Manchild In The Promised Land 6w2vw

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BROWN'S MANCHILD IN THE PROMISED LAND Notes including • • • • • • •

Life and Background of the Author List of Characters Critical Commentaries Character Analyses Critical Essay Essay Topics and Review Questions Selected Bibliography

by William M. Washington, Jr. Detroit Public School System

LINCOLN, NEBRASKA 68501 1-800-228-4078 www.CLIFFS.com ISBN 0-8220-7274-2 © Copyright 1971 by Cliffs Notes, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Cliffs Notes on Manchild in the Promised Land © 1971

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LIFE AND BACKGROUND OF THE AUTHOR Claude Brown was born in 1937 and raised in Harlem--that district of Manhattan north of Central Park between Eighth Avenue and the East and Harlem rivers. His parents had moved up from South Carolina in 1935 and settled in a tenement at 146th Street and Eighth Avenue. Included in the family were two girls, Carole and Margie, and two boys, Claude and Pimp. The Browns were among the first of the waves of black migrants who left sharecropping farms in the South to come to the urban North. To these people, moving to the North meant a better life--a life in the "promised land." Claude--or Sonny, as he was called by his family and friends--spent his preschool days battling other boys in the streets of Harlem. He was encouraged to do so by the lifestyles of the street people. He was adopted as a mascot for an infamous Harlem bebop gang, the Buccaneers, and later became a member of its stealing division, the Forty Thieves. By the time he was ten years old, he had been in and out of New York's Children Centers and had been expelled from school several times. His parents reacted in two ways: His father tried to beat him into changing, and his mother pleaded with him, believing that Claude had been "born with the devil in him." Hoping that Claude would do better away from New York, his family sent him to live with his grandparents in South Carolina. During his year down there, he learned many of the ways of the South, including how to kill a hog. But a year away from the streets of Harlem served only to whet his appetite for more trouble. By the time he was eleven, he was committed to the Wiltwyck School, forty nine miles north of New York City, for emotionally disturbed and deprived boys. During his two-year stay there, he came under the influence of Dr. Ernest Papanek, who remained his close friend. Also at Wiltwyck, he made criminal s and learned criminal methods that would keep him involved in street life. Back in Harlem, Claude began selling and using marijuana. When he was fourteen, he was shot while stealing sheets and was sent to Warwick Reform School for the first of three . While serving as a houseboy, he became friends with Mrs. Alfred Cohen and, for the first time, he became interested in reading. He also discovered an interest in jazz music which would broaden his life later on. By 1953, Claude was out of Warwick and was working in the garment district of New York City. He soon quit the job to become a "hustler"--that is, to live by his wits in the streets, to deal in drugs and to "con" unwary visitors to the city. But because he was concerned that another arrest would give him a prison record and severely limit his options in life, Claude gradually moved away from his old haunts. At this time he was in a period of crisis because he had been robbed by a dope addict and, according to ghetto mores, had to hunt down the man and kill him. Fortunately, the police arrested the addict before Claude could act. At sixteen, he enrolled in evening classes at Washington Irving High School in downtown Manhattan. He ed himself during this time by working as a busboy, watch repairman, deliveryman, shipping clerk, postal clerk, and as a bookkeeper. He moved out of Harlem at seventeen and went to Greenwich Village. He found that he liked piano music and began taking lessons; he eventually acquired a piano and spent as much as eight hours a day practicing. After graduating from high school, Claude sold cosmetics while making up his mind about college. He sensed that Harlem had changed and that he was not really a part of it anymore. Many of his childhood friends were dead or in prison, and a few of the others had become responsible citizens.


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www.cliffs.com A friend told Claude about the well-known Reverend William M. James of the Metropolitan Community Methodist Church and his interest in helping ghetto youngsters enter college. Claude's friendship with Reverend James was genuine; the minister, in return, tried to help Claude's brother, Pimp, with a drug problem. Unfortunately, Pimp could not be helped and was later arrested and sent to prison for armed robbery. Claude went on to college with a grant from Reverend James, graduating from Howard University with a B.A. degree in 1965. While in college, he wrote an article for a magazine at the insistence of his friend Ernest Papanek. An editor at Macmillan publishers saw in the article the genesis of a book, and Claude Brown agreed to write Manchild in the Promised Land. He wrote the book because, as he said, "I'm trying to show more than anything else the humanity of the Negro. Somebody has to stop problemizing and start humanizing the Negro" (New York Post, July 18, 1965).

LIST OF CHARACTERS Claude Brown (Sonny) He is the narrator of the autobiography; we see his experiences through his eyes.

Turk A friend of Claude's. He is a member of the Buccaneers, but he manages to escape a life of crime through a boxing career.

Mama (Mrs. Brown) Claude's mother; she never loses faith that her son will change into a "good boy."

Dad (Mr. Brown) The "villain" of the Brown household; he never looks on the positive side of any subject.

Butch Crawford A member of Claude's gang; he becomes addicted to drugs and dies in a fall from a Harlem roof.

Danny A member of Claude's gang; he is cured of drug addiction and is a positive influence on Claude.

Jackie One of Claude's girlfriends; she turns to prostitution.

Knoxie A member of Claude's clique who likes to fight; he's gay.

Sugar One of Claude's early girlfriends; she becomes addicted to drugs.

Mrs. Rogers Danny's mother, a storefront preacher and one of the reasons why Claude becomes anti-religious.


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Bucky A member of the Forty Thieves; he loses the respect of his black friends when he is beaten up by a white boy.

Pimp Claude's younger brother; he idolizes Claude and follows him into Harlem street life despite Claude's objections.

K. B. Claude's close friend at Wiltwyck School; he saves Claude from a beating at Warwick Reformatory.

Ernest Papanek Director of the Wiltwyck School, a school for emotionally disturbed boys. Papanek is Claude's closest adult friend.

Johnny D. The neighborhood criminal who instills much of his street philosophy into Claude.

Tony Albee Claude's friend; he listens and acts on Claude's advice and eventually leaves Harlem with Claude.

Reno The friend who teaches Claude how to hustle.

Judy Strumph The romantic interest in Claude's life.

Kid A member of the Buccaneers gang; he ends up in prison.

Carole and Margie Claude's sisters.

Dixie Bucky's sister; she offers Claude his first sex experience.

Grace Claude's girlfriend in the second grade.

Bulldog One of Claude's friends who helps him steal; Bulldog is not very smart.

Toto A member of the gang who is arrested with Claude for breaking into an appliance store.

Judge Bolin The black woman judge who is called "the mean queen" by Claude.


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Simms A counselor at Wiltwyck whom Claude dislikes.

Nick A counselor at Wiltwyck who is liked by Claude.

Mrs. Meitner A counselor at Wiltwyck who earns Claude's respect and "love" because she can't be intimidated by the boys in her dormitory.

Dunny A member of Claude's gang; he wants to marry a prostitute.

Minetti An Italian boy whom Claude defends.

Gus A friend who introduces Claude to jazz music.

Schoolboy A white policeman who has the reputation in Harlem of shooting drug addicts.

June Rogers Dunny's sister; Claude feigns being religious to try and win her.

Jim Goldie The Horatio Alger of Claude's generation; he is killed in his prime.

Billie Dobbs A friend who introduces Claude to the Coptic faith.

James Finley The man who tells Claude how to get his piano.

Alley Bush A gang member who later becomes a Black Muslim.

Floyd Saks A Black Muslim and an artist.

Mrs. Cohen The wife of the Warwick superintendent; she is responsible for Claude's interest in books.


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CRITICAL COMMENTARIES CHAPTER 1 Claude Brown sets the tone of his autobiography in the first line of the first chapter: "Run!" Like Richard Wright in Black Boy, he writes of the problems encountered in growing up but, unlike Wright, Brown uses the street language of Harlem to create an informal and intimate tone. In contrast to Brown's language in Manchild, Wright's language in Black Boy is more formal and less offensive to those accustomed to reading only standard English. Brown's language establishes an atmosphere that would be humorous--if the material under discussion were not so serious. Therein lies a contradiction of much of minority life in America: Many times black people must laugh to keep from crying. While being shot in the stomach is an unusual event anytime, Brown prepares the reader early to accept serious and abnormal events as everyday occurrences in the streets of Harlem. The policeman who reacts to Mr. Brown's callous remark about the shooting is obviously a newcomer; hardened officers would expect the off-hand, coarse response of Claude's father. In his hospital delirium, Claude reviews some of the events in his life. These occurrences show further that what is uncommon in other environments may be commonplace in Claude Brown's Harlem. How many building superintendents kill people for soiling the hallway; how many children are matter-of-factly thrown off the roofs of buildings? As a black child, Claude became accustomed to these episodes and therefore reports them in the autobiography as he felt about them at the time. A technique of the author, one must realize, is to shock those readers who have middle-class values and backgrounds. The imagery in the chapter is extremely sensory and propels the reader into the midst of the episodes at once. The bullet can be felt; the fish and chips t can be smelled; the dirty floor and the blood can be seen. One of the recurring themes in the autobiography is religion--not the usual, formal, Christian religion one usually thinks about, but a kind of superstitious voodoo religion which is, unfortunately, often associated with blacks. One of the manifestations of this religion is its paradox. It seems to sanction evil in the name of good. Thus the author introduces us to Mrs. Ganey, the embodiment of this type of religion. While she praises God, she seems gleeful that Claude is injured. To be sure, the events and people and language in Claude Brown's autobiography do not represent the whole of Harlem. One must distinguish between street people and house people. Those citizens who go about their normal pursuits in the accepted way are barely considered by the author; he writes chiefly about those people who live by their wits and skill in the streets. A first impression upon reading Claude Brown's book is that he does not moralize in recounting events that have great potential for preaching. When Brown relates what he re of the 1943 Harlem riot, he does not speak of the crowded, insufferable conditions that brought on the riot. He fails even to mention that it was a riot of black people against white people. He does not rationalize; he does not condemn; he simply tells us what he thought then, how he felt then, what he did then. Indeed, what seems to emerge as his conclusion on the entire proceedings is what his father said: ". . . just a whole lotta niggers gone fool." One of the major problems posed in this autobiography, and in African-American life generally, is that of black manhood. Black men are in the unique position of being stereotyped as supermen--super virile and super strong. At the same time, black men lack the power to control their destiny and their community. This paradox has had a tremendous effect on the black male psyche. William H. Grier and Price M. Cobbs, in their book Black Rage, declare that the black man in America has a struggle not so much in


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www.cliffs.com acquiring manhood, but in lacking the conviction that his manhood belongs to him, to himself; the black man is engaged in a never-ending battle for possession of his manhood. Brought face to face with this dilemma, Claude Brown reacts as do his fellow blacks in Harlem; he sees a great need to perpetuate the stereotype of strength and virility, while at the same fime he must do his best to repudiate the image of social and economic powerlessness the black male endures. Thus, when Judge Pankin sentences Claude to Warwick, he is afraid. He knows that he will have to prove anew his manhood--that he will have to fight; he knows also that this time, because of his weakened condition, he will be at a decided disadvantage. The episodes which Claude Brown recounts from his bed in the Youth Home intensify our understanding of the black experience. In Claude Brown's boyhood, young blacks--male and female--grow up without hope and remain without hope throughout adulthood. The of the street community--Claude's clique--have one compelling drive: survival. Danny teaches things to Claude which are far more important than school; he teaches Claude how to survive in the streets. Knowing how to skip school, how to "cat," and how to lie without conscience are indispensable to survival in the ghetto. Throughout his autobiography, Claude Brown returns to the theme of superstition. This is not to be confused with the religious superstition mentioned earlier, although many times the two are intertwined. Claude Brown has little patience with his mother's southern ways and will not it any superstitions of his own. There are, nevertheless, numerous ghetto dwellers (and others also) who believe in the practice of "working" roots. It is felt by believers that someone who doesn't like them can concoct something from roots and other things that will cause them harm. Further, some people believe that if the evil person has a piece of their victim's belongings--some hair or an article of clothing--it is quite likely that great harm will come to them. To counter this evil, some believers carry bags of "good magic." Mrs. Brown uses the roots as a convenient way to explain her son's errant behavior. We begin to understand Claude Brown's hostile behavior toward religion when we meet Danny Rogers' mother. Mrs. Rogers is a prime reason why Claude has negative attitudes toward churches and preachers. Many of the churches in Harlem are converted apartments or stores, and many of the preachers are undereducated tricksters who take money from the people they are supposed to help. Consequently, we must temper our natural disapproval of the author's anti-religious feelings. There is an incredible amount of conscienceless stealing narrated in this chapter. There is no stigma attached to this form of anti-social behavior within Claude's code. Later we will realize that one of the author's techniques is to reveal more and more of his character as he presents selected episodes. Early in the story, therefore, we have no idea why stealing doesn't bother Claude and his friends. Let it be said, nevertheless, that Claude Brown is not indifferent to human misery; he steals, at one point, in order to feed Bucky's family. The manhood theme is reinforced as we see Claude and Dixie act out a sexual encounter. Although they are too young to actually have sex with each other, the two young people feel compelled to role play their idea of how adults act. In some ghetto households, children must sleep in the same room with their parents. Thus youngsters have likely been exposed to adult sexual behavior. As the male partner, Claude feels a great need to act virile. Another major motif in the story is Claude's guilty feelings about his brother, Pimp. This idea extends throughout the story and more will be said on the subject in later chapters. Essentially, however, Claude feels guilty because he feels the example which he sets in his street behavior influences the actions of his brother--actions that might lead Pimp into anti-social conduct long after Claude has decided to change. We see the genesis of the problem in Claude's early conversations. Pimp believes that his brother can do


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www.cliffs.com anything and that he knows everything. And Claude shines in the glow of his brother's iration. The situation is most revealing. A young boy must become a model for his younger brother because there are no adult males in Harlem to emulate.

CHAPTER 2 Brown's use of flashback is put to good advantage in this chapter; he consciously selects episodes which enhance the highly sensory nature of his story. The episodes are sensory in that they easily transmit images, as opposed to abstract thoughts, to the reader; the incident with Grace in the second-grade classroom and the incident with the hog in South Carolina are good examples. One of Brown's techniques is to compile as much action as possible into the early chapters, leaving the philosophizing--the explanations-for the latter half of the book. Claude Brown's trip to South Carolina is more than merely a physical exile of an incorrigible boy; it is an adventure into the core of the black experience--a chance to explore the dark secrets that make life in Harlem so perplexing. Brown can contrast dramatically the "simple" life of a southern boy with the "enlightened" existence of a boy in Harlem. What boy in New York, for example, would call white potatoes, "ice potaters"? What New York boy would talk to a mule? Yet this place--the South--begat the Brown family, developed their character and outlook, and refused to fade away when the Browns moved to New York. Claude cannot help but see the contrasts and the parallels. Despite Brown's contempt for southern tradition and his feeling of superiority over southern blacks, he finds himself unable to sustain his northern ideas in the face of his grandfather's manliness and his grandmother's comion. He is terribly ashamed that he is unable to kill the hog. His grandfather's disapproval calls Claude's manhood into question. A boy who is able to handle himself well in the big city is unable to do so in backwoods country. He would be mortified if those who ired him in New York could see him now. Claude, in a sense, was his own "man" in Harlem; here he is not. He must, therefore, ire and respect his grandfather. Considered a "bad nigger," Grandpa is ostracized by neighbors and townspeople of both races. It is not surprising, then, that he is especially attractive to Claude precisely because of his "evil" ways. Claude is impressed; he feels proud that even whites don't bother a "bad nigger." The term "bad nigger" basically means a Negro who does not conform the way whites expect him to--that is, he is not subservient, humble, or grateful. This kind of person is feared by both races because his actions are not predictable. Whites know that economic or physical threats cannot influence him because a "bad nigger" is not afraid to die. There have been many blacks who have earned the reputation of being a "bad nigger." One who readily comes to mind is Muhammad Ali. He is applauded by the street people because he exhibits strong characteristics of manhood. He cannot be intimidated--even by the government. In this sense, he is "super bad." A bad nigger does not necessarily have to be an advocate of civil rights. In the ghetto, men are called bad niggers because they are extraordinarily mean or because they don't live by any recognized code of conduct. This is more nearly the sense in which Claude Brown uses the term. Everyone knows that to cross a bad nigger is to court disaster. Because a bad nigger will try to prove his manhood above all else, Claude Brown is attracted to him. Claude is made to feel the closeness between Grandpa and himself when he tries to lift a heavy sack of corn. He finds comion from Grandma, whom he discovers is trying to keep him from being


