With in the first couple pages of the novel, we learn that Jake is a well traveled man. When he comes back to Harlem, he is called out multiple times for the habits that he has picked up over seas, like what he wears and what he drinks. These differences tend to set him out from everyone else, but at the same time, he constantly like, Harlem, England, and France together making them seem like the same place with the same problem. This is evident on page 34 when he says
"The same in France, the same in England, the same in Harlem. White against white and black against white and yellow about black and brown. We's all just crazy-dog mad."
Is Jake an outsider in Harlem or do his travels and experiences make him a man of the world.
I would say Jake manages to be a very interesting and beneficial mixture of both. He has the history and connection with Harlem to claim it as his home and to feel nostalgic for it, but at the same time, he has the worldliness to recognize its flaws and to not only recognize that he should get out of it for a while sometimes (as he does when he leaves Rose), but knows and understands how to get out. I think it’s easy for people to be scared of leaving what is familiar to them, even if it isn’t treating them well. Jake does not suffer from this.
ReplyDeleteAt the same time I think what you point out is very interesting: through Jake and his travels, McKay is given the opportunity to make statements that transcend Harlem itself and show how it connects to a larger world.
I think he's basically saying that no matter where he goes he isn't completely accepted. He's not accepted in the U.S because he's black but he wouldn't be accepted in a country where there are mostly black people (like Africa) because he's been Americanized and in his mind he is an American. He isn't accepted in England or France because he isn't British or French. No matter where he goes he doesn't have a culture that is specifically his own or a place where he isn't a minority. I think that's the main message he's trying to get across by mentioning that it's the same in all of those different places.
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