Mulatto: The Strangeness of Nothingness - Essay Example

April 19, Mulat The Strangeness of Nothingness A mulatto is a borderline being. For the whites, he is not white, and so he is not a human being like them. For the blacks, he is not black too and they tend to be angry at him for having whiteness. During the time when slavery was pervasive, mulattos had problems fitting into society, because some of them believed that they deserved to be treated equally as whites, and yet the whites would not have them access the social and political power they had. Langston Hughes’ Mulatto explores the mounting frustrations of a mulatto. William and Sallie have no problems being a mulatto because they are black more than white and are considered as slaves. Robert, however, insists on being a white man, especially after school has taught him that he is equal to any other white human being. As a mulatto, Robert experiences the strangeness of nothingness, which leads to his anxiety and harbored hate towards whites and blacks alike, and ultimately, to his tragedy, he eventually stops thinking and acting like a rational human being. A person normally has knowledge of his/her own family, but Robert does not get any acknowledgment from his own father that the former is his own son, and so Robert feels like a worthless illegitimate son. At the age of 7 years old, he calls the Colonel papa in front of his fathers white friends. As a result, Colonel thrashed and hurt him badly. Bert was the "favorite" (Hughes, par. 91) before this incident, but he was not the one anymore. It is possible that notwithstanding the darkness of Colonels heart, he loved Bert because he looked more like him and was very smart too. Colonel Norwood has not actively "blacken" his son by removing any idea of whiteness out of the child just as he does not fully break any residual filial bonds by sending his son to school. Despite these childhood memories, Bert thinks that he is a "real white man" because of his birth right (Hughes, par. 94). Lamb talks about paternal rejection and how mulattoes seek to shun the silence on their paternity by declaring that they are the sons of white men. This assertion emasculates the white fathers, which Bert also does in the play. Later on, after coming back from school, Bert asserts that he is Norwood and half-white by trying to shake hands with his father, a greeting between equal free men. Unfortunately, his father rejects him, but he still does not hurt him enough to break his son and teach him his right place in society. This play shows that even if a mulatto has a white father, the latter can easily not acknowledge him because of the rule that if the mother of a mulatto is a “negro slave,” then he is a slave too. Because of this treatment from his father, the mulatto becomes fatherless, which is worse than having no father, because, at least, having no father means feeling no pain of rejection. The white community does not accept Bert, even if word goes around that he is Norwood and this infuriates Bert even more as he believes himself to be an equal of any white man because of white blood in his veins. Higgins comes to Colonel’s house to complain about Bert’s behavior. One of Bert’s transgressions is “talking back to a white woman,” when he receives a broken package and is not willing to pay for it (Hughes, par.49). This shows that in the social hierarchy of white people a white woman is lower than a white man but she is definitely higher than black people. Higgins is also angry that Robert calls himself Norwood instead of Lewis and that the part of the plantation will be his when Colonel passes away. For him, these statements and attitudes can compel slaves to rebel against their white slaveholders. Shandell emphasizes the “dominant white culture” that aims to oppress all aspects of life of black people (533). Higgins is one of the gatekeepers of white dominance that can only be maintained by ensuring the “bucks”, like Bert, are corrected before they spread postwar propaganda of racial equality (Hughes par.53). The black community does not embrace Bert also, since his white blood affords him some dignity and arrogance that they dislike and envy. A mulatto is somewhat higher than they are, even when they are also treated as slaves. Mulattos have drops of whiteness that makes them entirely white for the black community, because for them, mulattos are imitation of white men (Harrison 567). William shares to his mother what Bert has been doing since he came back from school. He tries to greet his father with a handshake, which his father rejected. In addition, he said “No” when