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www.cliffs.com overworked and crippled like his grandfather. Claude is surprised and touched. The South turns out to be a place different from what he'd imagined. There is an interesting parallel between the way Claude Brown sees the funeral for the bad nigger in this chapter and the funeral for Jim Goldie in Chapter 8. In both instances the men are big and black and bad. People don't bother them. In both instances, however, they end up dead; it doesn't seem right to Claude that a man, a real man, has to die. Seeing his father again, after a year down South, brings into focus Claude's doubts about his father's manhood. Claude cannot help but compare his father with his grandfather. He cannot help but hold his father in lower esteem when he considers that his grandfather seems to control all he surveys while his father certainly does not. Selecting Knoxie as a best friend reveals one central trait in Claude Brown's character: the emphasis on manliness. At the same time Claude meets Knoxie, he meets Bulldog. Bulldog cannot gain Claude's respect because he is "real dumb" and will do anything that Claude tells him to do. On the other hand, Knoxie will do nothing that Claude tells him to do; he even insists on being the leader. Significantly, Claude and Knoxie's friendship grows only when Claude defeats Knoxie in physical combat. Claude's personality demands a person with courage and ability. Claude's relationship with Sugar is ironic. It seems strange for a boy who puts great emphasis on group acceptance to be drawn to an ugly girl like Sugar. As he has said: Sugar is the ugliest girl he's ever met. It is possible that Claude is drawn to Sugar because she is persistent and kind. There is no way he can reasonably exclude her from his circle of friends unless he is purposely cruel. Although Claude can be brutal at times, especially when his manhood is tested, his personality will not allow him to reject kindness. Thus he permits Sugar to be kind to him. Significantly, it is the ugly girl, Sugar, who leads Claude into more than a casual feel for sex. Sugar is older and more experienced than Claude. Claude expresses no attitude whatsoever about his sexual dealings with Sugar; in fact, he and his friends see it as just another facet of life, not as something to romanticize. Claude's mother is ashamed for having allowed a white man hear her call her son a "nigger." Many whites see this as a contradictory part of the black psyche. The word "nigger" is, of course, used derogatorily by both races. When used by whites, blacks always are offended; however, it is not necessarily offensive when used by blacks toward other blacks. When a black woman lovingly calls her man, "my nigger," or a black man says to another, "Come here, nigger," the word connotes strength, a sureness of yourself and each other. Mrs. Brown, however, knows that the white man cannot understand this; he hears the word only in its derogatory sense. Claude is a bigger man in the eyes of his friends because he is going to jail. This is something that is expected to happen to successful street people and Claude is happy to be like Kid and Butch. Psychologically, he cannot accept the word "Wiltwyck" in his vocabulary, so when Bubba Williams suggests that there is no such place--that the judge must mean Warwick, Claude readily believes him. Besides, Warwick is where his older friends are located; he would look like a baby if he were discovered to be only eleven years old and sent to a "baby school." , Claude is tough--tough enough to for an older boy. We must be aware of Claude Brown's iration for successful street people--men who can "get by" without working, who dress well and have plenty of money available to them at all times. This type of man is epitomized in Mr. Jimmy, the street hustler who takes money from people who are naive enough to look for a pea that isn't there. The average, honest black man (Claude's father included) cannot compete in neither clothes nor money with the successful hustler. Besides, the honest working black person has to


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www.cliffs.com exist in a subservient role to white people. Claude Brown and many of his fellow Harlemites find this impossible. Just how impossible Claude finds the black man's role in the workaday world, he discusses in Chapter 11. A surprising thing happens to Claude in his relationship with his father. On the night before he leaves for Wiltwyck, he discovers that his father can outthink him in the pea-in-the-nutshell trick. Ten times Claude picks the wrong shell; his mind cannot comprehend the fact that his dad can do things which the respected Mr. Jimmy can also do. When Claude is on his way to Wiltwyck, he es Sing Sing prison. Throughout the autobiography there is the prospect of Sing Sing hovering over Claude and his friends. Sing Sing is a place to ire and, in a morbid way, a place for which to aim. It represents the status credential for "bad niggers." Thus Claude cannot wait to tell the boys on his block that he has seen the real Sing Sing. The impression that stands out initially about the Wiltwyck School, where emotionally disturbed and deprived boys are sent, is contained in Claude Brown's comment that some of the boys there look as though they are happy. An unhappy fact of ghetto life is that some children, like Claude Brown and his friends, really do have more security in prison than they do in the streets. In Claude's case, he too will find prison life attractive--more attractive than life on the streets. Another of the major problems posed by the autobiography concerns escape. There is the escape which Claude Brown needs from himself--his image as a tough street leader--and the escape he needs from his environment, his beloved Harlem. Although he protests leaving the streets and talks about how happy he will be to get back, some indefinable force keeps pushing Claude to do more and more unlawful acts, to take more and more chances until he is trapped. How else can we explain the happy times in the various Children Centers; how else can we explain the burglary with Bulldog and Toto in which no more is at stake than a party for Claude's sister Carole. And so, subconsciously, Claude Brown gets his wish--he escapes from his beloved streets.

CHAPTER 3 This chapter affords us an opportunity to study Claude Brown's reaction to the regimentation of prison life. Although he makes a half-hearted effort to escape and return to the streets, Claude's quick acceptance of prison life gives further proof of his subconscious desire to escape from his uncertain role in the Harlem streets. Claude shows great iration for the way everything seems to have a place and everybody seems to have a job. This is in direct contrast to his life in Harlem. There, nothing is predictable; Claude and his friends lead impulsive, live-for-the-moment lives; even meals cannot be counted upon. Very early in the chapter, Claude meets two men in authority at Wiltwyck. One man does not gain Claude's respect; the other does. The former is Simms, the counselor. Throughout his autobiography, Claude Brown alludes to the hostility between dark-and light-skinned African Americans. Since he cannot hurt or threaten Simms physically, Claude needles him by asking him if be is white or colored. The history behind this intra-race hostility is long and complicated; however, keep this in mind: Throughout our history, white has been the standard of good and right and beautiful; black has been synonymous with evil and fear and ugliness. Negroes have been convinced through the mass media and through personal observations that the closer one is to white in color, thought, and action, the better off one is. A lightskinned African American, being closer to white, would get more and better opportunities than would his dark-skinned brothers. An additional reason why Claude Brown and Simms don't see eye to eye is Claude's realization that


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www.cliffs.com Simms has no real power, but is only a lackey for the white authorities, much as the slave drivers during plantation days enforced the policies of the slave owners. In contrast to Simms is Ernest Papanek, the man who runs the institution. He impresses Claude because he seems genuine and can answer the "hard questions"--the questions that cause lesser men to search for noncommittal answers. Papanek is able to convince people that he is talking with them, not to them. Simms talks to Claude with screams and threats; Papanek talks softly. There is a parallel here between Judge Bolin (the woman who sentences Brown to prison) and Papanek; both individuals speak softly but are able to control people around them. Both are respected by Claude; the people who earn his respect are those who appear genuine and who can control their situations. In taking K. B. as his first real friend at Wiltwyck, Claude further reveals the type of people he can accept as friends. K. B. is a boy who can fight--in fact, Claude its that he can't outfight K. B.; but neither can K. B. beat Claude. The two become friends because they prove their manhood to each other. They have fought to a standoff, so there has to be respect--each ires the way the other uses his hands. Remarkably, K. B. and Knoxie are alike. Although both boys handle themselves well in fights, it is Claude who provides the brains in the relationships. K. B. and Knoxie are tough and smart, but not as tough and not as smart as Claude Brown. In his relationships with his friends throughout the autobiography, this fact is very apparent. Claude's feelings for Mrs. Meitner must be seen as more than a pre-adolescent crush on an older woman. Mrs. Meitner has earned Claude's respect--and something more. She is in a particularly precarious position for a woman. However, she is able to turn to her advantage the boys' attempts to embarrass her. She wins acceptance by the boys in Aggrey House. Also, she is white and Claude has a special deference for white women. We will see this further revealed later in the story. Mrs. Meitner treats Claude as a mature equal although the variance in their experience, age, and background are considerable The manhood motif is brought out most forcefully in this chapter as the author relates the episode in which he and his father are in court. Subconsciously, Claude's psyche needs to see a black man stand up and exhibit those characteristics which Claude's generation of blacks believes to be important. But Mr. Brown fails the test. He has lived too many years in South Carolina; he reacts as black men have felt they had to react to survive in the South. Claude's father bows and scrapes and, in general, acts inferior; the lamentable part about the entire episode is that Mr. Brown believes that he is inferior--and his son knows it. When he asks Claude not to relate the amount which the two have agreed to settle for, they both know that the last vestige of respect which the son has for his father is gone, never to return. Claude cannot help but compare the situation in Harlem, with its humbling effects on blacks, to Wiltwyck where, although he is locked in, there is more opportunity to exhibit one's manhood. He is relieved to return to the certainty, the regimentation, and the comfort of prison. The reaction of Claude and his friends to the efforts of the girls from Vassar is characteristic of the way many street people react to white liberals. Well-meaning, but naive, these whites approach the problem of helping deprived Negro boys with missionary zeal. And therein lies the problem: Black boys with strong strivings toward manhood, and all that the term represents, cannot be aided by white people with missionary attitudes. The missionary attitude implies "taking civilization to the savages," with all the superior/inferior connotations. Brown, nevertheless, pays the Vassar girls high praise when he says that they aren't hip, but that they are nice. Translated, this means that the girls are unsophisticated about how the boys think and act; the girls, however, are sincere in their desire to make friendships.


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www.cliffs.com Throughout this episode, the author alludes to the black man/white woman sexual taboo. The taboo can be sensed during the incidents with Mac, J. J., and the French skiing teacher. Brown correctly assumes that wide acceptance is not going to be given any project which brings together black boys and white girls on a regular basis. Like it or not, there exists the old cliche of the black male being oversexed and irresistible to white females. Distasteful as it may be to some people, the episode in the dormitory, where the boys of Aggrey House try to ejaculate, is important. Each boy is testing his manhood--testing himself against the standards he knows about. The adult males whom these boys respect are masters of street life; their manhood is, in part, determined by their sexual prowess. In like fashion, the boys play the adult role in regard to narcotics. Both episodes further indicate the importance of the symbols of manhood to ghetto youth. On his first visit back to Harlem from Wiltwyck, Claude is exposed to the Harlem syndrome--that collection of temptations and occurrences that keep Claude and his friends from leading a healthy existence. He and his friends hitch rides on buses, steal things, and generally get into trouble. Significantly, Knoxie is not here; he has moved out of Harlem. The word is out that Knoxie has changed-that he no longer steals. This is difficult for Claude to believe. But it is probably the first time that Claude associates leaving Harlem with changing, something he thinks about more and more in later chapters. On one of his visits home from Wiltwyck, Claude meets his old friends, Danny, Butch, and Kid. When the boys tell Claude about a new drug called "horse" (heroin), but won't allow Claude to participate, Claude correctly senses that a kind of wall has come between him and the older boys. He feels left out, and Danny intensifies the feeling when he tells Claude that he will kill him if he ever catches Claude with the drug. Danny, among all of Claude's friends, has a great feeling for humanity. Although Danny is the friend who teaches Claude some of the tricks of street life, he does so only out of a sense of community. And now it is Danny who understands the injurious effect that heroin can have on Harlem and on Claude. As a friend, he must do all he can to keep Claude from becoming trapped. Perhaps Danny can sense the tragedy ahead in his own life--all because of "horse." At this point in Claude Brown's life (he is thirteen years old), we see him completely subservient to the herd instinct. He is willing to do anything and try anything if it will make him acceptable to the group. And the group subscribes fully to the street mores; their values and attitudes are shaped by conditions beyond their control. Everyone (especially the males) knows what is expected of him. Older boys, such as Danny and Butch, groom younger boys--like Claude--for their roles. Later, Claude will change and become more independent; fortunately, the change comes before it is too late. As the chapter ends, Claude has concluded one stage in his development; he has completed the first step on the road to Sing Sing. He can hardly wait to be released so that he can begin the next phase.

CHAPTER 4 When Claude Brown leaves the security of prison after two and a half years, he must again play the role of a "bad nigger." Initially, he is confused; he doesn't know what to like or ire because the community has changed. What used to define him as a big man no longer does. He can get no help from K. B. in Brooklyn. And although Claude's older friends, Butch, Kid, and Danny, are heroin s, they try to keep Claude from using the drug. K. B.'s brothers, likewise, won't allow him to use heroin. The point here is that older street people teach younger street people a step at a time, not allowing them to progress into anything that can't be handled before they are prepared. It is as though a giant conspiracy exists to keep Claude Brown from sharing their heroin highs and becoming a big man again; this is no small


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www.cliffs.com accomplishment when we consider how enlightened Claude is in street ways. The exception to the sense of street life brotherhood is Johnny D., the personification of all that is evil and corrupt in big city ghettos. Johnny D. is a pimp, but not just an ordinary procurer of women. His stable includes all races and types of women--and he mistreats them all. He is a thief and he receives stolen goods--and he cheats everyone he deals with. This corrupt individual is very opinionated and he is more than willing to on his perverted ideas to the young and doting Claude Brown. In fact, more than anyone else--even Turk and Danny--Johnny D. influences the thoughts and actions of Claude in most of his formative years. Throughout the autobiography, Claude refers to the opinions of Johnny D. From what we know about Claude's personality, it is easy to see why Johnny D. is ired. Claude and everyone he knows respects Johnny D. because the man seems to answer to no one; he dominates his circumstances. It does not matter that Johnny D. cheats his friends and is totally depraved; on the contrary, Johnny D. is highly thought of because he is so versatile a criminal. For the first time Claude meets, and gets to know, a black man who seems to be above the law--a black man who can give orders but who takes orders from no man. It is Johnny D. who introduces Claude to heroin. He takes advantage of Claude's desire for heroin by cheating him. Yet nowhere does Claude speak disparagingly of Johnny D. One of the most important events in the chapter--indeed, in the book--occurs when Claude tries heroin and rejects it. If Claude had enjoyed his heroin experience, his later practice as a drug dealer would have undoubtedly turned him into an addict. Claude resolves not to try the drug again, not only because he becomes deathly ill, but also because his ability to lead--to control--is seriously impaired. The leader in the street must be the strongest and toughest; he must also be in control of his mind. During this important pivotal episode in Claude Brown's life, it is Danny who comes to his aid. Again Danny onishes Claude to stop taking drugs; this time he repeats his vow to kill Claude if he catches him with drugs again. Of course, by now we know that this is only a threat. Johnny D.'s lecture on women and their treatment is important because of what it represents. Since Johnny D. is the archetype of the corrupt black man, his views, especially regarding women, represent how most street people in the ghettos regard women. Most of all, women are to be held in low respect; since they function to please men, it is all right to take from them but never to give to them. There is no need to feel guilty for anything because women are only fulfilling their primary function in life. Consequently, people like Johnny D. regard women as slaves to their desires; they cannot see women as love objects, to honor and romanticize. To these people, women are chiefly sex objects. This perhaps explains, in part, why Claude Brown's autobiography is utterly void of romance in the traditional sense. It also helps explain why Claude can be a part of a vicious gang rape without any qualms of conscience. Clara, the white prostitute, represents to Claude a breakthrough of the sex taboo concerning white women. For, in all honesty, Claude actually believes that the aura of superiority surrounding white womanhood is true. Not that Claude can be blamed for the feeling; his mother and father and others in his family and outside have molded his mind to this thinking. How many times has Claude Brown heard his mother onish him to leave the little white girls alone because she doesn't want to see him lynched? He knows that his father and grandfather are partial to light-skinned blacks. And he, of course, is subjected to all the propaganda from the mass media regarding the standards of beauty and love in America. There is an interesting contrast between two of the girls in the author's life--Jackie and Sugar. Jackie is a beautiful black girl who lives in unbelievably tragic circumstances. She is a prostitute and has a mother who doesn't care anything about her. Sugar has no such problem; she is an only child, she dresses very well, and she has a mother who provides for her. Claude respects both girls but in different ways. He feels no qualms of morality when he takes Jackie to bed. He is able to call her his friend and declare that good


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www.cliffs.com friends are supposed to sleep with each other. Yet he would not think of taking Sugar to bed on a regular basis. It is permissible, in Claude's view, for Jackie to prostitute herself because of the conditions under which she has to live. He seems to say to us: There are people who have no choice in the way they are forced to live; don't judge them harshly. The lowest ebb in Claude's relationship with his father comes when Mr. Brown beats Claude with his fists. Claude and his friends have been caught breaking into a grocery store. Mr. Brown has seen his son break the law from the time his son was five years old; he has lectured and disciplined his son the only way he knows how; he has seen his son locked up for two and a half years because of his behavior. This time Mr. Brown, in his frustration, tries the most severe punishment which he can think of. But when he does use his fists, something happens: the father-son relationship is severed and they both know it. Claude could endure his father's lectures--and even his beatings--if he thought his father was a real man. His father, however, is not a real man to Claude. When we contrast the beating of Claude by his father to the one istered by Johnny D., we can understand why the manhood theme is so important in this autobiography. The escape motif is reintroduced when Claude goes before the judge and defiantly tells him about the second chance the judge is giving him. Claude is hard put to explain why he does this; subconsciously, he wants to be taken off the street with its pressures of leadership and decision making. Essentially, Claude Brown is afraid. Little wonder then that his mind keeps going back to Wiltwyck--back to prison where things are orderly, where there is continuity, and where things can be depended on to happen on schedule. Most important, he wants to be back where he doesn't have to be afraid. Thoughts such as these cause Claude to pay visit after visit to Papanek. The Wiltwyck director fulfills the role of parent and psychiatrist. Fortunately for Claude Brown, Papanek fills both roles well. He listens to the thirteen-year-old boy. This is something Claude has never experienced from his parents or family. The kinds of comments that the director makes go right to the heart of what troubles Claude. Papanek knows Claude wants to return to prison because prison is safe, but he is determined to make the boy work out the problems in his mind. As it turns out, the pressures of the street lead Claude into more and more difficulty as he attempts to remain a part of the street establishment. Inevitably, it causes him to make the nearly fatal mistake of going with Turk to steal sheets. This time he meets a bullet. Ironically, the very act of running away, of being afraid, results in making him into a more important street hero. A man who has stood up to a bullet and lived to boast about it is indeed a man. And now Claude has a bigger, more difficult reputation to uphold. Now he is even more afraid; he knows that lesser heroes will want to make their reputations at his expense. Notwithstanding this fear, Claude Brown, like his friend Danny, has a sense of community. He cannot stand idly by while the Italian boy, Minetti, is beaten by blacks. This way of reacting to fear is what makes Claude Brown not just another "bad nigger." As Claude faces an uncertain future in a new institution, Warwick, he must the sage observation of his street hero, Johnny D.: In order to be respected in Harlem, you have to be a "bad nigger"; and if you are going to be a "bad nigger," you must be prepared to die. Claude Brown is entirely out of his element; he isn't ready to die.

