Melancholic

8/13/2019 Melancholic

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"I Could Always Feel Race Trouble...Never More Than Two Feet Off": Chester Himes'sMelancholic PerceptionAuthor(s): Tyrone Simpson IISource: African American Review, Vol. 43, No. 2/3 (Summer/Fall 2009), pp. 233-245Published by: St. Louis UniversityStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/41328604 .Accessed: 22/11/2013 10:32

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Tyrone Simpson II

"I Could Always Feel Race Trouble . . . Never

More Than Two Feet Off": Chester Himes'sMelancholic Perception

In minorthe summer

automobileof 1950,

accidenthaving

withbeen

a moneyedfraudulently

whitearrestedwoman,

andChester

jailedHimesfor ausing

steeleda

minor utomobile ccident with moneyedwhitewoman,ChesterHimes steeledhimself or yet nother ound of the ongoing nxiety e believed o typify ndorganizeAfrican merican sychic xperience. Don't let t throw you," Himesencouraged imself. Despair is characteristic f the blackrace" {Quality12).

Though the circumstances hat urrounded he writer's rief ncarceration t the timeseemedbleakand unfair, hiskind of unbridled essimism bout what he construedas the psychological ondition f all blacks and the ncessant ersonal truggle ofight ff such malaise was not uncharacteristic f Himes. His publishedmemoirsreveal he artist o be poignandy ware hat acism xacted heavypsychologicalcost on black people, and that he himself mayhavebeen chief mong ts victims.

Late in The uality f Hurt 1972),the first olume of his autobiography, imesdeclares heblackman to be "the most neurotic, omplicated, chizophrenic . .specimen f mankind" 285)after tating arlier n the account that his "entire ifehad conditioned him] o a constant xpectation f catastrophe" 249).After ll ofthe accomplishments imes had earned by the early eventies, ncluding fiction-writing areer hat panned quarter entury nd had gainedhim nternational iterary

renown, hywouldthe writer eel ompelled oforeground the quality f [his]hurt"?Why, t a moment when he seemed most existentially t peace,whilewriting ismemoirs y the Spanish easide,did Himes commit his pen to documenting hatappears to be his ifelong nrest? n the following ssay, argue hat he answers othese uestions ie n Himes's heory f melancholia. imes's deas about melancholia,I argue, epresent sustainedmeditation n the nterminable ourning or oss firstconceptualized y Freud n 1917,and which Ann Cheng and others haverecendyrevised n the study f race n the United tates. ocusing n his ate memoir, s wellas his early ovel f HeHollers et Him Go 1945), will how that Himes was asmuch theorist s he wras victim f racial melancholia.What Himes saw as theeternalmourning f blackAmericans ver he mpossibility f beingwhite ould beunderstood ot merely s a paralyzing athology ut as a necessary trategy or

endurance nd engagement ithin pacesdefined ywhite upremacy.Whereasracial aranoia nd the pistemology f prediction t mpliesmayhave stood for Himesas a virtually nevitable onsequenceof black ife n the United States, t was racialmelancholia hat furnished imwith viable theory f blackpolitical ubjectivity.

What in themakes

UnitedFreud's

Statestheory

is hatof

itmelancholia

seemsdirectlyresponsive

to addressto the

howpredicament

intersubjectiveof race

-n the United tates s hat t seems directly oaddresshow ntersubjectiveand thus ocial estrangement ayproduce n persons n unending xperience femotional trife. ince racialization s fundamentally process of separation ndsubsequent bjectification f human beings, theory redicated n object oss islikely oprovide ome nsight n race'spsychic ffects. uch s the thinking f Anne

Africanmericanew'evv3.2Summer009):33-245 009 yroneimpsonI 233

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AnlinCheng, s she articulates t n TheMelancholyf Race2001).Chengexplains hatmelancholia s a condition n which both white nd nonwhite ubjects articipate.This is possiblebecause both subjectpositions akeon the other s an ambivalentlydesired bject that s destined o be lost through heuneven distribution f racialprivilege nd power. For whiteness,melancholiamanifests tself n what Cheng callsthe

"exclusion-yet-retentionf racialized thers"

Cheng 10).The codification f

whiteness s a national deal engenders heexclusion, nd thus he oss of whichCheng peaks, yet national eeds have historically orked o counterbalance hisbansincenonwhites ften provide hehuman apital hat nables economicgrowth.Though nonwhites re ntegral o the reproduction f American ife, heattemptsto circumscribe heir rivileges f citizenship despite heir ontributions havebeen ncessant. hus in important ymbolicways, hesenonwhite ubjects emain nU. S. culture, ut not completely f it.

