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.