Masculinity in Paul Laurence Dunbars The Sport of the Gods - Essay Example

? Masculinity in Paul Laurence Dunbar’s The Sport of the Gods Paul Laurence Dunbar was the first African American poet to gain recognition; he also wrote novels among which The Sport of the Gods. This novel portrays the life experiences of two families belonging to different racial, cultural and economic background. This paper examines masculinity in The Sport of the Gods. Dunbar depicts different roles between men and women depending on their geographical location. In the South, masculinity engages certain responsibilities and values whereas in the North these expectations have a different meaning. Regardless of race, class or even geographic location, Dunbar presents the white men’s model of masculinity as the only embodiment of manhood. Responsibility represents an important aspect of masculinity the novel points out. This responsibility requires men to be heads of households and take care of their family. In fact, the South expects its men to be strong and hardworking in order to manage and secure their family needs. For instance, Maurice Oakley, a white man who owns a plantation, believes in this principle and urges his employees to follow his example. Married to Leslie Oakley, a docile and obedient woman who respects her southern values, Mr. Oakley fully plays his role. He especially encourages Berry Hamilton, his butler, to get married: It is then possible to see how Oakley's desire for Berry to find a wife (as he has found one) necessitates that Berry find a wife that is like his, one that embodies the role of an "appropriate" wife and has the disposition that will allow Berry to be the head of the household--or in this case, the house in the back of the "big house." Ultimately, Oakley wants Berry to become a black version of himself within the constraints of his own household. (Tsemo) Mr. Oakley wants his servant to marry a woman who will obey and respect him so that he can become a head of household. As the landlord, he urges his employees to follow his steps. When Berry Hamilton marries Fannie, he fulfills Mr. Oakley’s wish and becomes himself a head of household with all the responsibilities and expectations involved. Even though the two households differ because of the social status involved, both men exercise some authority over their wives. Despite their different racial and class background, their southern roots grant them power over their wives who also accept and even expect such role. Mr. Oakley and Berry not only share this privilege their gender grants them over their wives but they also share the same values. Born and raised in the South, they believe in the same set of principles and rules of conduct. Berry even raises his children, Joe and Kit, to respect and cherish these values as they grow up. Already a hardworking and trustworthy servant, Berry emulates his employer in his deed, actions and values (Tsemo). Despite their different social status, Berry even tries to follow Oakley’s economic principles by putting aside some money after his family expenses have been met. This economic organization allows him to live decently and save his family from need compared to other black men struggling to survive. This mild success costs him the envy and jealousy of the African American community that accuses him to imitate white people’s way of life. Even though both Oakley and Berry share the patriarchal powers they believe in, some of Oakley’s beliefs will ultimately cause Berry’s destruction. Accused of stealing money from Oakley’s cabinet, Berry is sentenced to 10 years of prison. He therefore loses his head of household status as he leaves his helpless wife and children. This arrest affects his dignity, his reputation and even his manhood. The Southern Values he so much believes in fail to protect and save him and actually makes him an easy target for the accusation. Despite his 20 years of devoted and loyal service to Oakley, his race and class render him a suspect of a crime he did not commit. Convinced of his innocence, the loss of his freedom comes as a surprise. The narrator informs: “That his detention was anything more than temporary never seemed to enter his mind. That he would be convicted and sentenced was as far from possibility as the skies from the earth. If he saw visions of a long sojourn in prison, it was only as a nightmare half consciously experienced and which with the struggle must give way before the waking” (Dunbar). This arrest leads to a complete breakdown of everything he has worked for; he loses his status in his family and in the society. Maurice Oakley’s relief at Berry’s arrest did not last long and was actually replaced by a serious concern. His brother’s, Francis Oakley, confession about his responsibility for the theft breaks him down. His loss of consciousness after he finishes reading Francis’ letter reveals his surprise and the seriousness of the matter. Even though Francis demands that his brother have Berry released, Maurice decides to conceal the truth to safeguard his family honor. Francis orders his brother: “Tell the truth and have Berry released. I can stand it. Write me but one letter to tell me of this. Do not plead with me, do not forgive me, do not seek to find me, for from this time I shall be as one who has perished from the earth; I shall be no more” (Dunbar). The tone of the letter indicates that Francis fears his brother may not reveal the secret. Maurice’s decision to keep the letter for himself and let Berry stay in prison proves that he cares more about himself and his family than any values. He refuses to acknowledge the mistake and redeem himself and the society that condemns Berry, but he exchanges the honor of his family with Berry’s freedom. He fears the humiliation and judgment his family may go through if the truth comes out; however, he has no concern about Berry’s fate and that of his displaced family. He prefers to live with a guilty conscience than face reproaches from his neighbors and society in general. This attitude demonstrates that he cares only for his own manhood and that of his brother but does not acknowledge that of Berry. Francis Oakley’s theft causes Berry’s destruction and that of his family. By stealing money from his brother’s cabinet, he basically condemns the butler whose position, race and class qualify as suspect. The community Dunbar portrays labels black men as insignificant, so Berry has no chance to be claimed innocent in that context. Neither Maurice nor the community in general sees Francis as a potential suspect whereas Berry’s color labels him to bear the burden. Like the detective who assumes Berry guilty instead of innocent even before the investigation, the society condemns the butler even before his trial. Even though Francis asks his brother to get Berry released by confessing his guilt, the wrong he causes the servant is considerable. His southern pride and honor prevent him from asking his brother to give him money; instead, he prefers to steal (Dunbar). Francis’ act jeopardizes his own morality because given the choice