CHAPTER 5 At the age of thirteen, Claude Brown is again in prison, the second of a line of penal institutions which, he thinks, will probably include Elmira and Coxsackie and end at Sing Sing. At this point in the author's existence, he sees no reason why his life will or should take any other course. As he enters his second prison, his thoughts are different from those he had when he was sent to Wiltwyck. Then, he was afraid


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www.cliffs.com only because he didn't know what to expect; his fear was more like anticipation. Now, however, there is genuine alarm caused not only by anticipation; this time he can be sure his manhood will be tested. Claude sincerely believes that the approaching test of manhood may end his life. Thus we are able to observe how Claude Brown handles fear. He does not cower, petrified by the prospect of death. Although he isn't ready to die to perpetuate an image of a strong man, he has made up his mind not to run if the gauntlet is thrown. In the reception center he hears the rumors and knows that his worst fears are justified. In aiding Minetti, he shows that he intends to face his problem head on--to look fear in the eye and not back down. Incredibly, when things look hopeless, he is saved. Claude is impressed by the physical appearance of Warwick. Like Wiltwyck, Warwick isn't called a prison; nevertheless, Claude observes how the plant is designed to keep people in. He is especially cognizant of the fact that the designers took great care to make the institution attractive. The bars are concealed. People ing on the outside would not know that they are going by a prison. Warwick does, in fact, resemble a boy's camp. In large measure, the hypocrisy revealed in the design of Warwick is reflected in Harlem. Literally, Claude Brown has left one disguised prison, Harlem, for another disguised prison, Warwick. Claude sees this hypocrisy throughout society and accepts it as a part of life. He understands that one must give the appearance of respectability; one must follow the letter of the law, if not the spirit of the law. Thus, in prison, he knows the limits within which he can operate; he has no intention of being sent to the Annex--and not because he is afraid to engage in anti-establishment behavior. It is smarter to seem to cooperate and live well within the system as it is constructed. Besides, he knows that some anti-establishment behavior is allowed within the "system." While in prison, Claude tries to get others to see this axiom, but is unsuccessful. And boy after boy is punished while Claude continues to get by. We must be aware of a contradiction in Claude Brown's personality: He objects to the idea of stratification only when he is on the bottom rung. Put another way, Claude accepts the prison system of special privileges for some; at the same time, he rejects the social system outside of prison which also calls for special privileges for some, particularly the racial stratification which places blacks on the bottom. Soon after Claude arrives at the prison school, he shows his belief in the stratification theory by accepting a place near the top of prison society offered to him by his friend, K. B. Because K. B. was there first, Claude is well received; he doesn't have to establish a reputation before he can move up. Later, after he is well established, he can make a place for his Harlem friends within his clique. The new boys who Claude Brown's group can get by initially on Claude's reputation. Those boys who have no strong friend or who are unknown when they arrive are relegated to the bottom of Warwick society. We can observe at Warwick the making of young criminals into better, more accomplished criminals. The prison which looks like a boy's camp has students eager to learn--not their prison jobs, but skills that will be useful on the outside. Drug cutting, rolling reefers, and crossing wires in cars are important skills to know if one is going to continue in street life. It seems that everyone is an expert in something; each person es his expertise on to someone else. In this way, Claude is better prepared than ever before to go back to street life. It is worthwhile to examine three of the author's friends at Warwick because they can help us to understand Claude Brown. The three are Minetti, the Italian; Baxter, the homosexual; and Gus Jackson, the jazz enthusiast. Of the three, Gus Jackson is the least controversial. It is Gus, a one-armed boy, who introduces Claude to jazz. The author is converted to the music while he is pretending to be a devotee. Prior to this time, Claude has shown little interest for anything aesthetic. But this is natural for a boy who has known only the materialism of the streets; all his life Claude has been conscious that only things matter. Nothing he has seen or experienced in his life has convinced him otherwise.


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Although Gus has only one arm, he receives no pity from Claude; the author, in fact, its that he used to bully Gus--until Gus fought back. A sensitive boy, Gus provides us with another example of the combination that Claude respects: brawn and brains. Claude's second friend, Minetti, differs from Claude's usual companions. Minetti pushes his friendship on Claude, refusing to allow Claude to reject him. Yet, it is difficult to see what this boy contributes to Claude; in Claude's friendships, both sides give. Still, it is this friendship which makes it possible for Claude to show his concern for right. Twice he comes to Minetti's aid; in both situations, he has to go against his own color. This is very difficult for Claude to do because his personality craves acceptance. Claude is probably drawn to Minetti for some of the same reasons that he is drawn to Sugar--Minetti is persistent and kind. And, of course, Claude is instinctively drawn to the underdog. Claude shows that he is able to risk rejection when he makes a friend of Baxter. It is a natural friendship which grows out of a classroom situation. Claude is able to enter into a relationship with a known homosexual because he is sure of his own masculinity. He is able to treat Baxter with respect and yet not have his friends, or any of the other boys, think less of his manhood. Most of the others would not have risked being seen talking with a homosexual. Claude's reaction to homosexuality is an example of how manhood can make one react positively. Claude has nothing to prove at Warwick. He does not have to hurt people to make a point, as the handsome boys do. He has ed this stage in his development. We are able to get further insight into the traumatic role that Claude must play as the older brother when we review the problems he experiences on his first visit home from Warwick. The street mores require that the older brother protect the younger siblings--even to the point of settling old scores incurred by a younger member of the family. This type of arrangement places tremendous pressure on Claude's psyche. He cannot, after all, control events to the extent that he knows what new enemies his younger brother and sisters will make for him. The author discusses this frustration in detail in Chapter 10. Back in Harlem again after nine months in Warwick, Claude enrolls in high school. This is in keeping with the progress we know he has made toward accepting the status quo--working within the system. The move out of familiar surroundings to the school represents a first step on a course that will eventually take him out of Harlem. The decision to try the straight life, by going to high school on his own, could be a turning point in Claude Brown's life. It could be, but there are new pressures. Claude observes how well the other boys are dressed. what clothes mean to the street people (See notes on Chapter 2.). A boy without decent clothes is a boy without respect. Claude finds this situation intolerable. He wants to ask his father to buy him some better clothes, but he doesn't. He anticipates his father's reaction; so he decides to get money for clothes in the only way he has learned how: He sells drugs and shoots dice. Claude is probably correct in assuming that his father would turn down his request for better clothes. However, the fact that the two men, a father and son, cannot even talk to one another testifies to the turmoil in the Brown family. Mr. Brown sees Claude continuing on the same path that he took before Warwick; he is unaware that by going to high school, his son is attempting to adjust. He disapproves of Claude's coming home late at night and he finds other unacceptable things about his son. In his frustration Mr. Brown reacts in the strongest way he knows: He puts Claude out of his house. He thinks that he is doing the correct thing--the only thing left to do. His son is "no good," has never been "any good," and will never be "any good." Mr. Brown's actions are fairly typical of many black fathers faced with rebellious sons. Many a man has said, "When my son gets too big to obey me--to follow my orders--then he has to leave my house." Many a teenager has found his belongings on the porch. At fifteen, with no money and no place to go, Claude turns to prison for help. In prison there is the respect he needs, stability and security. He is going back to Warwick where he can again be a man. Even Claude Brown's unemotional reporting cannot disguise the pathetic nature of the situation.


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Symbolically, Claude meets Mrs. Cohen on his third trip to Warwick. This is possibly his last chance to receive the spark that will turn him around. Everyone knows when you have three strikes, you're out. Mrs. Cohen's contribution to Claude's future is more than just getting him excited about reading--although it is important to read about how others "made it." What Mrs. Cohen does is to believe in Claude Brown-believe that he can think, that he can even go to college, that he can be successful in the straight world. More than anything else, at this period in his life, Claude needs to believe in himself--in his ability to survive outside of street life. that Claude pictures himself as destined for street life. There is no one he respects who has finished high school; he has no one at home to show him an alternative to street life. Mrs. Cohen, however, shows him a way out. But it will be some time before he can bring himself to make a start.

CHAPTER 6 Claude Brown's psyche will never allow him to be second best in whatever he desires to excel; if, therefore, Claude is going to survive in the streets, he has to be good. This explains why he must cultivate his friendship with Reno; Reno can help him become the best. There is a parallel between Johnny D. and Reno. Claude sees them both in the same way; he accepts them as friends because of what they can teach him. They are both older than Claude and have similar backgrounds; both are corrupt by middle-class standards; both are very good at what they do, and both are contemptuous of women. Claude learns well from them. Reno teaches Claude how to take advantage of the weaknesses of others. Men who believe that a good time consists of spending a night of sin in the big city are looked upon by Reno and Claude as "suckers." Why would Claude, after the progress we know he has made, delve still deeper into street life? Does this conduct belie the sense of community he has shown? Not really; it is perfectly easy to rationalize that men who are willing to pay for this type of pleasure are scoundrels and deserve to be duped--that they are taking advantage of young girls who have little choice but to sell themselves. Besides, someone is going to practice the Murphy, why shouldn't Claude? More likely, in Claude's conscious mind, he wants to excel in something new--to be close in ability and prestige to his boyhood idol, Mr. Jimmy. Claude's first encounter with cocaine is important for two reasons: First, Claude allows himself to go along with the crowd in taking a drug about which he has reservations. He knows that if the drug creates a negative reaction, he can lose control of himself, and Claude prides himself on being in control of his faculties. He has heard stories that cocaine is habit forming; still, he cannot seem out of things. And so he partakes. Second, Claude finds that cocaine gives him a good feeling. He is fortunate that the drug is not necessarily habit forming because he will experience the feeling again and again. We see once more how pure chance allows Claude to escape the irreversible path that leads to Sing Sing. Claude's parents cannot convince him to change his lifestyle, so it is not surprising that their constant complaining drives him out of the house. When we compare the move out of the house this time, at age sixteen, to the move a year earlier, we see some interesting differences. First, this time Claude leaves on his own; earlier, his father made him move. Second, Claude is prepared to leave; he is a successful street hustler. He has more money at his disposal than even his father does. He leaves because he wants to leave; he is his own man. He would stay at home and change, maybe--if his parents could provide him with a viable alternative to the kind of life he is now leading. Basically, Claude feels that there is more respect for him in the streets than there is at home. He is correct; yet it is not wholly his parents' fault, as we will discover in later commentaries.


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www.cliffs.com There is an intense bitterness that such street people as Reno feel toward "good" people in the ghettos. It comes about because the people who are not engaged in street life look down on and disapprove of street people. "The street boys will end up in jail or dead," the good people say. Yet, the children of these same good people will some day have to make their way into street life if they want to be recognized; good boys will have to learn the anti-social behavior so frowned upon by their parents--and, moreover, they will have to be taught how to survive in the streets by street people. Little wonder then that Reno and the others, who have had little choice as to their lifestyle, deeply resent Tony, and others like him, who wait very late to learn the ways of the street. It is not surprising that Reno says, in effect, to the good people in Harlem, "Sooner or later your sons will have to come to me." We can anticipate that Claude will not be happy in his job at Hamburger Heaven. The job requires that the blacks who work there subjugate themselves to the customers, who are white. Since this runs counter to his ideas of manhood, Claude stays only as long as he absolutely has to stay. An interesting sidelight of this episode is Claude's embarrassment at working with kids from the South. He calls these southern young men "farmers" because they are unsophisticated. New York men would never "tom" (lackey) to the whites as these kids do. Later, he gets a job in a watch repair store. Of the jobs he has during this period, the one at the watch repair store gives him the most satisfaction. We know that this has to do with his self-expression. Claude has to be a proud black man. Although Claude has decided that he is in street life forever, he can't bring himself to forget Wiltwyck with its security and regulated, scheduled living. He re it as a happy time in a life that has contained too much fear. And, of course, he cannot forget Papanek, the man who seemed to be able to look him in the eye and inspire trust. Symbolically, he arrives back at Wiltwyck for a visit on Thanksgiving Day. It seems contradictory to be thankful for going to prison, but, because of the things that happen to him there, Wiltwyck is good for Claude. Claude doesn't realize it at the time, but the genesis of his change comes about during his discussions with Papanek. Claude finds himself ashamed at not being out of street life; he tells Papanek that he is going to school because he knows that the Wiltwyck director has faith in his ability to leave street life and make it in the straight world. Claude is aware that juvenile records do not follow one as an adult, and he knows that he is now sixteen--and at sixteen he will be old enough to be considered an adult, to have a police record the very next time he is caught by the police. He believes that a record will seriously restrict his options in life; even if he does decide to change later, an arrest record can make it very difficult. Wiltwyck and Papanek are saying, in effect, "It is not too late to change." This episode at Wiltwyck and the one that follows in Harlem are two of the pivotal points in Claude's life. They rank with the heroin episode in Chapter 4 in importance. When Limpy robs Claude of his drugs, the author is faced with the ultimate reality of street life. The code of the streets dictates his actions: he must find Limpy and kill him. It is as if Johnny D.'s words are there to taunt him: if you are going to be a "bad nigger," you must be prepared to die. Claude realizes that if he finds the drug addict and murders him, there is little chance to escape street life. On the other hand, if he refuses to abide by the street mores and allows Limpy to live, he must give up his "bad nigger" image; he will lose face; he will be itting that he is not really a man. He decides to kill Limpy. One wonders what would have happened if he had been able to get to the junky before the police. What happens to save Claude must be added to the growing series of coincidences that prevent him from ruining his life. The series includes his bad reaction to heroin, his non-addiction to cocaine, and now his inability to find Limpy. In truth, however, we do find it difficult to believe that Claude looks very thoroughly for Limpy. Murder would go against what we understand about the way Claude reacts to pressure. During this crisis in Claude's life, again it is Danny who is there to comfort and, if necessary, sacrifice his own life for his friend. It is important to that Danny is present and is acting positively when


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www.cliffs.com Claude needs help. The relationship is not one-sided; Claude gives Danny drugs from time to time to his habit. Perhaps giving drugs shouldn't be considered an act of friendship, but, nevertheless, the point here is that Claude is unable to let his friend, an addict, suffer without drugs. Claude goes to high school a second time. Significantly, he chooses a school far away from Harlem. It is a subconscious wish to succeed. In Claude's mind, leaving Harlem and succeeding are all part of one idea. Although he says that he doesn't know why he remains in school, despite his poor grades and difficult classes, he does know. Deep within himself, the feelings he has about his life's direction have had an effect, and he wants desperately to succeed. Still, going to high school doesn't change the fact that Claude is a street man through and through. His encounter with the married girl who is a nymphomaniac illustrates this fact. Johnny D. 's philosophy of womanhood is put to practical use once again. Inevitably, there is conflict in Claude's mind between the life which he leads as a student and his instinct for street life. He perceives that he can never really break away from street life as long as he still resides in Harlem. He takes the only course he feels that he can take: He leaves Harlem. This step is not one to be considered lightly. Harlem, for all its faults, has been his home; it has provided him with sustenance; his family and friends are there. But he leaves. With him, he takes Tony, the boy who was late coming out of the house. Tony idolizes Claude, and Claude responds by teaching Tony all he knows. Claude is changing, however, and he wants Tony to change with him. As the chapter ends, the two young men face a new life in the straight world.

CHAPTER 7 It is important to note that with this chapter, the action in the autobiography begins to slow down. The incredible variety of Claude Brown's life seems to change pace as he begins to reflect on himself and his environment. The change of pace parallels a growing sense of contemplation. Claude has escaped from Harlem at last; although he knows only Tony Albee in his new home in the Village, he is at peace with himself. He doesn't need many friends here; he has nothing to prove to the people in the Village. He can forget for a while the tremendous pressure of living life as a "bad nigger." And so he gives away his gun; he knows he isn't going to kill anyone. Here, he can be without a gun and still retain his manhood. It is significant that Claude chooses to move to Greenwich Village instead of some other area of the city. The Village, with its wide acceptance of deviant behavior, is perhaps the place most nearly like Harlem. that Claude, in moving, takes with him a value system carefully nurtured by men like Johnny D., and although significant changes are taking place within Claude's psyche, he is still very much at odds with white middle-class values. Another part of white New York would have presented arduous problems for him to overcome. It is difficult to find ages in which Claude Brown overtly moralizes in his story; he prefers to be more subtle. In this chapter, however, he is so concerned about the effects of heroin on the Harlem community that he sometimes seems to overstate his case. He departs from his matter-of-fact tone of reporting and uses superlatives in his discussion of "the plague." It is evident that Claude Brown wants the reader to what he has to say at this point. And well he should. There can be no overemphasis on the basic weakness of black family life; the many fatherless black families and the families who have no strong male identification should be of concern to everyone. Claude Brown points out how heroin further weakens stability in the black family.


