The Autobiography of a Former Colored Man by James Weldon Johnson reveals aspects of the passage of a "mulatto" man that no other novel had faced before. Although most novels of the period were treated by the author in a simple manner, Johnson undoubtedly departs from this to produce a complex portrait of a mixed-race man. The narrator's treatment of race is that he is able to pass as both black and black. White taints the lines of color with the uncertainty of its identity. As a result, Johnson forms a complex speaker who is ironic in many cases by symbolizing a meaning he does not perceive. The theme of irony, which is widely understood as a deviation. between what seems to be true and what is actually true, runs through the novel not only when he talks about his upbringing, but also when he concludes about his adulthood. It is unclear whether Johnson, by including irony in many circumstances, did so in many circumstances. in order to communicate with the reader, but it can be implied that through its inclusion, a deeper meaning can be extracted. Having thus done this, whether conscious or unconscious of his intentions, the novel's irony symbolizes a level of racial ambiguity in the narrator's life due to his lack of a stable identity by which the audience can understand. The narrator's use of language, values, and personality gives the novel a seemingly ironic and contradictory character, displaying a level of meaning that reveals the inner conflicts the narrator endures. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay One of the first ironic glances evident in the novel manifests itself during the protagonist's upbringing through his use of a negative term that perpetuates racial oppression. While at school after recognizing the academic talents that his black classmate possesses, the narrator's first description of him was that his skin was "black as night" (Johnson 9). The characteristics of his skin color, eyes, teeth and face prompted him to address the boy as "Shiny", a racial slur used against black people. Considering that he was only a nine year old child in primary school, it can be interpreted that due to his adolescence, he was unable to fully realize and understand the negative connotation of the "Shiny" tag on a black peer. Although this may be the case, the narrator deliberately continues to address his friend as "Shiny" into adulthood. Admiring his academic abilities, he said, "Shiny 'was undoubtedly considered the best speller, the best reader, the best editor, in a word, the best scholar in the class" (Johnson 9). Although he acknowledges his knowledge, he fails to recognize the evil of the term. After learning of his African lineage from his black mother, the narrator is conflicted between his white identity in which he was raised and his unknown black identity that he is suddenly forced to acknowledge. Although he was aware of race relations between whites and African Americans at the time, the irony lies in his lack of ability to detach a negative term from a close black friend. Given that he knows his heritage – black heritage – his constant reaffirmation of the nickname “Shiny” is a perpetuation of racial oppression (Johnson 22). This perpetuation shows that not only is he removed from the African American emotional response to oppressive labels, but he fails to recognize the harm behind racialized terms because they do notdo not affect it directly. As a general rule, an individual belonging to the same race as another person refrains from using racist language against them. For this reason, the narrator, a half-black man, insulting another black man, speaks of the betrayal he evokes. Ironically, the fact that he is mixed race and keeps calling his friend by his legal name instead of a racist nickname shows the extent of carelessness the narrator possesses. In other words, the narrator allows the use of racial slurs to flourish and be used sufficiently. He means that since he refrains from using terms of endearment for black people, negative racist terms can be used loosely or intentionally. Not only is irony manifested in the protagonist's unabashed use of negative racial terms, but it is clearly manifested in his attention to the economic status of the African American community. From the beginning of his transition from North to South and beyond, the unknown narrator highlights the class differences within the black community, drawing him back to his white identity that he strives to reject. Frequently referred to in the novel as "the race question", the narrator proves that it is not as important as the class question. As Pisiak explains: "He tends to make broad generalizations and form simplistic classifications, and although it seems that the narrator can classify everything, his 'specialty' is people" (Pisiak, 91). Drawing attention to the customs and status of black people, he said: "The unkempt appearance, the shuffling and slouching gait, the loud words and laughter of these people aroused in me a feeling almost of repulsion" (Johnson 40). He states, “The colored people may be said to be roughly divided into three classes, not so much in regard to themselves as in regard to their relations to the whites” (Johnson 55). The feeling of revulsion towards certain customs and the strong focus on the status of black people directly reflect a feeling of unease for black people in general. Perhaps unknowingly, Johnson's narrator expresses his interest in class prejudice as a symbol of irony. Viewing his move to the South as linked to his black identity, his preconceived notions of the people, with whom he strives to become closer, are subtly attacked. His irony shows that he inevitably views the status of African Americans through the lens of an outsider, constantly returning to white values ​​and responses. As he increasingly associated himself with the upper-class black community, he said, “That was my entry into the race” (Johnson 74). Unable to