The condition f colored people as melancholic ubjects, ycontrast, xpressesitself n their nternalization f being mbivalendy esired.Aware hat he Americanimaginary onsistendy onceptualizes ne as both noble and savage, hecoloredsubject s forever efrocked f whiteness ymeansof phenotype nd legal)discourse,regardless f how vigorously e or she pursues his deal. Barred from he usufructof fullcitizenship, henonwhitemelancholic omes to expectdiscipline nd rejectionin her engagement ith he white nation nd its privileged onstituents. t is bywayof this edimented xpectation f rejection, hispalpablesixth ense f youwill,that ne's racial ifference romises n oncoming ataclysm, hat installs .. a scriptedcontext f perception" Cheng 17).

Cheng's anguage ere linicallyuphemizes he ondition f paranoia t nsinuates,and as she proceedswith her study, he stops surprisingly hort f declaring hispsychic tate pathological. espite the fact hather ntroductory emarks bout theconcept underscore iterary xamples ikely ocausereaders o look askance t thepsychic obriety f the black ubject, heng alters reud's foundational osition:where reud laims hat melancholianvolves a delusional xpectation f punishment"(244),Chengposits melancholia ot merely s the colored ubject's ue psychologicalresponse o its mbivalent ncorporation nto the nation, ut as a strategy f politicalresistance. oward this nd, she extracts wo examplesfrom he atter uarter fRalphEllison'smodernist riumph, nvisible an (1952).The first s the enigmatic ndever-changing inehart, heHarlemnumbers unner, imp, nd clergyman orwhomthe nvisibleman s frequendy istaken uring is travels hrough heneighborhood.Chengespies n Rinehart "form without ubstance whose] . . substancelessnessprovideshim with pure potential" Cheng 132).As the protagonist's hameleon-likeDoppelgngerwho is acutely ware hathis racial dentity onsigns imto a dehuman-izingobjecthood nd invisibility, inehart urns is black skin "his corporealmalediction" 111)as Fanon sees it into a conduit for ocial mobility nd multipo-sitionality.n either ase,his true ubjectivitys virtually ntraceable, fact hat laceshim n perfect armonywith society hatwas not nterested n t anyway.1

The invisibleman himself mounts what Cheng ees as the econd crucial estureof melancholic esistance n the novel. n one of the most celebrated cts of sub-version n American iterature, heprotagonist laims he basement f a whites-onlybuilding n the Harlemperiphery s his eminent omain. His subterfuge ulminateswith him llegally iphoning ff an exorbitant mount f electricity o suffuse issubterranean wellingn ight or he purposes f both iteral nd figurai llumination."The truth s the ight nd light s the truth," e philosophizes, nsisting hat uch acontext rovides he best possibleenvironment n which he can contemplate ndunderstand he existential ature f his nvisibilityEllison7).Cheng argues hatboth Rinehartism nd the deep thought nabledby squatting nd utility-piratinghighlight politicalmelancholia, ne that ffords he colored ubject a metaphysical,intellectual editation" n "objecthood and its entangled elationship ith historyand loss" (Cheng130,133).

234 AFRICANMERICANEVIEW



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An implied y-product f this underground ractice f theorizing herejectedself s paranoia.Yet rather han dwellon this negative apability" 127),Chengdedicatesher remaining houghts n Ellison'swork o focusing n the more opti-mistic and, she claims, hemore revolutionary form f rebellion ound n thepractice f "identificatory enunciation" Cheng 135).That is, the radical utcome

of the nvisible man'sprotracted ojourn s his stubborn nsistence o refuse nytype f identitarian cripting hat asts him as other han human. To accept beingread as black or white,male or female, ayor straight, r within he nterstices fthese dentities, s to accept the existential nd discursive mprisonment hatmelan-cholia and its meditative rotocols re equipped to suspend.