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www.cliffs.com The theme of Claude's guilt toward his brother reappears in this chapter. We have seen how Claude allows Pimp to idolize him; we that Claude presents himself to his brother as the last word on any subject. Now Claude is afraid that he has set too good an example. He wonders if his brother is taking heroin; he should know that Pimp has pressures on him to live up to Claude's exploits around the neighborhood; more important, he should know that Pimp wants to follow in his footsteps. Claude's concern for his brother seems to block his power to draw conclusions based on facts. He forgets that Pimp has every reason to try heroin--just as Claude tried it years before. Pimp's reaction to the drug may not be a negative one, as Claude's was. But why should Pimp be any different from Claude in his outlook toward street life? Claude doesn't try to find an answer to the question; he knows only that his own outlook has changed, and he wants his brother out of street life. It is now, however, a battle between the new Claude Brown and the old Claude Brown. Somehow, Pimp senses that Claude is changing. He begins to see Claude not only in the role of brother, but also in the role of father. Thus, when the two are together now, Pimp will not share his intimate secrets with his brother. He perceives that Claude will no longer approve. Claude cannot understand; in his desire to save his brother, he preaches--just as Mr. Brown has done for years to Claude. In Claude Brown's analysis of Harlem, it is clear that he does not approve of what he finds. He cushions his remarks, though, by relating that Tony and he are critics under the influence of marijuana. The author hopes to imply that his opinions would be tempered if Tony and he were in full control of their faculties. In truth, Claude is simply avoiding the issue: These are his true feelings about Harlem. When we examine these reflections in the light of what we know about Claude's character, we can understand why he feels the way he does. Claude does not entirely reflect the stereotyped black view of the white police officer-that is, he does not see the white officer as the representative of the white establishment, totally committed to the repression of black people--someone to fear and hate and never to be trusted under any circumstance. Rather, Claude Brown leans more toward the view of many in the black middle class: although some policemen are cruel and corrupt, they are necessary in order to keep the criminal element in the black community under some control. Claude's criticism of the policeman concerns his being corrupt; his criticism of the black citizen concerns his protecting the black criminal. Claude Brown damns both the black community and the police. Likewise, the author sees the politicians and the business men taking advantage of the community. Harlem is like a thoroughly confused and naive child set upon by numerous bullies, each taking what can be exploited. In great measure, Claude blames the community itself for not being more aware of the exploitation. To the author, the "system" has taken away part of Harlem's manhood by denying men with police records the right to vote. In Claude Brown's view, no control can be exerted in the Harlem community by its citizens unless, and until, the people wisely and expertly make use of ballot power. These views, of course, are extremely middle class and indicate that the author has progressed far enough in his thinking not only to assess blame for the present situation, but to point toward solutions-democratic solutions. Claude Brown is quickly making the transition from hopeless ghetto dweller to middle-class thinker. When Claude ponders the difficulties which Harlem faces, the teachings of Johnny D. seem to ring true: Because of the inability of women to think clearly and rationally about the representation they receive from their congressman, they continue to vote for the handsome Adam C. Powell, term after term. Claude sees Powell's promises as worthless; the man is retained not because of his record of service, but because he is very light skinned and has white features. This is only another example of the way women think and, for Claude, further proof that Johnny D.'s philosophy regarding women is absolutely correct. As Claude reflects on what is wrong with Harlem, he focuses on the drug addict. Whatever the anti-social behavior of Claude Brown, he always faces life and lives it to its fullest. He is continually looking for


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www.cliffs.com answers and solutions, no matter how difficult the situations may seem. Consequently, he can only conclude that drug addicts are people who are running away from responsibility--who take the easy way out. This is not Claude's way, for he seldom makes excuses for his actions. Leaving Harlem for the Village, for example, is not taking the easy route; on the contrary, Claude sees it as another challenge. The episode at Mrs. Rogers' church stands out as a masterpiece of narration. One will probably not see it excerpted in school anthologies, however, because it strikes at the heart of a segment of black religion in this country. The age seems to say: The shouting and preaching and testifying so prevalent in ghetto churches is a sham. It is hard to condemn the author for honestly relating his feelings, but it is worth saying that many black people are sincere in their fundamentalist beliefs, Claude Brown's "high potentiality for corruption" notwithstanding. As the chapter ends, we see that although Claude Brown has made progress in reaching for positive values, he can be sidetracked. He has "good" intentions of convincing his sister Carole to reject the church, but when he sees June Rogers, he forgets all about his plans. June is a challenge to Claude because he automatically assumes that a good-looking religious girl can be corrupted. He believes this because, along with Johnny D. 's philosophy, he sees religion as a pretense. Finally, Claude places June Rogers in the same category with the people who use drugs and play numbers--she needs religion in the same way. To Claude, everybody seems to need an escape mechanism.

CHAPTER 8 The Jim Goldie story is a digression from the action that immediately affects Claude Brown's narration. It is the longest episode we have considered so far and one must wonder why it is included. The answer, it seems, is that Jim Goldie's death somehow represents the life cycle of Claude Brown's generation. Jim Goldie's story is also important because it is a typical Harlem "success" story. Claude and his friends are all a part of Jim Goldie's existence. Jim is the archetype of the young Harlem gangster--a member of Claude's old gang who made it to the big time. From what the author tells us of Jim's life, we wonder why anyone could be sorry that he is dead. Jim was a thoroughly depraved individual; he robbed the poor, he bullied and took from the weak; he was a sadist, hurting people without rhyme or reason. His personality contrasts with that of Claude's other friends, Danny and Butch--especially Danny, who has a sense of community and therefore would not mistreat people. Jim is definitely not the type of individual whom Claude would naturally ire. What is it, then, about Jim Goldie that could cause Claude to see him as Harlem's Horatio Alger? To begin with, Jim had "heart"--that is, courage--a commodity highly prized in the ghetto; in a tight situation, a person without heart is lost. Of course, Claude thinks Jim had too much heart; sometimes being too brave is just as bad as not being brave enough. Jim, like Claude's grandfather, had the reputation of being a "bad nigger." Just as no one rankled Grandpa, nobody bothered Jim; everybody knew that a "bad nigger" might do anything. Like Johnny D., another corrupt street person whom Claude ires, Jim always seemed to control his situation; he seemed answerable to no one. Claude can with pride that this self-sufficient man was someone he knew very well. Finally, Claude and his friends ire the fact that Jim Goldie was a man--a masculine man. Nothing better illustrates this fact than the awe expressed by Claude as he contemplates how a man with four .45 bullets in his head could open a door and walk a block before falling dead. As Jim's story unfolds, we realize more and more that Claude Brown is out of place with such characters. Claude has never had the heart to be a Jim Goldie. When Jim walks toward the stick-up artist in the basement on 145th Street, Claude can sense that he does not belong there; he is the only man in the basement who hasn't killed a man. Claude's reaction to the episode clearly stamps him as being cut from a


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www.cliffs.com different cloth. At the time, however, Claude does not fully recognize this fact. Underlying the action in this chapter is the theme of fear; many of Claude's reactions are the result of his being afraid. This does not mean that he reacts as a coward would--on the contrary, we can see that Claude Brown likes to face problems and find solutions. On the other hand, fear is present, forcing him to evaluate his choices. We realize this when the author discusses the many men who have died in Sing Sing prison. Claude wants to know if being a "bad nigger" and living a short life is worth the risk. Does it really bring peace to the psyche; does it satisfy the urge to be a real man; is it all worth dying for? The men of Claude's generation urgently wait for some word from the lips of the "bad niggers" who wait to die in the death house. Although there are messages sent back to the neighborhood which indicate that the men face death bravely, no one ever sends back word that death in the electric chair is worth the price. This truth gnaws at Claude's mind and helps him decide that the pressure of being tough is too much; he will seek alternative solutions to express his manhood. Leaving Harlem is one of those alternate solutions. In the same macabre tone, the author discusses the injury and death of Butch Crawford. This time the tragedy occurs within the inner circle of Claude's clique. Butch helped teach Claude many of his early street habits; it seems such a waste of life for him to die so young. Claude is depressed--especially after going to visit Mrs. Crawford to express his respects. He realizes that Butch's mother blames him--but not for causing Butch's death; Mrs. Crawford seems to blame Claude for simply being alive while her son lies dead. This shakes Claude and it is significant that Claude understands how Mrs. Crawford can censure him for just being alive. When Claude goes to Danny's house for consolation, he finds that Danny is also leaving Harlem. Claude feels that the happy times of his youth are dissolving--that he will soon be alone. His negative feelings toward religion notwithstanding, Claude finds himself praying for Danny--sincerely praying. It is normal after such depressing experiences to seek escape. Claude does this by remaining in Greenwich Village--away from Harlem. He gives up even marijuana because it causes him to think. In his search for ways to forget Harlem, he works out in a gym; there he meets James Finley. The man is able to open new dimensions in Claude's life at a time when new outlets are desperately needed. There is, nevertheless, a disturbing factor in the meeting of the two men. Claude reveals his feelings of inferiority and inadequacy in the company of whites. That he is ashamed of his Harlem upbringing is unfortunate; at this point, he seems to embrace white middle-class values, not only as a means of escape, but as a substitute for his own "inferior" ones. The inevitable question one must ask is this: Would Claude Brown want to be white if he could be? This question is important when we consider the author's discussion of the visits which he makes to other parts of the city. He marvels at the "pretty" sections of New York and compares them to Harlem. His community suffers by comparison and, in his soul, he feels lost. At this point, the answer to the question above is: yes, Claude would probably opt to be white if he could. We from Chapter 8 that Claude expresses a view of the police that seems to the thinking of the black middle class: The police are necessary in order to protect blacks from the black criminal. In this chapter, however, Claude shows us the bitterness many ghetto blacks feel toward the police. Although the author does not say so, he certainly feels that the two incidents in his room in Greenwich Village occur only because he is black. There is, though, a spirit of resignation about the narrative; there is no outrage expressed. Having the police mistreat one is looked upon as just another of the problems encountered in being black. An additional point to consider is the fact that Claude is now living among whites in a predominately white section of town; he would not have had these experiences with the police had he remained in Harlem. The entire episode emphasizes the hopelessness of the relations between the ghetto dweller and the police. Although there are serious attempts at better understanding by well-meaning individuals on both sides, nothing can really be done to improve relations as long as the spirit of hopelessness prevails.


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www.cliffs.com Underscoring the theme of brother guilt in this chapter is the further drifting apart of Claude and Pimp. When Claude visits his parents' home after the depressing experiences with death, he discovers that Pimp wants to discuss Mr. Brown's inadequacies. It is difficult to understand why Claude is so unprepared for his brother's reaction to Mr. Brown. What could he expect his brother to say in view of Claude's numerous squabbles with his father? Could Claude not foresee that his brother would naturally seek an ally in his quarrels? How disappointed Pimp must be to find that his suspicions are true: The tough, happy-go-lucky brother he ires and wants to emulate is turning into another hollow father-figure. And Claude, unaware that his role is changing, expects Pimp to remain in the house and learn how to get along with his father. He expects Pimp to do what Claude was unable to do: Pimp must remain even though Claude has fled. From the viewpoint of Mr. Brown, Pimp is a last chance to make good. He will raise this son to be a decent citizen; Pimp will not turn out as Claude did--if he can do anything to prevent it from happening. Of course, however, the way he tries to keep Pimp from becoming another Claude is by using the same tactics that didn't work with Claude. Mr. Brown would change procedures if he knew any other way; he simply doesn't. As the chapter ends, we see Claude Brown successfully finding the escape he so desperately seeks: He becomes engrossed in playing the piano. For the first time in a long while, he has the feeling that he is in control--that he can master events. All his life, this kind of satisfaction has been his goal; it is a good feeling.

CHAPTER 9 A considerable section of this chapter concerns Claude Brown's brief infatuation with the Coptic faith. , Claude sees religion as an escape mechanism for those who need it. To Claude, religion is fakery, indulged in by weak people--and those who take advantage of the weak. It is like drugs or wine and can have the same effect. Considering this rejection of all religion, the question arises: Why would Claude Brown spend four months studying and absorbing the Coptic doctrine? The answer is complex. To begin with, Claude has an insatiable appetite for knowledge--for investigating everything new. He shows this numerous times--in taking up the piano, for example. Claude wants to know why something is so, why things work the way they do. This same spirit of investigation drives him to examine the Coptic faith. He's especially inquisitive when he realizes that his friend Billy Dobbs has changed because of the church. A second reason for Claude's curiosity is his desire for escape. Claude is, in fact, searching for the very thing that he accuses others of using--an escape mechanism. Having left Harlem, he must now fill the void: the piano, the gym, the school--all these things have helped him forget. Yet, he needs something more. That something, for the present, is the Coptic faith. The time and energy required to analyze, to study, and to learn a new language, leave him little occasion to brood about the past--about how his boyhood community has changed. In the final analysis, however, the author's pragmatism leads him to an inescapable conclusion: The faith is not genuine; it is a fraud. To accept the beliefs of the Coptic church while feeling no real kinship to Africa--and also feeling that Africans do not accept American blacks--is inconceivable. Anything Claude accepts must work in practice. Claude Brown's assessment of the relationship between African blacks and American blacks is not unique. The explanation goes deep into the past. Essentially, however, Africans have been proud of their heritage while many American blacks have not. Some blacks from Africa have looked down upon their American counterparts because of the American black's slave heritage. There is, naturally, sometimes a parallel prejudice in this country. Some African Americans in America feel superior to their African counterparts because of the image portrayed in the United States of black Africa. And there is the case of


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www.cliffs.com Liberia, in which former slaves from the United States form the bourgeoisie of the country. Claude Brown's observation that Billy Dobbs would be better off as a Coptic stems from the author's growing sense of middle-class morality, heightened by his pragmatic approach to life. Billy Dobbs takes his brother's wife; in Claude's view, this is a much greater wrong than believing in the Coptic faith. There is no way that Claude can justify the actions which Billy Dobbs wants him to sanction. Still, Billy makes a strong case for himself; in Billy's view, a man who would beat his wife and put her out on the street as a prostitute doesn't deserve that woman. Claude knows, though, that Billy Dobbs intends to take his brother's wife no matter what the reason. Claude will not allow himself to be conned into sanctioning Billy's actions. Ann, Billy's sister-in-law, is described as a "good-doin' woman." To Claude, this means simply that Ann has a "high potentiality for corruption." She is like June Rogers--a perfect target for the insistent rogue. Claude knows that Billy Dobbs and he fall into that category. Later, when he sees Billy showing signs of again succumbing to drugs, Claude makes his final evaluation of the whole matter: "He should have let his brother keep that good-doing woman." Tito, Dunny, and Mac are victims of their ghetto mentality. The ghetto mentality is a way of thinking that precludes the pressure and use of middle-class values. Some of its characteristics include low aspirations, a desire for showy success, and a hopelessness that pervades every thought. This type of thinking is brought about by a variety of factors, not the least of which is generations of non-opportunity experienced by black people in America. It is difficult for ghetto youngsters to emulate the honest working black person because the masses of these people are at, or near, the bottom of the economic ladder. Why should ghetto youngsters desire middle-class jobs when the successful people they observe are street heroes? Another reason for ghetto thinking is the pressure to prove one's manliness with material goods. The man who wears fine clothes or drives an expensive car can claim a control of his destiny. It doesn't matter that these signs of success are superficial. Finally, the most pathetic aspect of ghetto thinking is the belief that nothing can be done to improve one's lot--that there is no way one can better oneself. Tito, Mac, and Dunny are destined, therefore, to try the same illegal means of obtaining money that has sent scores of their friends to prison. They don't even consider trying to make a living any other way; they must have the showy success so necessary to their manhood. They have not, like Claude Brown, met a Mrs. Cohen or an Ernest Papanek, who might have opened their eyes to another lifestyle. Of course, there is no guarantee that, even with help, the three young men would behave differently; the point here is this: Tito, Mac, and Dunny never have a real chance to change their outlook. When they are compared with Turk, who spends time in the Air Force instead of prison, one can see what a difference an outside influence can make. Because of Turk's greater opportunity for development, he can conceive of another way to succeed. Bear in mind that Claude sees the will and ability to change oneself directly associated with getting away from Harlem. He feels that this is how he has been able to change; he wants to recommend to Tito, Mac, and Dunny that they leave, yet he realizes that they don't know anything else except Harlem. But not Danny Rogers. Danny is special. Claude can imagine Danny escaping from Harlem, and if Danny is somewhere else, he might successfully swear off drugs and become a useful citizen. We can imagine Claude's concern when he is told by the new, sober, non-addicted Danny that Harlem is where he must succeed--and as a drug dealer. It is inconceivable to Claude that a former drug addict could sell drugs and not become addicted again. But Claude has to ire Danny for not running away--for facing the problem squarely. To Danny, the only way to succeed is to conquer failure in its own environment. In a way, Danny is more of a man than is Claude, and Claude begins to perceive this fact. One young man who manages to escape street life with Claude is Lonnie Jones. Lonnie doesn't leave Harlem to escape; he becomes a Coptic priest. Claude doesn't have a high regard for Lonnie. He questions Lonnie's manhood. Lonnie is a "good" boy, and the word is used here in a very derogatory sense. There


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www.cliffs.com are many Lonnie Joneses in the ghetto, caught up in the environment and involved in anti-social behavior simply because everyone else is; Lonnie represents these young men. In this chapter, Claude Brown learns two valuable lessons--one from T., the pimp, and another from Danny. It is very hard for the author, with his changing values, to accept the fact that T. can actually want to marry a prostitute--that he can love a woman who sells her body to other men. This is particularly revolting to Claude when he considers that T. does not want to reform Gloria; T. plans to marry her and continue to allow her to work on the streets. To Claude's credit, he is quick to see that everyone can be lovable, even prostitutes. He feels tolerance for people as individuals, regardless of what they do. From Danny, Claude learns that people don't necessarily learn by example. This is a common middle-class misconception: If young boys see how destructive narcotics can be, they will not indulge. Danny quickly calls to Claude's attention that real life just isn't that way. Each Harlemite must experience for himself; each one figures that whoever is caught in the web of narcotics will be the other fellow. The end of Chapter 9 marks the end of a period in Claude's life. He and his close Harlem friends go their separate ways. They don't need each other any more. Gang fighting (bebopping) is now é; the community has changed. Claude doesn't seem to be too unhappy about the breakup; he feels sorry for his friends, however, because they haven't been able to mature and leave Harlem as he has done. Claude is particularly sad about his friend Tito. He knows that Tito won't mind returning to prison because he has nothing to encourage him to remain on the outside. Tito has no family love, no love of a woman, no hope for a future. Claude thinks about Tito without pity; it is, nevertheless, pitiful.

