin titled his book Black Like Me because of how it embodies the novel’s spirit, the denotative and connotative meaning of the term black, and also what it adds to the reader’s understanding of the author’s experiences.

With a sense of inclusion in his words, Griffin reflects, “At the time of the rebuff, even when [it] is impersonal . . . the Negro cannot rationalize. He feels it personally and it burns him” (45). Throughout the novel, Griffin makes references to an unspecified person, “the Negro”. He bases these remarks upon his experiences and perceives that he is justified in that end. Even though he is a white man, he feels as though he has become the black man’s kin. In some ways, Griffin is playing with fire; George Levitan, an old friend, warns Griffin, “You’ll get yourself killed fooling around down there” (2). Despite this, Griffin continues with his plan, undeterred by what could have been certain