Norman Roselind’s fears

Norman Roselind is a famous director, but still he is very conscious about being black. He is afraid of his son and therefore tells him never to run in a white neighbourhood. When I first read about this attitude (p.143), I thought it would be exaggerated. However, the end of the book shows his fears are realistic. I believed that African American people in leading positions are not that race-conscious and anxious, but Norman Roselind is a counterexample. Probably his upbringing caused his feeling, as his mother wants Jeremiah to go out of the sun in order not to become too black. Furthermore, his mother lives in the South, thus Norman Roselind might have grown up there. In the southern states, racism was prevalent during the civil rights movement. Norman Roselind’s birth should be in or close after the 1960s, when racist ideas were still in a lot of white people’s minds. Consequently, he would have been confronted with racism in his childhood and youth. I suppose his anxieties are deep-rooted and cannot be overcome by his later career.

Relationship of Elisha and Marion

At first I believed the relationship of Elisha and Marion was closer than it actually is. Elisha tells her sister and her father about her relationship to Jeremiah, but her mother does not get to know about it. Marion’s frustration can be seen when Elisha supposes Anne might have told her about Jeremiah: “Marion gave me a puzzled look. “To call her – what – do you think she is going to tell me what it’s all about. Does anyone tell me anything about anything” (p.121). Marion would like her daughter to talk to her and be close to her, but Elisha tries to keep her at a distance (p.122). Though Elisha knows that she hurts her mother (p.122), she does not want to share her thoughts. I suppose this is due to her mother leaving two times, as it showed Elisha that she cannot rely on her. Moreover, Marion showed with her disapproving reaction in the second chapter that she does not believe it is appropriate for her daughter to have a boyfriend at this age. So Elisha avoids a confrontation by not telling her mother about Jeremiah.

Black or white?

Jeremiah is very aware of his skin colour. Right from the first chapter and throughout the novel his thoughts about being black are expressed. He thinks about the problems of an interracial relationship, while Elisha first suggests that it will not be a problem for her family. Elisha only starts worrying when she talks to her sister Anne. Thus, she is neither aware of the conflicts an interracial relationship might cause, nor does she explicitly think of herself as “white”. However, after the phone call with Anne, she is afraid to introduce Jeremiah to her parent, as she fears their possibly dismissive reaction. At the beginning of the novel I wondered whether Jeremiah will change his feelings about being black. Now, on the contrary, Elisha’s thoughts about interracial relationships developed and mine as well. The author draws a vivid picture of how people react to their relationship by talking about them and giving them strange looks. This made it more visible for me that it is really hard for a lot of people to have interracial relationships in such an environment.

Marion

Marion is introduced as Elisha’s mother, but I wondered why her daughter calls her “Marion”. This is explained in the second chapter, as Elisha wants to be called “Ellie” and refuses to call her mother “mom”, because her mother does not call her “Ellie”. Marion and Elisha have an interesting relationship, as it seems to be close and still detached. Marion notices her daughter must have thought of a boy and Elisha expresses “We were almost friends now” (p.21). However, Marion left her family several times when her children were still young. Elisha had to deal with the feelings of being left alone by her mother. Marion’s reason for leaving was emptiness in her life and she thinks it comes from marrying and having children early. Thus, she tries to prevent that Elisha’s life goes a similar way and attempts to persuade her not to have a boyfriend at this age. Being a teenage girl, Elisha obviously has different ideas. It will be interesting to see how their relationship will develop as Elisha and Jeremiah will surely become a couple in some part of the novel.

Black is beautiful!? (Chapter 1)

In the first chapter of Jacqueline Woodson’s novel „If you come softly“ Jeremiah’s thoughts about his blackness are expressed. Jeremiah is a teenage boy and one of the two main characters of the novel. Since he has been a child, he has been confronted with the colour of his skin. For example, his grandmother told him not to stay in the sun for too long as it would make his skin darker. Jeremiah seems to have ambiguous feelings towards being black. On the one hand, he rejects his grandmother’s ideas and knows about the Black Panther Party which proclaimed “Black is beautiful”. On the other hand, he feels unsure when being outside his neighbourhood and he does not like playing basketball on a mostly white school team. Moreover, he does not know whether he should like his outward appearance in general and especially his eyes. His uncertainness can be best seen in this quote: “But sometimes, looking in that mirror, he had no idea who he was or why he was in this world” (p.11). It will be interesting to see if Jeremiah’s thoughts about himself will develop throughout the novel and in which direction.

A picture that might express Jeremiah's feelings can be seen here (I didn't paste it because of copyright) :

http://ruff-draft.tumblr.com/post/4023423362/black-boy-at-mirror