CHAPTER 10 This chapter attempts to explain the workings of the Harlem street gang mind--why Claude behaves the way he does and why things happen the way they do. At the same time, it also explains some truths indigenous to most black males: Manhood is important--very important--and should not be challenged. The black manhood phenomenon has its roots deep in history; during slavery, when the black man could not protect his woman from the white slaveholders and overseers, the black woman was worth more on the market because of her ability to reproduce. The black man has never been able to assert success-fully his manhood in white society without reprisals. Even today, with an ittedly better chance, the black male knows that his white counterpart is directing the society in which all must live. Consequently, most ghetto men have almost made a fetish of the concept of manhood. The code that exists in Harlem and other communities is simply each young man's affirmation of his manhood. Claude and Rip end up as friends, although they have tried to kill one another; they respect each other's fighting heart. Notice how a boy does not have to win a fight to be respected; he can lose, but he must fight. This is all-important in the street code. Johnny Wilkes expresses the code of the street in simple : You must fight in matters relating to your money, your woman, or your manhood. Thus Claude is obliged to take on an older boy who has bothered his sister Carole. He must really try to hurt the boy, not because he wants to, but because the code demands it of him. Likewise, he takes on an entire gang of boys with no hope of winning, simply because the code demands that he fight. In the ghetto, only the strong-willed survive; a man who won't fight as the code dictates is not really a man. A small boy like Claude has to be especially tough to survive. Claude speaks of the pressures on a boy to win more fights--to beat up bigger and bigger boys. This is how a street reputation is made. Claude is sensitive about his size; therefore, he must be even more vicious when attacking bigger boys. For this reason, he strikes the boy in the face with a Pepsi-Cola bottle. It is reminiscent of the way that the handsome boys had to act at Warwick. Claude disapproved of excessive brutality at Warwick because he believed that a boy could be sure of his manhood and not be forced continually to prove himself; yet, before he realized this fact, he made his early street reputation by being brutal. To Claude Brown's honor,


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www.cliffs.com he doesn't allow the sensitivity about his size to brutalize his psyche to the extent that his basic personality is changed. Always gnawing at him is a fear that makes him analyze his position and feelings. It may seem strange for Big Bill and the other men to urge young boys to hurt one another. They perhaps seem cruel and inhuman by some standards. But let us take a closer look at Bill. He is the embodiment of a strange kind of comion found in every urban ghetto. Big Bill knows what lies ahead for Claude and Rip; he helps prepare them for a life in the urban jungle by toughening their bodies and spirits. Big Bill shows the same feeling of community that Danny does in helping Claude prepare for life in the streets. In Bill's code, he has done a job worthy of praise; he has helped prepare a brother. Black women also have their special problems. Sugar's trouble with her husband, Melvin, is not unlike those of black women in general. Sugar personifies the frustration felt by black women as they attempt to deal with weak black men. The black woman wants desperately to operate in this society as any other woman, and she could if it were not for the fact that the black man often has serious psychological and social problems about his manhood. The black woman, perceiving that her man cannot fulfill the traditional male role, takes over the male function as head of the black family. In many instances, the black woman is better educated and better adjusted to handle the role as head of the family. As emphasized earlier, the black male feels he cannot be the man of the family unit if he cannot earn money to feed his family and if he cannot protect his family. As a consequence of the male and female identity problems, many black families prepare their girls to operate independently of males. In many families, the girls are sent to college and the boys are not. The girls are told that there are not enough "good" black men to marry; they should, and must be, prepared to live in society alone, if necessary. This situation is changing today with the advent of widespread black pride. Yet, even now, there is a higher ratio of black girls in college than black men. A look at Melvin Jackson is in order. He, like Tito and Butch, gives up on his manhood; he sees the tremendous problems involved in maintaining self-respect in a hostile society and surrenders; taking drugs is one way to do this. Melvin, perhaps, has heard someone in his family say, "Negro men are no good." Most black men hear this sooner or later in life. Melvin reacts within the range of the ghetto mentality; he believes that he is no good, and he really isn't. Sugar makes the mistake of giving her love to a man who has given up on life. She needs someone like Claude. Unfortunately for her, Claude is not available. For many of her ghetto sisters, this is the problem: There aren't enough Claude Browns around. In this chapter, we are able to contrast the character training of "street" families with "house" families. Mr. Brown, like Big Bill, toughened his son for ghetto street living by demanding that he fight. Mr. Brown's actions are fairly typical of ghetto heads of households. There is the example in Richard Wright's Black Boy when Richard's mother sends him to the store in Memphis; the boy has to fight for the right to the streets, but in the process he learns something about black manhood. The similarity between this episode and Claude's going to the store for his father is noteworthy. Claude, like Richard, fights his way to street respectability. Claude's point--that his father is never without his knife--is one of the old stereotypes assigned to black people. Nevertheless, there is no proof that all, or even most blacks carry knives. Claude doesn't carry one; in fact, Claude has a great fear of knives and cutting. He mentions the scar on his father as something that deeply affects him. When we examine the "house" Negro, we see that there is much more pressure to prove one's manhood at a time when the street person has already earned his reputation. When a boy has spent his early teens in the house, he must suddenly and traumatically try to prove his manhood to hostile street people. Thus, many of the house people fall prey to drugs because their psyches cannot cope with the problems of emergence.


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CHAPTER 11 Claude Brown is guilt-ridden. Not only does he feel responsible for Pimp, but he feels responsible for the suffering that he knows his mother has to endure because of Pimp. In this chapter, all outward signs point to Claude's feeling of commitment to his brother; however, it is also his mother whom Claude wishes to protect. The author's growing middle-class attitudes cause him to feel extreme pain for his previous antisocial behavior. It is this earlier street life that is at the root of the problems now apparent in the Brown family: If Claude had not amassed such a fearsome reputation as a street hero, the problems with Pimp would be greatly reduced. Moreover, Mrs. Brown, who has had to suffer with one "bad" child already, could relax in her old age. Claude comes forth with many reasons why things are the way they are in his family; nevertheless, deep in his psyche, he blames himself. Claude has not yet solved the dilemma he faces every time he is with Pimp: Which side of his personality should he show to his brother--the brother image? Or the father image? He feels correctly that Pimp will reject him if he acts like a father, so Claude decides to pretend to be the brother, while exercising the control of a father. Thus, when Pimp comes to Claude for sympathy after fighting with Mr. Brown, Claude must be careful not to disagree with his brother; yet he must try to make Pimp want to return. Claude doesn't feel that, at fifteen, Pimp is ready to leave Harlem. Leaving Harlem is Claude's cure-all prescription for any problem that he and his acquaintances might have. Claude puts heavy emphasis on the environment as the main cause of antisocial behavior: One is depraved because he has been exposed over long periods of time to catastrophic conditions. The people whom one meets, the opportunities that one has for success or failure--all these play a part in how one feels about himself and others. Thus Claude, realizing that it would be impractical to allow Pimp to leave Harlem on a permanent basis as he has done, begins to try and expose his brother to other sections of the city. Claude's aim is to broaden his brother's outlook, hopefully engendering within him middle-class attitudes. Claude takes his brother to sections of New York City that will dramatically show the contrast between Harlem and the white community; he hopes that Pimp will see beauty in the white sections and ugliness in Harlem. But what Claude sees as beautiful and worthy of sacrifice to attain, Pimp sees only as different. To a mind conditioned by the code of the ghetto and without the influence of "cultured" people--that is, to a mind like Pimp's, middle-class living is dull and unattractive. The plan to broaden Pimp's outlook extends to Greenwich Village. Claude exposes his brother to Claude's new non-Harlem friends. The middle-class conservative mind would consider these new friends of Claude's as loose-living hippie types. After all, holding late parties, smoking marijuana, and partying with women cannot be expected of the "all-American citizen." Seeing this kind of life style cannot be expected to develop middle-class attitudes and values. It may seem strange that Claude does not recognize this fact, but if one considers the encouragement that Claude gives his brother by providing him with money, one can see why Pimp wants to leave Harlem for the Village; he can keep all of his street values and yet accept what he desires from this "new" lifestyle. He can have the best of two worlds. Claude does not recognize that the way of life which he shows his brother in the Village is not really so different from what might be found in Harlem. Still, there are these differences: Claude's Village friends have superior intellects and are more talented. Also there is the absence of hard drugs at his parties. This should be enough of a change to impress Pimp to drop his ghetto values. It does not. One cannot argue with Claude's not telling his brother to remain at home and submit to Mr. Brown. Claude feels that Pimp will have nothing further to do with him if he takes that approach. And the problem is complicated when Pimp shows up in the Village determined to stay with Claude. The author uses masterful psychology in dramatically showing the contrast between living at home and living away from home. He proves that his evaluation of his brother is correct: Pimp is not ready for adult responsibility.


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www.cliffs.com When Mrs. Brown's windows need relining, she and her son seem to be illustrations of the contrast between generations. Mrs. Brown's subservient behavior is typical of her generation--particularly, those blacks who grew up in the South. In her southern mind, it is unthinkable to question the white landlord-and not because she doesn't want what is rightfully hers; Claude's mother is reluctant to pressure the white boss because she is afraid. Her mind is conditioned to expect something bad to happen to the "nigger" who gets smart with a white man. This chapter also emphasizes the major difference in the way the two generations view society. Claude's mother and father have a very narrow outlook with very limited aspirations. They are afraid of doing anything that might change the status quo. Mrs. Brown is not only afraid that she might offend the landlord; she is also afraid of the butcher or anyone else in positions of authority. To the older generation, a person should be satisfied to have a "good" job. But their definition of a good job is not accepted by Claude's generation. There is a difference in the lifestyles of the two groups. In the country, people practice a more quiet, conservative lifestyle--a lifestyle that is extremely out of place in the big city. Claude is cognizant of the fact that his parents are ill fitted for the big city. He is, in fact, ashamed for them. In his frustration at their ineptness, he lashes out at them. He knows full well that his parents can't be blamed for their southern rural attitudes; yet, he finds it maddening that they won't even try to change. For Claude's parents, there is an almost total unawareness that their attitudes are out of place and ineffective in Harlem. Claude emphasizes that his parents, in trying to guide him into some kind of vague, general morality, fail to define it for themselves. To the older Browns, the term "being good" means just sitting with folded arms; this is a defeatist attitude to Claude, who is seeking positive involvement. "Being good" is no guide at all; he seeks a viable alternative. Mr. and Mrs. Brown cannot provide it. Mr. Brown, in berating Claude for not appreciating his busboy job, is representative of many ghetto fathers (though not so many today) who see success in of security. It is unrealistic, to Mr. Brown, for anyone to turn down a steady salary for some distant, future goal. The major distinction between the two generations is the way in which each sees itself. Claude's parents are afraid of the white world, will take verbal and physical abuse, and are satisfied with only a little. Claude and those who grew up with him are very sensitive about their manhood. They consider being a man even more important than being honest. They consider knowing who you are more important than having security. This is why George Baxter leaves the garment center; this is why Claude walks out on his watch repair job. Claude's generation is driven by a need for self-respect. To further understand Claude's generation, one must know about the childhood of such people as Reno. Reno had no childhood--childhood, theoretically, includes being free from want and fear. Many Renos live in the Harlems of America. Claude is resigned to a feeling that there cannot be better understanding between the races--especially between blacks and Jews. The anti-Semitic sentiments expressed in this chapter are not so much antiJewish as they are anti-authoritarian. Claude and his contemporaries resent any man, or group of men, who seems to have the power to decide if they should be men or "boys." No one should have that kind of power. The chapter ends as Claude gives us yet another example of his middle-class outlook. As he walks down a Harlem street, he encounters a small boy who expresses a desire to emulate him. Claude cannot continue to walk with Jake, knowing that what he is about to do is wrong; he has reached another step in his quest for a new value system.


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CHAPTER 12 This short chapter brings to a climax the calculated schemes which Claude uses to try and save Pimp from street life. The word is out: None of the redemptive plans have worked; the long talks, the excursions into the white sections, the visits to Greenwich Village--all these have failed. Everybody seems to know that Claude has deep guilt feelings about his brother. Danny knows that Claude is determined to keep Pimp from following him into street life. Therefore, Danny finds it hard to tell Claude about Pimp; to do so is, in effect, to say to Claude: "You've failed; Pimp is lost--he's into the street thing." It has been clear to Danny for some time that Pimp was headed for drugs. Danny has that deep concern that causes him to be sensitively aware of danger to others. By telling Claude about Pimp, he is making a last, desperate try to save a fellow human being from addiction--something Danny has known firsthand. And why has Claude not known? Surely someone as hip in street life as Claude Brown should have been able to recognize the symptoms if his own brother were dabbling with drugs. There are good reasons, however, why Claude is surprised. First, he is just too emotionally close to his brother to see what has been happening. Since everyone else knows about Claude's guilt feelings, why shouldn't Pimp know also; knowing how Claude feels makes it relatively simple for Pimp to hide his feelings from Claude. A second reason for Claude's surprise is his hope that everything will, somehow, "work out" in the end. Even when he sees Pimp acting suspiciously guilty, Claude's state of mind causes him to overlook what is there. It is simply a matter of being too optimistic and ignoring the facts. Claude wonders where he has failed Pimp; what has he done wrong? Perhaps the answer is that the wrong was done during those years Claude spent in street life. By the time Claude developed his middle-class leanings, it was too late to keep Pimp from following in his footsteps. Pimp needed a strong, masculine ideal and Claude was there; he had a strong street reputation. Claude failed Pimp when he earned the reputation of being a "bad nigger"; he failed Pimp when he encouraged his brother to respect him. After a while, it was too late to try and undo what was done, although Claude wishes he could take it all back. His frustration turns to anger and he seeks to blame Johnny McNeil for introducing Pimp to drugs; a more likely source of blame, if any can be given, should go to Ruby, the drug dealer. Claude spends considerable effort condemning heroin as a drug, pointing out how it can devastate a community, yet nowhere does he condemn the people who are responsible for the drug traffic--people like Ruby and her suppliers. In fact, to Claude, Ruby is similar to Johnny D. or Mr. Jimmy. She is actually ired because she can control, to an extent, her situation. For a woman in the ghetto, this is an irable trait. Accepting Ruby, after discovering that she sold drugs to his brother, does not mean that Claude has returned to his street life values. It simply reaffirms what was pointed out earlier: In Claude's mind, the environment has tremendous effects on behavior. If Ruby existed somewhere outside the ghetto, with different opportunities, very likely she would not be a drug dealer. Besides, if Pimp is determined to buy drugs, Ruby cannot stop him from finding them. It is not her fault that Pimp is ill prepared to face life in the Harlem streets. There are many Rubys in the ghettos of America; they are not generally blamed for the problems they cause. If they were, they could not survive where they must live. Further illustrating Claude's unrealistic view of his brother is the comparison he makes between Pimp and Murray. Claude thinks that Murray is not strong or smart enough for Pimp. Claude sees his brother as a much stronger individual than he really is. In actuality, Murray is matched to Pimp very well. Claude forgets that he (Claude) is the strong partner in all of his close friendships; in fact, he makes his superiority a prerequisite for friendship. Since Pimp does not have Claude's courage, one cannot expect Murray to be a very strong person. He is, nevertheless, Pimp's choice and, as such, should be accepted by Claude. When the full realization of what Pimp has done is first apparent to Claude, he wants to strike out at Pimp--to punish him for not being "good." Claude becomes, in effect, Mr. Brown who, in his frustration,


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www.cliffs.com beat Claude years ago. Now it is Claude who is frustrated; he has tried everything he knows, and he has not succeeded. What is there left to do but try a beating? To Claude's credit, he is unable to carry out his threat; his love and sense of responsibility to his brother keep him paralyzed. In a way, he is in a stupor, just as Pimp is. It is ironic that Claude should see Pimp in a drug stupor and think "Absalom, Absalom." For a person who shows a distinct dislike for religion, he has demonstrated on two occasions that a crisis can bring out a religious reaction. After Butch Crawford's funeral and when Danny left for Kentucky, Claude prayed. When Claude looks at his brother and sees his worst fears realized, he turns to religion for a suitable expression. In the Bible, Absalom is the favorite son of King David. The son is killed when he rebels against his father. At first, Claude's phraseology seems to be inappropriate; however, it is most apt for the occasion. Claude has once again taken over the father role from Mr. Brown and has tried to shape Pimp's character. Claude has seen his father utterly fail with his elder son and he knows that Mr. Brown and Pimp have developed the same kind of relationship. Claude is successful in having Pimp see him in the father role, but unsuccessful in influencing Pimp to listen to the voice of experience. Pimp, like Absalom of old, rebels. What Claude must now do is keep the other implications of the phrase from coming true. Absalom dies in a tangle of trees in the forest. Pimp also faces a forest--a forest jungle of drugs. Claude must keep him from destroying himself.