As satisfying s Cheng's ormulations f melancholic esistancemaybe, theymissa crucial actor n Ellison'snovel that re n turn entral o Himes's own thinkingabout racial melancholy: amely, he fact hat both the protagonist's nd Rinehart'sheroic ampaigns rewagedwithin nd through he egregated nclave f black Harlem.As the patial xpression f ambivalent ncorporation, ne born of "external racial]hostility nd nternal racial] ffinity" Wacquant ),blackHarlemprovides ust noughof a geographic rophylactic or hese eruptions f black subjectivewillthat Chengcelebrates.2 imes's iterary magination ecomes nstructive ere for ts contrast othis patialdelimitation. n the one hand, he black enclave featured n If He Hollersfunctions n the narrative s a nether egionbeyond he reach s well as the nterestof white urveillance. he Central Avenue district n Los Angeles the fictionalcounterpart f a very ealmid-twentieth-century lackneighborhood) s referred oas "a slick, iggerish lock," ne conspicuously dorned with ts "husders nd pimps,gamblers nd stooges" If He Hollers 3).The protagonist obertJones s said to"like t [being]with his]folks" 43)becausethe rea both ndemnifies ransgressiveplay nd shelters im from heweighty acepressure f the public sphere. On theother hand, Jones n that atter omain s incapableof shielding imself rom healienating estures hatwhites nact when they ngagetheir wn melancholia.Whereas he"identificatory enunciation" f the atter hapters f Ellison's novel sconditioned y ts Harlem etting, imes's f He Hollers ubjects ny uchrenunciationto the contested nterracial pacesof wartime os Angeles.

In If He HollersJones's entures nto the public sphere hrust im nto anundesirable onspicuity. n innocent unch with his romantic nterest t a drive-incounter, or xample, ttracts nwanted crutiny:

Wewere ilent or moment nd looked roundt he eoplen he djoiningars.With heexceptionfusthey ere ll white. noticedeveralf hem lancingurtivelyt usandfiguredhey ere ryingomake ut what ationalitylicewas.Now felt elf-conscious,slighdyll t ase. wonderedf 'd ever eel erfectlyt ase round hite eople.1 5)

The black body nevitably allsattention o itself when t trespasses nto spacesreserved or whites.As Robin Wiegman rgues n American natomies her study fthe epistemological roduction f race, [t]he egally nstituted egregation f spaceand services stablished the] anoptic regime" Wiegman 0) that fortified heManicheanboundary etweenblackand white.The arrangement radiated race's]significatory aluethrough heever-present roduction f community azes,inscriptions hat ead and rendered hetruth f the body and, n doing o,producedthe xperiential ruth f the ubject s well" 40).Segregation, ccording oWiegman,makesbodies more visible nd susceptible odisciplinewhen they eave the spacestowhich hey ave been racially ssigned. his is precisely he crisis ob Jones egistersaffectively. s a wartime aborer or n integrated hipbuilding ompany, ones sawa challenge he]had to accept r gnore" very imehe stepped utside If He Hollers ).Such"integrated" ublic spaces are, forJones, oubly nhospitable: ot only do theypresent hespecter f white acism nd the nvidious reatment hat omes with t,

CHESTERIMES'SELANCHOLICERCEPTION 235



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but they lso foreclose n the defiant ontemplation f his very bjecthood, s wellas on the repudiation f the dentities ith which people sought o nscribe is body.I maintain hat hese mpossibilities esonatewith he imitations f Cheng'smodelfor melancholic esistance s a tragically roscribed ebellion, ne that oncedes o thespatializations hatwhite melancholia ttempts oimpose upon the colored subject.It

championsssertions f colored

subjectivityrom

egraded pacesof

exceptionrather han from within reas n which white domination nd surveillance re morepronounced.

Can a sense of ubiquitous and imminent dread possiblyqualify as a viable approach to modern black life?

When we seek, lternatively, oimagine melancholic racticemore ppropriateto society's enters ather han o its margins hematter f melancholic erceptionrather han implymelancholic esistance returns o prominence. an a senseof

ubiquitousnd mminent read

possibly ualifys a viable

approacho modern

black ife? f this s indeed a reasoned pproach, bounding with hepromise fpartial elf-protection, owhat extent might t constitute n existential echnique fsurvival r even profit?

ChesterHimes'sengagement ith he ssue of melancholiawas far from dis-interested cademic xperience, ut one animated yhis own psychic nvestments.With hocking pecificity nd candor his early emarks n The uality f Hurt aybarethe nature f the writer's iscomfort. Adopting he rgot f the psychoanalyst imesplaceshimself nd his collegeexperience n the couch n a gesture hatproducesan important iscovery:

Iwas iredfOhio tate niversitynd ts olicysi'fdiscriminationnd egregation,ed pwith ondescension hich could ever ear, . . my nstinctiveithdrawalromntimacy,and

my chizophrenicmpulseso be

nconspicuousnd

onspicuoust the ame ime.