understand that social class does not symbolize acceptance into a race, this shows how materialistic he is. This tells the audience that their values ​​are somewhat skewed since they admire economic status too much. In contrast, it can be said that the narrator is so accustomed to living in middle to upper class conditions, based on his childhood environment, that when he encounters the opposite, he is shocked. However, the fact that he analyzes and labels African Americans in the South based on their economic status proves that he despises the manners of African Americans if they are less fortunate and embraces them if they belong to the class superior. His lack of transparency and acceptance transforms through his experiences in Europe to compel him to connect with his black roots and contribute in a positive way. In Europe, the narrator secretly reveals that he was never truly happy because he felt he owed something to the black man. community. He said: “I felt a surge within me of pride in being colored; AndI began to dream wildly of bringing glory and honor to the black race” (Johnson 32). In an effort to “help those he considered my people,” he leaves Europe to return to the South and willingly attends a celebration and burning ceremony of a black man (Johnson 107). Immediately afterward, he reveals his overwhelming emotions of shame: “Ashamed to belong to a race that could be thus treated” (Johnson 137). He expresses remorse for being associated with a race that receives such punishments instead of embracing his black identity. His autonomous response symbolizes the absence of anger directed at white lynchers. Ultimately, he fails to help those he considers people – black people – because he refuses to step up and speak out against the injustice committed against the innocent black man. The lack of intervention against the white mob of racists directly indicates that he did not leave Europe for the greater good, helping the black community in a positive way. The irony is established in the way his action and reaction to the lynching contradict his words. As Skerrett says, "ironically, his reaction is not a reinforcement of his identity as a threatened and oppressed black man, but rather a reinforcement of his fear of pain and his mechanisms of escape and avoidance" ( Skerrett 556). In other words, the narrator's fears have successfully overcome his desire for black identity, rendering him unable to respond as both a black or white person. The real uncertainty on “the race question” is reinforced by the fact that his dreams “of bringing glory and honor to the black race” are denied (Johnson 32, 55). The narrator's ironic view on race relations is contradictory to his inability to perform actions and, therefore, his skewed personality and values ​​manifest through his musicality. The importance of music, the one the narrator uses to navigate life, is ironically overlooked. and he took advantage of this by not appreciating Negro styles of music. Music is not only used literally but symbolically as a physical and psychological scapegoat as he searches for his "true" identity. His travels throughout Europe and the Americas demonstrate his affinity for music and his pursuit of economic prosperity through his musical abilities on the piano. Throughout his search for his identity, he uses classical music, a form of European music primarily attributed to whites, Negro Spirituals closely associated with African roots, and ragtime, a mixture that includes features of both styles. The narrator becomes interested in ragtime when he first hears it played by a German guest. He says: “I had transformed classical music into ragtime, a relatively easy task; and this man had taken ragtime and made it classic. “I rejoiced at the immense amount of material I had to work with, not only modern ragtime, but also old slave songs—material that no one had touched before” (Johnson 104). It means that the phrase “not yet touched” does not take into account African Americans who actually touched the material by creating it themselves. Furthermore, through the way he talks about music and his ambitions, he subconsciously sees that European music is an art form, while the Negro spiritual style of music is not worth it. This irony demonstrates his position on the value of musical styles. The connotation of the word material in his statement symbolizes that it has no substance and is less important than classical music because it is not widely accepted in European society. Bruce Barnhart believes: “The narrator sees themusic which he will encounter as a form of raw material remarkable as much for the fact that it has not been touched by other hands as for any intrinsic musical character” (Barnhart 556). This not only indicates his musical values, but strongly suggests his racial status. That being said, the way he considered himself white at the time ironically correlates with his statement which can be seen as a devaluation of black spirituals. Considering the race relations that correspond to black classical and spiritual music, his views on African music styles dovetail with his thoughts on race in general. In his attempt to use a style of music without "value," Barnhart suggests that the narrator "repeats the racial hierarchy that connects dark-skinned Americans to formless materiality and lighter-skinned Americans to lighter-skinned principles." high in form and order” (Barnhart 561). Johnson's protagonist's view on music ironically mimics his views on interracial marriage and the racial hierarchy of skin tone. The narrator's stance on interracial relationships in the novel is contradictory to that of his own relationship signaling a subconscious dissatisfaction with his own family. While at the "club," the narrator says, "I will never forget how difficult it was for me to overcome my sense of surprise, perhaps more than surprise, at seeing her with her companion black ; Somehow I never really appreciated