CHAPTER 13 When considering the material in the Saturday-night-in-Harlem section, one should bear in mind the point made earlier: Those citizens who go about their normal pursuits in the accepted way are barely considered by the author; in this chapter, particularly, he writes about those people who live by their wits in the streets. But Claude Brown overstates the case he makes about Saturday night in Harlem. There are, to be sure, many shootings, cuttings, and street brawls on Saturday night in the nation's ghettos. Nevertheless, to imply that everyone, or even most people, in a particular community are involved would not be stating the facts. There are three distinct groups who operate on Saturday nights. There is the middle-class black who regards Saturday nights pretty much as does his white counterpart. And there is the lower-class black with religious orientation and the lower-class black without religious orientation; these, Claude Brown classifies as "good" people and as street people. Most of the Saturday night revelry is carried on by the street people who are, by their nature, less pretentious and therefore closer to the Saturday night tradition. This tradition is traceable to the slave era in the South. During the week--Monday through Friday--the slaves would have little energy left at the end of a day to do anything more than prepare for the next day. The weekends, however, were different; knowing that they would not be required to work Sundays, the slaves used Saturdays to unwind, to let off steam, and to relax before another hard week of work. The slave owners permitted these orgies because they knew there would be less chance of slave rebellions. During longer breaks in the routine, such as Christmas, some slave owners would provide free whiskey and encourage their slaves to get drunk. Again the purpose was to lessen the chance of a rebellion. The "good" black person usually belongs to one of the religious denominations or sects that allow and encourage great freedom of expression, both physically and vocally; that is, the churches are fundamentalist. Many of these small churches are one of a kind, and the people who attend often get a sense of power and responsibility which is absent from their jobs during the week. So, in a very real way, Claude Brown's diagnosis is correct: The "good" people have their catharsis on Sunday mornings; Saturday nights are spent in stilted anticipation. Claude discusses the phenomenon of Saturday night courage. Many times this is the result of deep depression at the very thought of facing another week in a hopeless existence. Thus the Saturday night people seek one final excess, one final indulgence before the new week begins. Big Bill is the embodiment of all the frustrations felt by the Saturday night people. He is typical of the ghetto dweller


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www.cliffs.com who tries to forget his troubles or his menial job or whatever he has to face. He seems to want to die because, really, what is there to live for? He has little security and lives from payday to payday--or worse, from one arrangement for money to the next arrangement for money. Appropriately, Claude discovers his father's woman on a Saturday night. Claude would be less than human if he did not feel some emotion at the revelation that his father has a mistress, but he seems to express no opinion on the morality of the situation; it is only from the tone of the narrative that one can sense disapproval. Actually, Claude is placed in an uncomfortable position by the incident. Should he succumb to his inner feelings of disgust at his father for being unfaithful to his mother or should he play the role of the suave man of the world, who is not surprised by anything in life? Claude chooses the latter. When we analyze Claude's reaction, we realize that he is still faced with the problem of concealing his true feelings; as a man, he can give no sign of weakness or sloppy emotion; even now, he is controlled by a force deep within his psyche which compels him to be in control at all times, regardless of the cost. Note that Claude would not object if his mother were unfaithful. In her case, Claude feels that she deserves someone more sensitive to her needs. Claude resents the idea that his father can find peace outside the home. Further, he is surprised that Ruth can bring out tenderness in a man whom Claude has always seen as a tyrant. The main thrust of this chapter is to tell us more about the tragedy of Claude and Pimp. Having finally itted to himself that Pimp is on drugs, Claude's concern is to keep him from becoming addicted. He tries hard to save Pimp from addiction, but finally he becomes just a "soft touch," someone Pimp can count on to the habit. Claude its, after Pimp becomes addicted, to having loaned him money and clothes--knowing that his brother was going to buy heroin. But Claude can never turn his back when his brother needs him. This is consistent with his character in general; when Sugar needs heroin, Claude leads her to the very thing that is ruining her. By giving Pimp money, Claude is helping his brother drop deeper into drug addiction. We must that Claude is still undergoing the psychological problem of trying to be Pimp's older brother and his father at the same time. He wants to provide leadership and guidance so that his brother will reject street life; yet, he also wants to provide a contrast to the unenlightened treatment Pimp receives at home. Claude finds the two positions incompatible; he can't ultimately help Pimp unless he sometimes takes a firm stand. And this is the problem; Claude cannot bring himself to be firm with Pimp. What he does is to provide another source of income to his brother as he goes deeper into addiction. In Claude's defense, one must that the nature of drug addiction causes its victims to rob or kill to the habit. Mr. Brown, in his usual uncomplicated way, handles the drug problem the same way he handles most others--physically. Failing to get the desired results by beating his son, Mr. Brown puts Pimp out of the house. It may seem unthinkable that a father would put a sick child out of the house with nowhere to go and no money, but one should that Mr. Brown is frustrated. Earlier, he turned his elder son out of the house when the rules were not obeyed. In his simple mind, kicking his son out will, in some way, help Pimp. To suggest that Mr. Brown does not love his son would be unfair; he does--the actions he takes with both Claude and Pimp are manifestations of that love. It should say something about the ghetto mind that only Claude, with his newfound, middle-class values, seeks any medical and psychological help for Pimp. To the rest of the Brown family, the only hope is for Pimp to cure himself; the family does not see drug addiction as an illness; to them, Pimp can stop taking heroin anytime he has a mind to do so. Thus they believe Pimp when he promises to change, to do better. There is a sense of hopelessness in this approach to the problem. And even Claude doesn't push very hard to convince Pimp to seek medical help: When Claude suggests that the two of them see Reverend Eddie, Claude's known contempt for preachers keeps Pimp from taking the suggestion seriously. And Claude does not insist.


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CHAPTER 14 It is significant that the author devotes an entire chapter to the Black Muslim movement. The sect has played an important role in the rise of black nationalism, not only in Harlem, but all over the country. Initially, Claude sees the Muslims as only another phase of nationalism in Harlem; the tone seems to belittle its importance and also the importance of contributions to black self-esteem from men such as Marcus Garvey and others who were active earlier. Garvey's contribution is essentially that he developed black pride at a time when it was badly needed. Few of his followers had any intention of really going back to Africa, but Garvey contradicted the prevailing insistence in this country that black is ugly. In Claude Brown's opinion, something will probably replace the Muslims as an outlet for black frustration. We must , however, why Claude cannot believe in the Muslims or in any other mystical force: As a pragmatic individual, he can see many fallacies in their doctrine. To Claude, the test of what the Muslims say about their beliefs is contradicted by what can be proved. The first of his friends to whom he talks at length about the faith is Floyd Saks. A cursory review of Floyd's character might lead one to the conclusion that Floyd is a confirmed racist. He spouts the familiar phrases that racists preach: we can hate and mistreat other groups because we are superior beings; we can assign all wrong and evil to one side or group; all of the important knowledge and all of the important historical personages come from our racial stock. These views from Floyd Saks sound very much like those preached by Hitler, the major difference being the so-called superiority of the race involved. Still, Floyd Saks is not a traditional racist because the views he expresses are his defense against a conflict hostile to his psyche. Only a short time earlier, Floyd Saks considered himself to be inferior. Traditional racists are quick to convince themselves that they are of superior stock. In truth, Floyd Saks is giving vent to his anger and frustration through black hate. It is natural that Claude sees black hate as being just as bad as white hate. In Claude's view, a man cannot control his color; therefore, it should not be held against him. Floyd's reasoning behind the "Buy Black" campaign is this: By ing together economically, black people will be able to share in the financial pie. But, as Claude points out, the economic boycott does not work well in black communities. There are good reasons why this is true. In the ghetto, blacks have less economic power and are thus in a less favorable position to bargain. The average black ghetto family is not sophisticated in matters relating to economics. Yet, the major reason why black people don't buy from blacks has to do with the feeling that black goods are inferior. This is a result of a massive, whitecontrolled brainwashing job perpetrated through the years. Black merchants, without the economic wherewithal, cannot package their goods attractively, cannot offer them at competitive prices, and cannot get their message across to the community in the same manner as their white counterparts. Further, the black businessman suffers from a certain prejudice in his community that he cannot be trusted. Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun contains an excellent example of this problem. Walter Lee, the black hero, is betrayed in a business venture by his black business partner. Floyd charges that religion has been used to keep blacks in line, while the whites violate every principle for their own advantage. Note carefully that Claude doesn't categorically refute the charge; in speaking of the movement as a whole, he tells Floyd that he isn't yet sold on the idea. From what we know of Claude's character, he probably agrees with much of what Floyd is saying. More than likely, he agrees with Floyd's remarks about religion. What Claude hasn't been sold on is the Muslims' prescription that action will resolve the problems. Claude sees Floyd substituting one form of racism for another. Additionally, Claude is in the midst of acquiring a set of middle-class values; the transition is painful and not yet complete. He is not about to give up these values now, just when they seem to offer him hope for the future. He sees the values which he held before as symbols of hopelessness; he cannot return to that dead end. The strongest attack on Claude and his newly acquired value system comes from Alley Bush. Alley issues


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www.cliffs.com a call for revolution; he considers Claude one of the complacent people, one who has made it within the "system" and who says to his fellow blacks, "I made it without resorting to revolution; why can't you?" Incredibly, many people in the black middle class hold precisely this view. They have absolutely no sympathy for their lower-class brothers. They are, in fact, much more severe in their criticism of lowerclass behavior than are whites. Claude realizes that, in a way, this is just what he is doing--making it within the "system." But he also knows that he is interested in his fellow Harlemites, and he does try to help them find a way to work within the framework of the present political structure. Claude cannot accept violence as the ultimate solution to the problems of the black man. For Claude, violence only achieves martyrdom. He makes it plain that he wants no part of hopeless causes. His rebellious days as a bebopper and a thief have convinced him that there must be a better, more effective way of attaining manhood. Note that he sees leaving Harlem as an essential first step in improving one's lot--if one is to achieve within the "system." Actually, Claude advocates beating the "system" by exploiting it to its full advantage. He realizes that leaving the ghetto isn't enough. One must be prepared to contribute something to society. He has no intention of leaving Harlem to push a rack of clothes in the garment district or to wait tables at Hamburger Heaven--nor would he suggest this solution to his friends. Claude's solution seems to be this: Prepare to do something that has dignity--something of worth--and then present oneself to the rest of society. Alley Bush feels that Claude is complacent because he hasn't learned to be angry. The truth is, however, that Claude Brown is angry. Claude reacts to the indignities of being black in a society run by whites just as any other black man does--but Claude makes the decision to channel his anger into productive paths. Claude has this message for Alley, but Alley isn't ready to receive it. Even though Claude cannot accept the Muslim teachings, he does see a need for the group. He credits the movement for helping to bring together different shades of blacks. This has been a major problem throughout the years. Claude is somewhat surprised to find the light-skinned Alley Bush and Floyd Saks calling themselves black. This is a positive act. Claude can also ire another feature of the movement: of the faith acquire property, give good service in business, and give needed jobs to black people. Claude places the street people into categories which determine their susceptibility to the Muslim line. There are those people who have no purpose, who wander aimlessly through life. Bulldog represents this kind of convert. He is attracted to religion because of the gimmickry involved. Bulldog likes to hear his new Muslim name; he likes to stroke his beard. It gives him a sense of worth which he hasn't had before. People such as Bulldog are attracted to other religions in the same way. Claude considers Bulldog a searcher who hasn't found his niche. On the other hand, such people as Turk and himself, those who know where they are going, have no interest in the Muslim religion. What Claude does not say, but is nevertheless true, concerns another division among blacks: Those who have been successful in the white man's world, dealing with white values, have no great need or desire to demand change. Those who have not been successful in white society see a great need for change. This latter group is more likely to be prime candidates for the Black Muslim faith or any other movement which calls for immediate change. Claude Brown remarks, "If they don't do any more than let the nation know that there are black men in this country who are dangerously angry, then they've already served a purpose.

CHAPTER 15 This chapter concerns itself with the only romantic interlude in Claude Brown's story. This is not to say that Claude's life is devoid of love; it is not. There are many instances when we see Claude's concern and affection for others: Helping Sugar get a heroin fix, for instance, is an act of love within its context; the numerous times Claude helps his brother in the vain hope that Pimp can overcome his drug habit--these are acts of love. In the traditional sense, however, the gentle, tender, and beautiful ion that flows


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www.cliffs.com between a man and a woman is almost totally missing from Claude Brown's life. It is significant that Claude's only romantic comes from a relationship with a middle-class white female--someone completely foreign to his ghetto existence. Claude Brown and Judy Strumph differ in training, experience, and outlook. He is a man of the world; he has lived. Judy is only seventeen and has always been sheltered; she is extremely naive and therefore very interested in a man with Claude's vast experience. What do they have in common? Claude and Judy potentially have a similar system of values--potentially because Claude's acceptance of middle-class morality is still developing although far from complete. Claude cannot judge Judy as he would judge a black girl. The black girls whom he knows were reared in the ghetto; they were so busy trying to exist that many of the social amenities non-ghetto people enjoy are missing from their experience. To a degree, many of them have not had the opportunity of becoming women in a society which places womanhood on a pedestal. Claude is very aware of the black man/white woman taboo. In this country, even today, society is often reluctant to accept this arrangement. Claude re his mother's stories of lynchings in the South--sometimes for merely speaking to a white woman. To be ired and valued by a white woman--to break the taboo--has to affect Claude's actions. He surely re how he and others raped Clara, the white prostitute, and how he remarked afterward, "after that, I was pretty sure that white girls weren't anything different." Even though Claude made that comment, he is not yet convinced; in his heart, he still believes the mystique that is associated with the white woman. If the circumstances of their meeting had been exactly the same but had Judy been black, Claude probably wouldn't have had the same feeling about her; he probably would not have been willing to become involved. It is Judy's whiteness which carries the relationship initially. Claude is aware that the ghetto believes that no self-respecting, pretty white girl would be seen with a black man; only ugly white trash would indulge in such a relationship. Claude is not only impressed with Judy's white skin; he is impressed with her white manners. When he meets the nineteen-year-old black girl, he does not hesitate to approach her in the accepted ghetto manner. With Judy, however, Claude is careful not to betray his ghetto conduct. Because the two young people have much to discuss besides sex, Claude sees Judy as the personification of the kinds of attitudes he seeks to possess. She is natural, uninhibited, and unaffected. With Judy, Claude need not have worried about his Harlem manners or her naiveté. As a black man, Claude is naturally suspicious of Judy's parents. He knows that it is highly unlikely that they would approve of their daughter's relationship with a black person. One wonders if Judy is as naive in this regard as she appears. From what she relates about her family's reaction to a cousin marrying a Puerto Rican, she should be aware. Judy should know that society frowns on mixed courtships; there is no indication that she tells her mother about Claude. When Judy tells Claude that she is willing to do anything to please him, he doesn't know how to react. The experience is like none he is prepared to handle. He can relate to girls only as Johnny D. told him to: Take anything you want from a woman because she can always get more. Claude realizes that Judy is open, defenseless, and vulnerable--but that she trusts him. It increases his iration for her. In this same situation, Claude would have no qualms about taking a young black girl to bed; yet, he agonizes for days over the "rightness" of becoming intimate with Judy. There is a sense of power felt by Claude when he is with Judy. When he meets her at school for their first date, he sees her talking to a white student. Claude is extremely pleased when Judy walks away from the student to him. In his view, this means that Judy is willing to leave white to come to black--and she doesn't care if white knows it. When Judy thanks Claude for taking her out, Claude is gratified; here he is taking out a white girl and she thanks him for doing so. Claude tells Judy that interracial couples are a fad in the Village. He does not see the two of them as part


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www.cliffs.com of that fad; yet, considering that Claude has no serious intentions beyond lovemaking, the relationship they possess could easily be termed a fad. On Judy's part, she would be willing to follow Claude's lead; to her, it is a new and exciting world. But Claude again reveals his pragmatism when the two discuss children of mixed marriages. Claude can imagine insurmountable problems for such children; Judy can envision only the love that such couples must possess to produce such children. The uncharacteristic argument that Claude has with Tony (about Judy) illustrates the conflict between the old ghetto mores and the newfound middle-class values. It hurts Claude to hear Judy mentioned in a derogatory manner--as if she were black. This would not have bothered him a short time ago in Harlem; it does now. He is ashamed to reveal to Tony that he has not had sex with this girl, as he would certainly have had with a black girl. He is ashamed to allow this part of his new middle-class ethics to show. Finally, Claude's ghetto or street morality wins over his newly acquired, middle-class values. He can't understand why Judy's mother won't allow the relationship to continue, although he has been intimate with her daughter for six months. All this time, Claude has not mentioned marriage--nor does he intend to do so. The relationship comes to its inevitable conclusion. Although Claude is sad, his experience tells him that there is no other way.

CHAPTER 16 This chapter could best be described as a kind of regression. After the bitter experience with Judy, Claude is hurt and wants to return to Harlem. The middle-class world doesn't look so rosy to him any more. He feels out of place now in the Village. Deep within him, he is happy when circumstances force him to leave. He is now afraid to try a close relationship again with a white girl; he its to Turk that he knows better. His try at being a part of the white world was a mistake. Claude finds that getting out of Harlem is not the only way to escape street life. He meets young Harlemites who have remained in the community, who have rejected drugs and crime, and who are now productive citizens. Claude is very proud of these people--particularly because they have not run away as he has done. Claude now feels that leaving Harlem is no longer escaping; it is running. Being away from Harlem has become not a positive act, but a negative one. He has never before looked upon his time in the Village this way. He now feels guilty; yet, he does not make excuses for his conduct. These young people have been able to overcome the temptations of street life in one way--by remaining in Harlem; Claude has been able to succeed in another way--by leaving. Still, for the first time, there is a tiny seed of doubt in Claude's mind: Is escaping from the ghetto really a necessary step if one is to succeed? Before, he had no doubt that it was; now, with all the evidence that success can come to one without leaving the community, he is not so sure. If Claude can be mistaken about something so basic to his life's strategy, can he be mistaken about other things? Can he be mistaken about the best way to help his brother, Pimp? In the back of his mind, Claude cannot help but wonder. Claude is also skeptical about Turk's seed money idea. The author's pragmatic mind will not allow him to accept anything so closely connected to superstition. Claude believes that people make their own breaks; they should not depend on favors from the gods. This helps explain why Claude has never succumbed to the ghetto practice of ing the numbers racket. Claude has been exposed to people who play the numbers as long as he can . Yet he has never been tempted to take a chance. To him, the whole idea is just another manifestation of the southern mores--mores he emphatically rejects. Although Turk's superstition is foreign to Claude's nature, he has too much respect for Turk to take him to task for his opinion. Of all Claude's former street friends, Turk proves to be the most philosophical. Turk's statement about maturity is profound. To Turk, maturity is discovering how foolish street life is. He correctly identifies the herd instinct in street gangs and its that group pressure motivated his early misconduct. We might ask ourselves how Turk can be so objective about his life. , of the old Buccaneers, Turk and Claude are the only two who have spent any time away from the community in an atmosphere