It wasmuchatern ife hat came o understandsimply adn't ccepted y tatus s a"nigger"Quality8).

Himes'swords here confirm hat he artist imply epudiated heattempts heworldmade to cast and treat im s black. n their ccount of the early dentifications,Himes'sbiographers dward Margolies nd MichaelFabre are sensitive o hisefforts orejecthis own rejection. hey cite his mother stelle as culpableforactively rying to bring ut the white' n her sons" in the way he educated hem(Quality 1).They alsonote that Himes himself went ogreat pains to do "whattypical hite ollegeboysdid" during is abbreviated tay n Columbus, nd that he"seemed to have preferred hecompany f whites s lovers nd friends" espite hemilitant ntolerance f black oppression 24).Thus Himes'sdescription f his own

eerie pectrality, hat he describes s being inconspicuous nd conspicuous t thesametime," ot only nvokes he condition f invisibility bout which Ellison wrotebut also the "melancholic uspension" hatCheng attributes o a colored subjectthat has been rejected et etained ywhite ociety 14).

Yet for Himes any possibility f "melancholic uspension"was bound to comecrashing own to earth. Beyondthe fact hatHimes recognized and that his biog-raphers ensed an identificatory ilemma, imes's autobiography s no less awareof the defining rauma hat ay t the origin f the artist'smelancholic ondition.Whileworking n an expensive levelandhotel s a busboy n the ummer f 1926topay for he collegeeducation hat was to begin hatfall,Himes felldown an elevatorshaft o its bottom forty eet elow.The crushing ncounter etween oncrete ndbone broke his aw, hattered isteeth, mangledhis eft rm, nd fractured is owerthree ertebrae. ndubitably uch an accidentwould record s an important ncident




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body and that f another onblackminority s reprised t the end of the novelwhenJones s forcibly nlisted n the military s punishment or rape of which he wasfalsely ccused.The two Mexicanyouthswho would accompany imto inductionare said to be "both brown kinned," nd more accurately, about [his] olor" (203).The repetition f this gesture t the beginning nd end of the novelrevealsnot onlya narrative niverse

kepticalbout the color scheme

requisiteor

body'sracial

classification, ut also about the protagonist's acit nsistence hat he is not quiteblack.4 hat Himes's Bildungsromannitiates thematic attern f psychic esistanceto racialized bjecthood that s observed n his subsequentworks as exemplifiedwhen the writer tates arly n his autobiography hathe does not accept the statusof being nigger shouldnot be lost on us.

In If He HollersBobJones's epeated nsinuations gainsthis own blackness remade more uriouswhenplaced longside acit igns f the hero's esire orwhiteness.On one occasion,Jones's argely arcastic elebration f a white man who elects oshare table with him at a local bar appearsoverly xuberant. he indication hatwhite ubjectwould be willing n this nstance orelaxhis segregational rivilegesmovesJones o remark I must be turning hite eally nd truly," nd then o close

his revelry y "grin[ning] t [theman]" 40). To be clear, isrejoicing ere howeverironic is directed ot at the brief uspension f racialist ehavior ut nstead tthe racial ine's being redrawn oinclude he hero n a socialprivilege sitting ithwhite people previously eniedhim.

Keeping n mind Freud'snotion hat okesare never imply okes,we must ookcloselynot only t Jones's uphoria t diningwith whites ut also at the ocularexchange oneshas with EllaMae,the marriedwoman n whose home he boards.That Jones akes second shower n the samedaymoves her to inquire bout hisintent. heir playful olley s brow-raising, owever:

"I'm rynaurn hite,"laughed."Iwouldn'tes'prised one,il s t's aid,"he racked ack."Youknow owmuch love he white olks,"said; couldn'tet tgo."You ust in't ayingt either,"hekept n. All hat alkingou o bout em ll hetime. seeyou ot hewhitestolouredirl ou ould ind."47)