to ask for the money, he chooses to steal. He is not only a thief and a gambler but also a liar since he covers up his act. Even though he is a white man, his manhood takes a serious blow because of these characteristics that stain it. Francis not only causes Berry’s downfall but also provokes his brother’s nervous breakdown. Berry Hamilton’s arrest leads his family to experience, homelessness, displacement and a serious identity crisis. Expelled by the Oakley family, Fannie and her children leave their southern hometown and head north to New York. This migration costs Joe Hamilton, the remaining man in the family, a denial of his southern ideologies and a real struggle to fit and embrace the northern lifestyle: “He makes a shift from the southern boy who wants to wear proper clothes and display proper manners taught to him by his father to someone who decides to seek an identity as something other than that which is laid out for him in the South” (Tsemo). Having followed the southern principles his father and his community taught him since his birth, he has realized the failure of these values that are mainly responsible for his family’s misfortune. He decides to distance himself from these southern beliefs that led his father to prison and have alienated his family. Conscious of his father’s innocence, he understands that he needs to find his own manhood in an attempt to escape his father’s fate. He tries to find his own identity without following these southern values. Joe Hamilton’s quest for a new form of manhood in the North turns to be a very difficult challenge for him. The sudden departure from his usual lifestyle does not facilitate his integration in the new environment. He finds a job in the theatre which gives him more freedom compared to when he used to cut white people’s hair in the South. Although he sees his new job as a new form of manhood, he soon realizes that is not what he wants to do: “Joe eventually leaves this job and goes one step further toward freedom from social expectation by not working at all, there is some liberation that is prompted by his redefinition of manhood as manifested in his decision to take on a different kind of job and in his relationships with his mother and girlfriend once in the North” (Tsemo). These changes reveal that Joe struggles to find a new identity that fits his personality. This refusal to work grants him some freedom since he does not have to follow anybody’s rules; however, this decision is likely to cause other issues. Joe seeks a new form of manhood through his resignation and reshaping his relationship with the women around him. This constant search for a new manhood leads Joe into a path that threatens to make him lose his manhood altogether. His refusal to work and new habit to hang around night clubs transform him into a drunkard who ultimately struggles to find his way. This moral decay is the only form of identity Joe can fit in the North. Unhappy with the path southern values led his family, He finds out that the North does not offer him any better. The only way to manhood is through white manhood which he rejects, but there is no alternative: “Joe is compelled to trust the process toward white manhood although he will never become white. Because he decides not to trust the process, he is forced to go away from the gods -all that is moral and good and right - and toward the devil or all that is bad and black, which is the counter narrative of manhood” (Tsemo). Joe’s refusal to embrace white manhood condemns him and precipitates his downfall; he has no other choice since this is the only form of manhood accepted. His desperate situation worsens when he strangles his girlfriend and finds himself in prison. Like his father, Berry, Joe also ends up in prison. Whether in the North or in the South and despite the different lifestyles of the locations, prison seems to be the only alternative to black men. Although Dunbar’s portrayal of masculinity presents black men as struggling to fulfill their identity, some white men’s personalities’ are also flawed. It is true that Berry and Joe Hamilton have been seriously affected by the circumstances surrounding their arrest; however, various weaknesses have also been noticed in some white men. For instance, Maurice Oakley’s madness reveals a serious weakness in his character. His inability to handle the truth disintegrates his whole being and jeopardizes his manhood. His insanity makes him lose control of his household and his status in the society: “Maurice Oakley, on the other hand, reduced through the public revelation of his perfidiousness and cruelty, becomes by the end of the story a howling madman, inconsolable, unredeemable, unable to enjoy the monetary and social fruits that his false value system once promised him” (Tsemo). This grim description assimilates him to a beast rather than a man which explains the desperate situation he lives in. His brother, Francis, also loses his manhood since he cannot exercise it in his own community. His exile annihilates his citizenship rights and renders him an outsider in his southern hometown. Although Skaggs orchestrates and motivates Berry Hamilton’s liberation, his image as a liar affects his credibility and his manhood. Even though his race and class grant him a stable job as a reporter, his lying habit constitutes a weakness since nobody believes in what he says, including his editor. However, Skaggs’ effort to use his craft and genius to get hold of Francis’ letter from Maurice’s pocket redeems him. His journey to the South allows him to provide the proof for Berry’s innocence, and his encounter with the Colonel Saunders facilitates his mission. Even though Saunders believed in Berry’s innocence from the beginning, he felt guilty to participate in the downfall of a southern name (Tsemo). This attitude shows that he cares more for the preservation of southern values than Berry’s freedom. His belief in these southern values is deeply rooted and stronger than any concern he may have for Berry. However, despite their different values and personalities, the meeting between this southerner, Saunders, and the northerner, Skaggs, results in Berry’s liberation. In The Sport of the Gods, Dunbar raises the issue of masculinity both in the South and the North. If manhood in the South requires the respect of certain values and beliefs, men in the North follow an unstructured way of life. However, regardless of their geographic location, black men struggle to shape their identity. Compelled to follow the white men’s model of masculinity, black men find themselves victims of the values they believe in the South and the freedom that prevails in the North. Considering these aspects, it comes out that there is only one model of manhood and that is white manhood. Works Cited Dunbar, Paul Laurence. The Sport of the Gods. New York, Signet Classics, 1999. N. pag. Gutenburg.com. Web. 30 Mar. 2012. Tsemo, Bridget Harris. “The Politics of Self-Identity in Paul Laurence Dunbar’s The Sport of the Gods.” Southern Literary Journal 41.2 (2009): 21-37. ProQuest. Web. 30 Mar. 2012. Read More