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www.cliffs.com conducive to philosophical thoughts. Danny, Mac, Butch, and others have spent years away from Harlem-but always in prison surroundings. And prisons are miniature ghettos where one is exposed to a concentrated dose of everything evil that affects the real ghetto. The Air Force experience provided Turk with an opportunity to reconsider his life in Harlem somewhat objectively; Turk has had a chance to compare his life in the ghetto with life away from the ghetto. He has met and made friends with people of other races and backgrounds. Above all, Turk has experienced a different lifestyle. In all these respects, he and Claude are alike. There is good reason for Claude to revel in Mac's success. As Bucky's brother, Mac has been through the worst kind of family degradation; he has spent time in prison beyond his sixteenth birthday--a condition Claude considers intolerable. We that Claude rejected street life because getting into trouble after age sixteen would give him a prison record. Such a record in Harlem keeps one from getting a decent job or voting or doing other things that could bring one respect. Because of Mac's adult prison record, Claude has given up on him. Mac's success, however, explodes Claude's theory; although working in a paint firm cannot be called successful in some circles, Mac has managed to break the grip of crime, vice, and hopelessness that pervades his family. It is difficult to understand why Claude Brown would take a job as a salesman in Harlem. After all, Claude has always demanded and received respect as a man. As we have seen, this demand for respect has pushed him into anti-social acts in the past--acts which have resulted in his going to prison. Yet, he now has a job that cannot enhance his image as a strong black man. The street people know that cosmetic salesmen in the ghetto have little money. This is because the people with whom they must deal have little money for cosmetics. This type of salesman must beg in order to make a minimum living. Claude has never done this before. During the time he was selling drugs, he never worried about high-pressuring his customers; they sought him out. Why, then, does he take the job? He becomes a salesman because at this point in his life, he has made his choice: He is not going back into street life under any circumstance; still, he needs money. Selling cosmetics offers him the opportunity to make money honestly--without too much physical labor. Claude quits his fireproofing job because he has to work too hard. The selling job allows him some freedom. Besides, Claude is naturally curious and he likes people. As for being a man, Claude is not so much in need of reassurance any more. He has a sense of his manhood and he has no reason to have to prove anything anymore. He doesn't mind that the street people see him in cheap clothes selling cosmetics because now Claude doesn't identify with them. He has a new set of values. The things that make one important in street life don't have the same meaning any more. On the other hand, however, when we examine Claude's new values, we see that his aspirations are still remarkably low. He wants to go to college, but he doesn't think that he can win a scholarship. Of course we know that Claude has almost literally no one to tell of his desire for college, no one who could understand how he feels. No one in his family can understand; on the contrary, his mother and father think that he should get such unrealistic ideas out of his head and get a "good" job. When Claude seeks encouragement, he receives indifference. But his parents shouldn't be judged too harshly; they are products of their culture. After all, they both believe that their advice, if heeded, will result in the betterment of their son. Underscoring the break which Claude makes with street life is his meeting with Jackie. He knows that he can no longer accept Jackie on the same basis as before. He has rejected the things she still loves-marijuana, cocaine, the street life. He tries to make Jackie see the folly of being a prostitute. But just as she respects him in his new role, he must respect her epicurean philosophy. They can always be friends but can never again be lovers.


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CHAPTER 17 This chapter concludes the series of chapters on the problems between Claude and his brother. Here, Pimp is at his lowest point--a heroin addict. We have seen Claude deny to himself that his brother could reach this low state. Finally, in this chapter, he has to face the fact squarely. The drug addiction in the family has brought on a family crisis. The nature of this crisis is brought out rather forcefully in the three-way argument between Claude and his parents. Claude tells his mother not to be so naïve--so trusting--with Pimp; the author apparently forgets that Mrs. Brown would never it that her elder son, Claude, couldn't change. She would always keep faith and believe in the eventual conversion of her son from his anti-social behavior. It is strange that Claude can berate his mother for giving to Pimp the same consideration that she has given to him. Scolding his mother, then, is a form of self-abuse; Claude is punishing his own psyche by telling his mother these things. Claude wants to be hurt. He blames himself, so he must punish himself. On the other hand, Claude cannot bring himself to agree with Mr. Brown, who has been saying all along that neither boy is any good. Claude still believes that his father has less love for Pimp than he and his mother have. Therefore, when Claude changes his stand in the argument, he does so because it is painful to see his mother's defense of Pimp challenged, and because Claude will not allow himself to agree, even in principle, with his father. The irony in the situation is apparent because, in this instance especially, Claude is very much like his father. He loses control of his temper in frustration, just as his father does. The dialogue he uses in lashing out at his mother could just as easily have come from Mr. Brown. It is hard for Claude to it that sometimes his father can make a correct diagnosis. This time, when Mr. Brown takes a hard-line approach, Claude silently must it to himself the correctness of what his father says. In spite of Claude's hostility for his father, he realizes that he is his father's son and sometimes he has to act like his father. Claude's character requires that he be able to explain everything logically. Thus he feels that Pimp's drug addiction is an indication that his brother is trying to prove something to himself. What could this be? Possibly, Pimp needs to know that he can be his own man--without Claude--that he doesn't have to live in Claude's shadow. Pimp its that he is tired of being looked upon as a kid; he is tired of being chaperoned by people in the neighborhood who attempt to discipline him for things Claude can do without question. But Claude feels that Pimp tries drugs because he has an inferiority complex about being young and naive. Claude needs this reason for his own peace of mind; he cannot cope with the unexplainable very well. More likely, Pimp is rebelling from his older brother who has lived a full, unrestrained life, but who now tries to restrain Pimp--even trying to select his friends for him. Pimp's personality is the opposite of Claude's; it is like looking into a mirror and seeing a reverse reflection. In every way that Claude is strong, Pimp is weak. Pimp causes his parents worry and misery, just as Claude does, but in different ways. Claude finally makes the decision to seek the kind of help for Pimp that he has recommended for other drug addicts. When Lou, the former reform school counselor, talks to Claude about Reverend James and his plans for helping Harlem youth attend college, Claude has no thought of using this source to help Pimp. However, after he meets Reverend James, he realizes that the minister is a way to get help for his brother. Talking about Reverend James is initially a threat to Claude. He points out to Lou that he is leery of churches and preachers. At first, he suspects that Reverend James probably takes advantage of the poor to line his own pockets. Claude becomes interested only as Lou continues to brag that Reverend James is a unique and powerful individual. Then Claude's image of Papanek is threatened. He cannot allow Lou to leave without telling him about the greatness of the man, for at this time in Claude's life, Papanek is the only honest individual he has known. When comparing Papanek and Reverend James, one can see several aspects of their personalities that are


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www.cliffs.com alike. Both are able to listen well, without seeming to examine. Both are able to answer the hard questions without resorting to a politician's language--that is, both can quickly get to the heart of a point to be resolved. Both are experts at problem analysis. And, of course, they both have the tremendous intellect that must accompany other fine qualities. In Claude's behalf, one must give him credit for being able to it that a preacher can also be a really good individual. Yet, he seems determined to find a flaw in the minister's character, questioning him at length before making up his mind. Finally, he its that it is a surprise to find a truly deep thinker living in Harlem. Claude feels this way because he has been subjected to the white man's propaganda that black people cannot be great thinkers. In Claude's entire life, he has never met a black man with an intellect on a par with Ernest Papanek. Certainly he would never have imagined that such a person existed in Harlem. He has always been sure that the realities of the community precluded the development of such people. In the conversation he has with Reverend James, regarding Pimp, Claude feels some resentment. An astute analyzer, the minister has made Pimp seem weak. It is difficult for Claude to it that his only brother is not as strong-willed as he himself is. Claude's frustration at Pimp's selection of friends climaxes when Claude strikes Joe Norris. All the anger and helplessness he feels toward Pimp comes to the sufface and he takes it out on Joe. His love for Pimp--the same love that won't allow him to it to himself that Pimp is weak--won't allow him to strike his brother. Having taken out his aggression on Joe, he does a strange thing; he sits on the steps and accepts a drink from a wino. Why does he do this? Claude sees Pimp's situation as desperate; when he has Joe down on the street, preparing to kick him in the face, it is as though Claude's past washes back over him. He is back in the streets and the veneer of middle-class morality cracks wide open. What is a gulp of wine under those circumstances? In addition to the rest of Claude's troubles, Tony is found dead. Claude is stunned; Tony represents Claude's last hope of pulling someone out of street life. He has gotten Tony out of Harlem; he has seen Tony complete high school. Just as he is about to introduce Tony to Reverend James and college--just as he is about to show Tony the way to middle-class acceptance--his friend is found dead. Typically, Claude implies that Tony dies because he doesn't have a strong will to live. Claude is probably correct; certainly none of his street friends have Claude's will to live and achieve.

CHAPTER 18 The final chapter has very little to do with the important issues in Claude's story; it is very much like an epilogue. The crises in the story have ed, and the author desires to end his autobiography on a hopeful note. In providing this "happy ending," Claude Brown purposely seeks out signs that Harlem is changing for the better. One could, however, cite negative points to prove exactly the opposite. That he chooses to do the former is attributable to these factors: Claude is now clearly a part of the new black middle class. Within his new value system, he can measure the changing scene against what it has been. In addition, he is looking at the community after a long absence, which gives him a new sense of objectivity. He can no longer be a part of street life or know its intricate workings as he once did. Harlem is better; the proof of change is in the fact that the police actually look for two weeks for someone suspected of a stabbing. Claude is able to report this in a matter-of-fact way, without a tinge of bitterness. He is able to understand that the code of the streets by which he once lived is gone. He knows that future young Harlemites will not have to struggle to be "good," as they fight against the pressures of street life that come from within and without--within in the frustration about their roles in life; without the demands of their peers. When Claude was in the midst of his anti-social behavior, he had no viable alternatives; he knows now that these young Harlemites do. The successes of his friends in becoming productive citizens in Harlem are further evidence to Claude that things are better. Danny is a prime example; Danny has a son now--a son who will be made to know


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www.cliffs.com the value of education. This man, who once taught Claude how to be truant from school, now sees no need to give such training to his son. Claude wants to inform everyone that things have changed--that the need to be involved in street life no longer exists. He feels like taking a sound truck and making a general announcement. Danny, however, knows better; he stated earlier that each individual must discover the truth for himself; no one can successfully make the next generation avoid the pain in life simply by warning them. In spite of the way that Claude now feels about Harlem, he pretends that he can return to the days when one could seek his own justice. When his mother is stabbed, Claude makes an attempt to find the man who did the deed. There is a similarity between this episode and Claude's earlier attempt to live within his street code (Chapter 6). In both instances, Claude is unable to find his prey. Subconsciously, Claude doesn't want to exact revenge. In both instances, Claude is looking for drug addicts, people whom Claude believes are victims of the "plague" that has hit the community. And there is also this fact: Claude has made a choice to move away from street life; there is no way now that he can risk his success for a code which demands that the relations of victims of a crime act as their own policemen. As the autobiography ends, Claude feels that he is helping to fulfill Tony's dreams, as well as his own. He feels extraordinarily close to Tony because Tony listened to him; in fact, Tony was the only one of his street friends who literally took Claude's advice and acted on it. Claude is genuinely encouraged to realize that his dream is not a solitary one. Somehow, somewhere, others have had his dream and, as a result, Harlem is no longer a community of the past; Harlem now has a present and it now has a promising future.

CHARACTER ANALYSES CLAUDE BROWN (SONNY) In Manchild in the Promised Land, Claude's eventual development is dependent upon the sum total of the many episodes and experiences which he presents; the entire autobiography deals with the formulation of the character of the author. In essence, Claude Brown's character develops because of the silent war which rages within him as he attempts to discover his identity. In this sense, his autobiography has kinship with all humanity, for everyone must know before they can be contented.

JOHNNY D. Johnny D. is the first black man Claude has met who seems to have control of his situation. He is the archetype of a breed of ghetto dweller who will resort to any means to be "successful." In the ghetto, he is known as a "bad nigger" yet he teaches Claude much of the street philosophy which influences and guides him for years to come. Johnny D.'s importance to the story is precisely that he has a long-range influence on Claude. Johnny is a totally degenerate individual who has nothing good to recommend him. He is a part of every evil and corruptible situation that operates in his environment. He violates every precept of middle-class morality. But Johnny D. has thought about what he believes and is able to articulate his thoughts to Claude. Johnny D's street philosophy is effective because it seems to work in practice. When Claude follows Johnny D.'s advice about women, he is successful in his undertakings. Most of the problems which Claude has in accepting and relating to middle-class morality are traceable to the teachings of Johnny D.


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ERNEST PAPANEK More than any other individual, Ernest Papanek has Claude Brown's respect. Papanek is able to impress Claude without excelling in any of the physical activities that are so important to a boy steeped in street mores. Papanek doesn't fight, or even talk loudly; what he does do is impart a sense of power tempered with humanity. He is able to give orders and inspire his listeners to feel a need to carry them through. He is smart; Claude calls him the "smartest and deepest" person he has met. He is honest--the first thoroughly honest person Claude has known. His honesty shows in the way he answers questions; he answers the "hard" questions, those that really have no simple answers. Most of all, Ernest Papanek believes in Claude Brown, in his ability to succeed in society and not just in street life. His value as a friend is discussed in two episodes which show that, along with all his other gifts, Papanek excels in psychology. When Claude is going through a most difficult period, Papanek is the only person who will listen and try to understand his problems. Claude is unable to relate to his parents, but he is able to relate to Papanek. During long hours of listening to Claude talk about the problems he has with his family, Papanek resists the temptation to preach or give unwanted advice. Papanek knows that Claude wants to return to the security of Wiltwyck, but he is determined to try and make Claude see another way out of his problems. Another time, when Claude is visiting Wiltwyck at Thanksgiving, Papanek expresses a deep belief that Claude will do well outside of street life. This faith in Claude is one of the factors that helps the young man enter another lifestyle. He wants to change partly because he knows Papanek believes he can. To Papanek, children are also people--to have faith in, to believe in.

RENO Reno represents the most extreme case of deprivation in the ghetto. His case is not unique; many young people in the nation's ghettos are like Reno. He has no childhood; that is, he is never free from want and fear: He has to grow up fighting in order merely to exist. With a mother like Miss Jamie and absolutely no love, Reno matures early. He becomes a hustler as a matter of course; there is no thought of doing anything else. He is important to the story because he is very good at surviving in street life and because he teaches what he knows to Claude Brown. Reno's mind functions within the ghetto mentality: he wants showy success. His fondest dream is to own two Cadillacs and two bars. The Renos of the ghetto have always resented the Tony Albees. To Reno, the good boys have had more of everything; yet, they seem to look down on the street people who have nothing and are trying to survive. It would be twice as difficult for Reno to change his lifestyle, as Claude does. Claude has love in his life--the love of a family and friends; Reno has nothing.

TONY ALBEE Tony is the embodiment of the "good Negro," the "house Negro" in the ghetto. He has been sheltered by his parents and family, and he has been onished for years to stay away from the street people. He has been taught to believe that he is morally better than the street people. But, like all house Negroes, Tony must eventually come out in his teens if he wants to survive in the ghetto. He has a choice of taking a menial job--a subservient job that castrates his manhood--or he can look to the street people for advice and help in making a living. The suggestions may be illegal but they will command respect. Tony chooses the latter course. Naturally, the street people do not welcome with open arms someone who has considered them inferior. Fortunately for Tony, he meets Claude Brown when Reno is not around. Reno cannot accept Tony under any condition; Claude can. He undertakes to prepare Tony for life in the streets. This is not hard to do because Tony is an apt pupil. Tony is willing to do whatever is necessary in order to gain street respectability. Consequently, he doesn't mind leaving Harlem with Claude; he doesn't mind going to high school with Claude. In time, Tony feels that he is like Claude. Thus he is sincerely hurt


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www.cliffs.com when Claude will not talk to him at length about Judy Strumph. After all, he knows how Claude feels about "bitches," and isn't Judy just another "bitch"? Tony is caught in Claude's changing values. He is still oriented toward the street at a time when Claude is coming out of the street. His respect for Claude makes him willing to follow Claude out of street life. In the end, however, Tony cannot handle a part of street life that Claude has mastered--the drug scene. Tony cannot handle drugs and, because of this, his life is cut short. Tony is willing to follow Claude to middleclass respectability. He is willing but is defeated by drugs.

JUDY STRUMPH Judy supplies the only romantic interest in the autobiography. She is white, Jewish, plain, and naive. It is easy to see why Claude is attracted to her; why she seeks out Claude is another matter. As a sheltered seventeen-year-old, she would have been attracted to any talented boy--black or white. Initially, Judy seems unaware that Claude's blackness (or her whiteness) is potentially explosive in their relationship. She is genuinely happy to be with an individual whom she can like. Claude likes music and so does she; but when they talk, this young girl knows that Claude is older than his years imply. She is fascinated with Claude's intellect. When the race problem surfaces in their relationship, she tells Claude that it doesn't matter. Claude is wise enough to know that it does. As a kinky-haired Jew, she must have felt prejudice sometime. When she and Claude go out together, she experiences it in all its subtle, yet hostile ways--in the cafeteria, for example. It is likely that pressure is placed upon Judy at home when her parents find out about Claude. Judy has to fight to maintain her right to love whom she would. When interracial couples come together, they must, of necessity, live in the black world; the white world is too hostile. Yet in the black world there are also problems. Judy should, after a time, be aware of the ghetto saying that only white trash would be intimate with a black male. She should also be aware that black women resent her for "taking one of their men." None of these problems--at home or in the ghetto--seem to matter to Judy. She knows only that she loves Claude. What ultimately destroys their relationship is a clash of values. Judy is willing, even anxious, to become intimate with Claude; and after Claude conquers his initial reluctance to treat her as any other girl, he does just that--he treats her as he would any other girl. It is probable that the ensuing intimacy is the final outrage for Judy's parents; they can bear no more. Judy, reared as she is, regards marriage as the ultimate objective. She gives her body to Claude because of love--trusting that her lover will eventually get around to "doing what is right." But why should Claude marry Judy? In their conversations about interracial marriage, Claude makes it clear that he is not interested; Judy makes it just as clear that she is. Claude enjoys the rites of marriage for six months with no intention of changing--but Judy is in love with Claude.

