I had to do a bit of research to get a well rounded understanding of the novel. I read some of the sections after the text of Jean’s writing to other people and his heart behind it. In short, his goal is that African American’s would not succumb to conformity and lose their culture. He does not care about the fame and glory he would receive. He just cares that his message is received. He is not surprised when it is. This makes me appreciate the text even more. It makes me embrace and soak in every word.
I assume that if he had a choice, he would never identify himself racially to a cencus or anywhere else; he would rather be lost in a world of literature and what it means to be either race. But since he still did have to identify, the evidence adds up that he mainly wanted to identify as white and this could be for a number of reasons; perhaps to avoid epistemic injustice. Even though it shouldn’t be this way, he knew that he would get a better chance at his text succeeding if he identified as a white man.
I now deeply understand the content so much more after reading that article about his racial identity as well as the letters after Cane.
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