that view” (Johnson 79). He implies to the audience that he does not particularly care about interracial relations between blacks and whites. The conclusion of the novel says the opposite; he is later shown to later contradict himself by not only entering into a relationship with a white woman, but marrying her and having children. Given the historical and cultural context, it would be unlikely that a member of a race would be opposed to endogamy. As Fleming says, “Even forced euphemism cannot hide the fact that his reaction is that of a white man” (Fleming 92). Ironically, the fact that he starts a family with a white woman and expresses dissatisfaction with intermarriage shows that he would ultimately be against his own marriage, given his mixed-race subjectivity. The level of irony that the narrator signals throughout the novel highlights the extent of his racial uncertainty as well as his values. The racial ambiguity of Johnson's unnamed narrator lends the novel to an ironic state suggesting that the contradictions between his black and white selves become his own. identify. A paradox forms as he navigates and views society from a black and white perspective at different times, at his discretion. The breadth of his worldview highlights the level of racial ambiguity and struggle for identity that the narrator possesses. The complexity of playing a "prank on society" and concluding by selling one's "birthright for a plate of lentils" communicates the complex situation the narrator is struggling with (Johnson 1, 154). His hesitation between identities and responses directly contributes to the way his statements create meanings that he does not perceive but that the audience understands. Because of this, the only thing the audience can judge the narrator by is what he symbolizes, thus transforming his racial identity into an individualistic one. O'Sullivan proposes that "the narrator continually gazes into a distorting mirror, 'unable to be either black or white, constantly seeing the white self from a black point of view and the black self from a white point of view'" ( O'Sullivan 94). The fact that he recognizes racism when it directly affects him, but he himself perpetuates many of its myths and stereotypes withoutrealizing this, illustrates the level of irony that racial ambiguity can create. Thus, The Autobiography of a Former Colored Man can be interpreted as follows. “The autobiography of an ex-racialized man” which is formed from a man whose identity becomes neither black nor white, but his language, his values ​​and his personality. Johnson's depiction of the anonymous narrator's emotional view of a mixed-race man is monumental. His ability to describe life through irony rather than traditional literary techniques reveals the importance of analyzing a novel in its entirety. By the way in which it reveals a greater dimension of the narrator's life by revealing his psychological layers, it offers a rather complex nature to the novel. concept of passage. It deconstructs the notion of “sameness” between all blacks and all whites. Thus, he proves through the protagonist that the "ideal concept of a Negro" does not exist and that race is an invented concept that confines people to a group based on characteristics and values. For this reason, his authorship and inspiration of his literary style on others gave way to the expanded variety of the "black experience" depicted in African American literature. Despite changes in traditional African American literary styles, James Weldon Johnson's Autobiography of an Ancient Colored Man occupies a significant place for the reader who hopes to be enlightened about the psychological aspects of the passage. Works Cited Johnson, James W. The Autobiography of a Former Colored Man. New York: Penguin Group, 1990.Print.Annotated bibliographyAndrade, Heather Russell. “Reviewing Critical Judgments on “The Autobiography of a Former Colored Man.” » African American Review, vol. 40, no. 2, 2006, p. 257-270. www.jstor.org/stable/40033714.This article focuses on James Weldon Johnson's "The Autobiography of a Former Colored Man" and his ability to mask his gender. Considering it is the first piece of fiction written by an African American to do so, it is monumental. Heather Russell Andrade considers socio-historical circumstances as the setting for Johnson's writing conflict with the narrator. Babu, Dinesh. “The Theme of “Passage” in the Novels of James Weldon Johnson and Nella Larsen.” IJIMS, vol 1, n°4, 2014, pp. 53-58. http://www.ijims.comIn “The Theme of “Passing” in the Novels of James Weldon Johnson and Nella Larsen,” Dinesh Babu dissects the description of the experience of a light-skinned person of colored origin , which successfully passes into white society. She attempts to look at, compare and contrast two African American novels that deal with the theme of the passing of both a man and a woman. It shows how both novels reject the norms of color division rules that accept one's position within society as predetermined based not only on race, but also gender. Barnhart, Bruce. “Chronopolitics and Race, Rag-Time and Symphonic Time in “The Autobiography of a Former Colored Man.” » African American Review, vol. 40, no. 3, 2006, p. 551-569. www.jstor.org/stable/40027389. “Chronopolitics and Race, Rag-Time and Symphonic Time in “The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man” discusses the implications of classical, Negro-spiritual and ragtime music. In his review, Bruce Barnhart attempts to expose a key element of the narrator's movement from his childhood with his black mother to his adulthood. He discusses the constructions of each form of music and how and why the narrator uses them. Brooks, Neil. “Becoming an ex-man: postmodern irony and the extinction of certainties in the autobiography of a former man of color.” » Academic literature, vol. 22, no. 3, 1995, p. 17-29. www.jstor.org/stable/25112206. James Weldon Johnson's review, “.