TURK Turk is one of the original beboppers. He and Claude are together a lot, fighting and stealing during all those days before Claude is sent to Wiltwyck. It is Turk who is with Claude when they attempt to steal sheets from the clotheslines of the tenement dwellers. He is the one who discovers Claude, with a bullet in his stomach, lying on the dirty floor of the fish and chips t. In this critical situation, with his friend hurt, Turk can think only of himself; his concern is solely that Claude not involve him. His sense of loyalty is not strong at this stage in his life. Turk's character changes after he enlists in the Air Force. Because he is able to handle himself well with his fists, he develops the confidence that he uses well in later life. With his Air Force s, Turk is able to do the thing he can do best--fight. He is able to regard the gang fights and the stealing as just a phase of his life--a phase he doesn't intend to repeat.


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Turk is one of the genuine heroes of the story. No one knows how much encouragement he received from others during his stint outside of Harlem. Somewhere, however, he developed middle-class values. We know that after his Air Force experience, he is a different person. Before that time, he thought only of himself; afterward, he thought about others. He shares his wealth with junkies. He develops a one manone world approach to life. Most important, he is a source of inspiration to Claude and others in the Harlem community.

MAMA (MRS. BROWN) Mrs. Brown is the typical ghetto mother who loves her children but finds difficulty expressing that love. Because she is superstitious, she is concerned that her children might incur the wrath of some unknown force. Because she is uneducated, she finds herself without the usual drive to see her children measure success in middle-class ; she is satisfied if they have a job--any job. Because she is from the rural South, she has a southern black's fear of the white man and his cruelty; she wants to protect her children from wanting too much--wanting things that will bring them into conflict with the white world. Because she is black, she shares the prejudices that many older blacks have against their own color. Claude is able to realize that his mother and father try to live in the big city with rural southern attitudes and mores. Claude is correct in his analysis of why this is impossible. Mrs. Brown approaches her son with the negative "don't do" instead of a positive offering of viable alternatives. And her superstitions enable her to form a ready excuse when things don't go according to plan. "The devil's in that boy" is more than a saying with Mrs. Brown; it is a belief. She is unable to see that her obsession with playing numbers is in conflict with her exhortations to Claude to "be good." Mrs. Brown is completely lost in a city that has no place for the naive.

DAD (MR. BROWN) By all middle-class standards, Mr. Brown is a poor father: He is a drunkard, beats his children, is unfaithful to his wife, and uses every opportunity at his disposal to discourage his children--to let them know that he thinks they will fail. But Mr. Brown is not middle-class; he is lower-class--and he is a black man from the rural South. Therefore, there are extenuating circumstances that must be taken into before Mr. Brown can be judged. Because he is a black man, he is saddled with the psychological problems that many black men have-how to be masculine in a society which sees them as inferior; how to be a man in a system which recognizes the black woman as head of the family; how to keep his children in line by precept and example. In all these areas, Mr. Brown fails. He allows Claude to see him stripped of his manhood in a court room when he accepts a fifty-dollar settlement. His pleading to Claude not to tell is, in essence, a cry not to acknowledge that he is not a man. Mr. Brown's lack of education allows him to think that he can beat goodness into his son. Like Mrs. Brown, he cannot accept Claude's aspirations because they aren't similar to his. He sees nothing wrong with a job that requires one to say "yes, sir" to the white man. He can see no incompatibility between the way he lives and the way he wants Claude to live. Still, Mr. Brown prepares Claude for life in Harlem. He demands of his son that he be tough--that he strike hard and fast, and that he run from no one. He insists that Claude not be a coward. In this way, Mr. Brown helps keep Claude alive long enough to be able to change. In this way, he is not just a "dumb nigger."


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BUTCH We first see Butch as a member of the Buccaneers, a bebopping gang. He is there to help teach Claude the ins and outs of street life. He is older than Claude and, as an older gang member, he feels obligated to help his younger friend. It is Butch who teaches Claude the art of ringing cash s. Later we discover that Butch has become a heroin addict. His death (falling off a Harlem roof) shakes Claude and Danny; it causes them both to reflect on the lives that they have led. Butch, among others of Claude Brown's friends, is a classic example of the black ghetto male who lives by his wits in the streets. There is no way for Butch to succeed in the traditional sense; but, to himself, he does succeed. He is a good fighter and he is a good thief; he is a success at getting high on heroin. His aim in life is simply to "make it."

DANNY As an older member of the Buccaneers, Danny--like Kid, Butch, and Toto--fights in the streets, steals, and trains younger , like Claude, to survive in the ghetto. It is Danny who teaches Claude how to play hookey from school; Danny is the friend who helps Claude after he takes a nearly fatal dose of heroin. It is Danny who offers to help Claude meet his street life obligation to kill Limpy after Limpy has robbed Claude. There is something within Danny that sets him apart from the others in the gang. Although he, like others, becomes addicted to heroin, Danny does have some redeeming features in his personality. Danny is determined to conquer his drug habit; he realizes that it will be difficult, but he is able to plan realistically about his condition. He can, for instance, count on his family for help. Mrs. Rogers, a storefront preacher, and his sisters spend money and time praying and agonizing over Danny and his brother. It is realistic to believe that Danny's character improves because of his family. Later, when Danny is cured of his drug addiction, we see him as a stable influence in the community. He is ired by other drug addicts who see him as one of them, as someone who has been able to "kick the habit." In a sense Danny makes it out of slum Harlem by remaining in slum Harlem. This takes a special kind of courage. Danny has it.

JACKIE Why would a beautiful black girl with good intelligence end up on the streets of Harlem as a prostitute? Jackie's life is more than the story of low morals and shallow aspirations. Jackie is a victim of her environment. The tragedy is not that she turns to prostitution; the tragedy is that Jackie has no one to inspire her--to present alternatives for her. Jackie's mother not only sets a poor example for her daughter, but she allows the young men in the neighborhood to use her home as a brothel. Claude and others can spend the night with her daughter without any objection from her. , the community's attitude toward prostitution is permissive. In Jackie's circle of friends, she is just as respected as if she had some other job. She knows only that she has to live and that prostitution is one way to survive. Like the grasshopper, she lives only for today. In her conversation with Claude (during the time he sold cosmetics), she reveals the hopelessness of her life: "Sonny, I don't know what I'm doin'. I know that I've got to do it, and that's all I know. Whatever it is, regardless of how little sense it makes, I've got to do it." Here we see Jackie acknowledge the depravity in her life. How much better if Claude could influence Jackie to see things as he has seen them. But, of course, that would be an unrealistic expectation.

KNOXIE Knoxie, a member of the Buccaneers, gains the respect of his peers through fighting. He and Claude become friends because each respects the fighting ability of the other. Later, the tough kid who loves to fight acknowledges his homosexuality. As a youngster, Knoxie teases Claude about Claude's bucktoothed girl friend. This behavior illustrates Knoxie's desire to be accepted by the other of the gang; he has to be sure that they know that Claude is the one who is different, not Knoxie. That this boy who


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www.cliffs.com ridicules Claude's behavior would himself be gay is somewhat unusual; , however, in Harlem, behavior is not condemned by the total community. Thus Knoxie can be gay and not be shunned or ridiculed.

SUGAR Sugar is a ghetto female with something in her favor--the love of her parents; Sugar, unlike Jackie, has home which keeps her from viewing sex strictly from the viewpoint of the street. Sugar is able to dress better than Jackie and she is not so pressed for money that she would have to consider prostitution as a means to survive. Early in the book, Sugar pursues Claude and is encouraged in her pursuit by Mrs. Brown. Claude's mother likes Sugar because she is from a "good" family. There is nothing to indicate that Sugar is inhibited or self-conscious about her appearance. Claude sees her buckteeth as unattractive but this feature does not keep her from having sexual experiences while she is still quite young. Later, when Claude is attending high school, Sugar no longer seems unattractive. But Sugar has changed. She has given her love to someone else. The tragedy in Sugar's life is that she succumbs to the same fate of many women, black and white--she marries someone unworthy of her love. When Claude sees the addicted Sugar, he wants to help; deep down, however, he knows there is no help that he can give an addict. Still, he tries. When we last see Sugar, we are sure she has given up on life.

MRS. ROGERS Mrs. Rogers, Danny's mother, represents a type of grassroots fundamentalism that is prevalent in Harlem and other big city ghettos. Although black people, as a group, have the low-paying jobs, the grass-roots fundamentalists are at the lower end of even this scale. Of course, the low-paying jobs go hand-in-hand with low academic achievement. These people, additionally, are minister or preacher oriented; they have little regard for organized religion, preferring to be big fish in a little pond rather than the other way around. Having a woman as the preacher, or as the head of a church, is not uncommon. Because there is no organized sect involved, there are no criteria to be met. Some organized sects prohibit women from preaching. Many of these self-styled leaders organize for self-serving purposes. The frequent appeals for money bear witness to this fact. There is, however, no evidence to the contention that Mrs. Rogers is a preacher only to serve herself. Still, her overall conduct, including her many appeals for money, is part of the reason that Claude Brown holds preachers in such low regard.

BUCKY Bucky, like so many of the Buccaneers, has had a miserable childhood. As a member of a large family, he receives less than his share of the meager physical goods available. His mother, Miss Jamie, shows absolutely no affection toward her children, preferring instead to give all of her attention to her numbers and her men. In Bucky's situation, it would be a miracle if he became in any way successful in the traditional sense. In Bucky's life, hunger is his constant companion. When he discovers Father Divine's "heaven," he gets all he can eat for possibly the first time in his young life. Like Jackie, he has no one to inspire him to do any better. Unlike Jackie, he is unsuccessful at even petty crime; he is caught and spends time in prison. No one in the old gang is surprised when Bucky loses his mind; after all, isn't he the black boy who lost his manhood by allowing himself to be beaten up by a white boy?

PIMP We can view Pimp as part of the conscience of Claude Brown. As Claude's brother and close friend, a relationship is formed at the beginning of their life together that colors everything that happens between them. Their relationship is paradoxical. With all his heart, Claude wants his brother to adopt middle-class morals; yet, by his own example, Claude is causing Pimp to reject those values. Pimp sees his brother as a perfect model of black manhood. As Claude seems to have a complete mastery of his situation, and as Claude accepts his brother's homage, Pimp is led deeper into the position of being Claude's little brother.


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www.cliffs.com The monkey on Pimp's back is his brother's reputation. There is no way for Pimp ever to measure up to the incredible reputation of his brother--partly because Claude's exploits have naturally been embellished in the telling and retelling. In addition, Pimp's hero worship has required him to view his brother in awe. Another strike against Pimp is his name. There are few places where Pimp doesn't mean a procurer of women. It sounds like a nickname that someone has earned. To most readers, it seems cruel that Pimp has to carry the burden of this name with him. And yet, in Harlem, a name is one of the least of one's worries. Small wonder that Claude is unsuccessful in his attempts to keep his little brother out of street life. Every time Claude looks at his brother he sees himself--Claude Brown, the person he created but who now longs to change, but can't. Pimp longs to show that he too is a man, that he too can be successful like his brother.

K. B. As Claude Brown's close friend, K. B. shares many of Claude's ghetto experiences. He is subject to the same peer pressures and group mores--fighting, stealing, and so forth. Yet, in some ways, K. B. is not Brooklyn's carbon copy of Harlem's Claude. Although both boys are exposed to drugs, Claude is lucky enough to become sick during his first heroin experience. Had this happened to K. B., he may have taken another route, as Claude did. While the boys are inmates at Warwick, Claude is fortunate enough to work for the superintendent's wife. There he is exposed to books and a different philosophy. Had this happened to K. B., he might have taken another approach to life. Unfortunately, K. B. does not have Claude's positive experiences. On the surface, K. B. has just as much talent to succeed in the ghetto as Claude does. K. B., however, lacks that inner strength to succeed outside of street life. It seems to be beyond K. B. 's capacity or will to leave street life.

CAROLE AND MARGIE Carole and Margie, Claude Brown's two sisters, are shadowy figures who are never quite developed by the author. Claude Brown speaks of his closeness to his sisters, but neither girl is developed as a character in the autobiography--although we know more about the older sister, Carole. It seems that before Claude travels South to spend a year with his grandparents that he is close to both girls. He mentions coming to their defense when they are threatened by bullies in the neighborhood. Then there is the memorable scene after Claude's return from South Carolina when he hates his father for keeping him from enjoying his sisters' company. Carole is the sister who is very religious; Claude is concerned enough to try to free her from the "curse" of storefront religion. Later Carole and Margie marry and live away from home. There is a reason that these family seem relatively overlooked by the author. Claude Brown's story progresses from one crisis to the next, running the gamut of human frailties and complexities. His sisters' stories are too ordinary--too mundane to be significant to a consciousness attuned to crisis and excitement.

CRITICAL ESSAY CLAUDE BROWN'S STYLE Claude Brown's style explodes in the consciousness of the average reader--especially the average white reader. Those individuals who have objected to the mild coarseness in language and subject matter of such works as J. D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye and Richard Wright's Black Boy are suddenly face to face with an approach that immerses the reader within a completely different lifestyle. Many readers have rejected the experience. In a sense, these individuals are fooled by what they think they know about Claude Brown. The think Claude Brown is a crude and rough writer. It is important to note, however, that


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www.cliffs.com the author chooses to use an easy, colloquial style in the autobiography even though he is a master now of two worlds--the street and the straight. He could easily have translated his work into standard English. He did not because the book would have lost its impact. Although Brown uses a straightforward narrative style, the overall effect is, nevertheless, complex. This is brought about by Brown's arrangement of ideas. What appears to be choppy is, in reality, cyclic. Brown purposely repeats parts of his narrative several times in his autobiography. In the latter part of the book, he attempts to explain some things that he mentioned only briefly in the early chapters. Thus he spends Chapter 10 philosophizing about his early childhood, which he already covered in Chapter 1. And although he discusses Judy Strumph in Chapter 15, the encounter in the cafeteria and the meeting of Judy and of Claude's old street gang are located elsewhere. What Claude Brown tries to do in Manchild is to adapt his language to his ideas. In so doing, he achieves something never before successfully done in black literature. Richard Wright, considered by many to be the greatest of black writers, cannot sustain the dialectical style in Black Boy and Native Son; he flows back and forth to standard English. This is not so in Manchild; from the first word of the first chapter to the last word of the last chapter, we can feel the personality of the author surging through the pages. It is impossible for Claude Brown to hunt for synonyms to say exactly the same things in standard English as is said in ghetto language and not lose the connotations which affect the reader's consciousness. Consequently, in Chapter 1, when Claude Brown discusses a homosexual encounter with a male nurse, he cannot legitimately leave out or change the words without also changing what it connotes to the reader. The drawback to Claude Brown's style is obvious: Much of what the author says must be translated for the more naive reader. "Duji" and "shit" mean heroin to the drug but the average reader will not know this fact. Calling heroin by these , however, contributes to the effect of the story by presenting the meaning which alters the consciousness of the reader. By using context clues, the reader is able to overcome the translation handicap. Bebopping, for instance, can bother the reader until it is realized through clues that the term means gang fighting. The author avoids the "stream-of-consciousness" technique. Part of the effectiveness of the autobiography is its straightforwardness. Claude Brown makes no attempt to write as though he is inside the mind of any of his characters. He does not give them motives or excuses for their actions. Thus he achieves his announced purpose when he writes Manchild: He humanizes the black ghetto.

ESSAY TOPICS AND REVIEW QUESTIONS 1.

Why would a rookie policeman in Harlem not be prepared for what he finds?

2.

What is meant by the code of the street? Explain.

3.

Why are Danny's teachings more valuable to Claude than anything he can learn in the first grade?

4.

Why is Claude afraid of Warwick Reformatory? What might happen to him there?

5.

Why does Claude have a negative attitude toward religion?

6.

Why do northern blacks feel superior to southern blacks?


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www.cliffs.com 7.

Contrast Mr. Brown with Mr. Jimmy. In what ways are they alike? In what ways are they different?

8.

Why does Claude see his father as a "dumb nigger"?

9.

Why doesn't Claude like Simms, the counselor?

10.

Why are the Vassar girls not successful in dealing with the Wiltwyck boys?

11.

Explain the black man/white woman taboo.

12.

Why is a man like Johnny D. respected in the ghetto?

13.

Relate Claude's responsibility to Harlem to his responsibility to himself.

14.

Develop Pimp as a personality apart from Claude.

15.

Evaluate Claude's chances for success outside of street life at the time of his confinement in Warwick.

16.

Contrast Tony with Reno.

17.

How does Claude feel about the police in Harlem?

18.

How does heroin affect the Harlem community?

19.

Compare Reverend James with Ernest Papanek.

20.

Does Claude Brown achieve his purpose of humanizing the ghetto blacks? Explain how he does this.

21.

Write an essay on the pivotal points in Claude Brown's autobiography. What makes him change his outlook?

SELECTED BIBIOGRAPHY BROWN, CLAUDE. "Nobody Worries About Integration Anymore!" Look XXI (June 27, 1967): 28. _____. "The Language of Soul." Esquire LXIX (April 1968): 88. _____. "Word from Black America." Look XXXII (June 11, 1968): 102. FRAZIER, FRANKLIN. Black Bourgeoisie. New York: Collier Books, 1962. Useful in an understanding of the black middle-class and intra-race hostility. GRIER, WILLIAM, and PRICE COBBS. Black Rage. New York: Bantam, 1968. HALEY, ALEX. The Autobiography of Malcolm X. New York: Grove Press, 1964. HANSBERRY, LORRAINE. A Raisin in the Sun. New York: Signet, 1951.


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SALINGER, J. D. The Catcher in the Rye. New York: Bantam 1945. Problems faced by a young white boy. WRIGHT, RICHARD. Black Boy. New York: Harper and Row, 1966. _____. Native Son. New York: Harper and Row, 1940. Useful in a study of the traditional black-white problem, as seen through the eyes of the man whom many regard as this country's greatest black writer.


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