Talbot asked him if he will work in the field this morning. Cora is “scared to death” for his boy. She says that William and Sallie are better off than Bert. Sallie, for instance, is “quiet and sensible” as she “knows” where people like her have to be (Hughes, par.99). William has become ignorant due to his slavery; he is no longer aware that he is a human being. All he knows is that: “A niggers just got to know his place in de South” (Hughes, par.100). He stresses that because of his brother’s impudence, all blacks will get into trouble. Bienvenu notes the “peculiar situation of blacks harboring prejudices against fellow blacks” (341). William hates his brother for his superior attitude. It reminds him of his white slaveholders, which creates a racial divide between them. Straddling both worlds, yet belonging to none, Bert develops an angry and violent disposition. Soto describes Robert’s dilemma as the form of liminality, which refers to the “mid-point of transition…between two positions” (Turner 237, cited in Soto 264). Indeed, Bert wants a transition towards the white status, but the white people are not prepared to yield power to half-blacks. At the same time, Bert hates the black community for not helping him out during his ordeal at the post office. He says that the blacks would not help him and even called him “no sense, nigger” and “fool” (Hughes par.132). Bert has no place in his liminal situation, and without a place there is no community, no source of emotional support. The play explores the racial making of a racialized tragedy, which kills both Norwood and Bert in the end, since Bert has been dehumanized as a mulatto. Norwood has had several instances where he could have had killed his son Bert already. But he feared him, like a creator fears his creation. He sees himself in his son, who thinks that he is Norwood. The Colonel is afraid of this truth, that he has fathered a mulatto who would never be a slave as he is more of a white. But it is too late. He has fathered a monster, an exact replica of him. This monster is a human being though. He has been anxious all his life after knowing that he is Norwood. He takes his identity with him and wants to protect it. But because of his anger, he kills his own father who disowns him repeatedly. The tragedy is ironic. It is the tragedy of a son who cannot accept that he is nobody’s son and when his father tries to kill him, he gets killed by his son instead. When Bert takes his life, he asserts his power over his destiny again. Being dead, no one can touch him and hurt him again. But by killing, he has also taken away his humanity completely and affirmed what he is - nothing, for he is not a human, he is not accepted as black or white. Mulatto explores the tragedy of nothingness as a mulatto. Bert straddles nothingness in a society where no black and white would accept him because of his mixed blood. But for him, he is white, and for that, the blacks resent and disown him. Bert’s greatest source of anxiety is his father. He reminds him of his slave lineage; a lineage that he shuns because of his belief that he is a white man. Bert claims his whiteness until the end. He asserts that to his father until the latter’s death and he also asserts it to the rest of black and white society by taking his own life. Anger consumed him and his passion resulted to his tragedy. For as a mulatto who is nothing, he is no longer a human being, but a being with no humanity. Works Cited Bienvenu, Germain J. “Intracaste Prejudice in Langston Hughess Mulatto.” African American Review 26.2 (1992): 341-353. Print. Harrison, Paul Carter. “The Crisis of Black Theatre Identity.” African American Review 31.4 (1997): 567-578. Print. Langson Hughes. The Collected Works of Langston Hughes, Volume 5, The Plays to 1942: Mulatto. University of Missouri Press: 2002. Print. Lamb, R.P. (2008). “A Little Yellow Bastard Boy: Paternal Rejection, Filial Insistence, and the Triumph of African American Cultural Aesthetics in Langston Hughess "Mulatto." College Literature 35.2 (2008): 126-153. Print. Shandell, Jonathan, “Looking beyond "Lucasta": The Black Dramas of the American Negro Theatre.” African American Review 42.3/4 (2008): 533-547. Print. Soto, Isabel. “Liminality and Transgression in Langston Hughes’s Mulatto.” C.I.F. 26 (2000): 263-271. Web. 18 Apr. 2012. < http://www.google.com.ph/url?sa=t&rct= j&q=mulatto+hughes+play+summary&source=web&cd=4&ved=0CDcQFjAD&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdialnet.unirioja.es%2Fservlet%2Ffichero_articulo%3Fcodigo%3D258612&ei=hpWQT7zsG6rUmAX7sZiAAg&usg=AFQjCNFshbxUsH2HcCg8HmUPxMimcxVSlA>. Read More