From the way t starts his xchangewas to be one of simple epartee, t seems, sthe nterlocutors xpress heir pinion through umorous ndirection. et possiblyimpelled yhow close she feels Jones's uips come to the truth, lla Mae quicklyoffers er own candid ssessment f Jones's atent dentifications. otably, hebantercontinues ecause Jones s incapable f "let[ting] t go,"which hough t refers ere ohis reparteewith Ella Mae speaksalso to Jones's nability o mute his commentaryabout the whiteness e desires, as somehow ost, nd cannot retrieve. ones'scourtship, hen, f the "whitest oloured woman he can find" an be read as amelancholic ubject's choosing hefantas/' Cheng111), ttempting o sate his desirefor whiteness nd ts privileges espite his resentment owards

eing ggressivelyexcludedfrom oth.To the extent hat ones and n turn, is creator is melancholic, e can see as

inevitable is neloquence n responding irectly o the question f his white desire.As he and his girlfriend liceengage n one of several pic disputes ver the viabilityof their omance, he nterrupts he xchangewith direct uestion: Do youwant obe white, ob?" (If He Hollers 7)His apoplectic irlfriend uickly ephrases hequery,unwittingly paring ones heburden f a response.Beyondfaithfully epicting hecharged xchange f a lover's uarrel, argue hat he author eaves Alice'squestionunanswered ecause ts psychicweight equires hat t must be so. White desire ofully rganizes his aleof masculine ecoming hat ny explicit oncession o itmust be deferred n order for he story o be fully old. For the ego to admit uchreverence or n object t ost and swore o detest wouldprovide melancholic




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solution oo self-abnegating oendure. hus the closest Jones omes to respondingto Alice's nquiry ccurs much ater n the novelwhen he declaims, . . . all everwanted [was] ust to be accepted s a man" (153),but even then, ecauseof itspsychic mplications he matter f racialized esire remains tterly nspeakable.

Jones's nderstanding f himself s a racially nterstitial ubject that s,as a

subjecthat efuses lackness

yetannot command he

privilegesf whiteness n

spite f his desire renders im particularly usceptible o the melancholic rapCheng describes.6 nsurprisingly, he stone wallof midcentury os Angelesracismimmediately rops him nto this pathological ondition. or all ntents nd purposes,If He Hollers eginswithJones's nnouncement f his own racial rejection, rebuffso alienating hathis possibilities or xistential ecovery re few. he unsetded heroexplains hepeculiarnature f the Angelenos'unwelcome:

It wasn't eing efusedmploymentnthe lants omuch... It was he ook n thepeople'saces hen ou skedhembout ob. They ust ookedogoddamnedtartledthat 'd even sked. s f ome riendlyoghad ome n throughhe oor nd aid, I cantalk."t hookme. 3)

Jones proceedsto

explainhat he

poisonouscombination f

employmentiscrimi-

nation, he nternment f the Japanese, nd the atomic bombing f Japanese itiesinstantiates n interminable nxiety hat esembles he discomfort f Freud's melan-cholia exacerbated oward aranoia. I could always eelrace trouble," aysJones,"serious rouble, evermore than wo feet ff. Nobody bothered me. Nobody saidaword. But was tensed verymoment. ." (4).For iterary ficionadosmore accus-tomed o a gradual nfolding f a narrative's entral ension, f He Hollerss abruptlyefficient n stating ts preoccupations: ts hero s not white, s treated s such, s deeplyaggrieved yboth factors, nd comes to expect dditional rouble ecauseof them.The remainder f the tale willexplorerecursively hemeaning f these existentialfeatures, nd howJones manages hemboth psychically nd morally.

The plot s sustained y the fact hatwhite Los Angelesgrants heprotagonist

multiple pportunitieso exercise uch

management.he

opening haptersf

IfHe

Hollers hronicle veritable aundry istof prohibitions ywhich Bob must bide toavoid white punishment. otendy hallenging or he hero s that he restrictions reso numerous nd diverse hat hey ppear to reign ver him n a totalizing ashion.In addition onot applying or secure ob,he should not try o outrace white riverson the highway 12);he should not patronize eputable otelsor restaurants 60);heshould not beat white men at gambling 33);he should not flirt ith whitewomen(18);he should not expect o supervisewhite workers 25);he should not expect hisblack epair rew o be assigned hoice obs n the hipyard 12);and most mportandy,he should not counter white nsults n the workplace 27).These behaviors roducedisastrous ffects nd result nJones's mentally living veryday cared,walled n,lockedup" (4).With ubiquity nd persistence hatgrants redence o Pavlovian

theory, hese acial roscriptions ondition ones olose faith n American quality nddevelopa recalcitrant xpectation f the white practice f racism. ones loquendydescribes is disposition n a desperate oliloquy oAlice:

Takefor nstanceoing omethings simplesgoing owntowno a moving ictureshow . . every oddamnne f hem as got he ower f ome ind f ontrol vermyown ehavior.. . Say ride he treetcar,he onductor anmakeme tand here aitingformy hangerhe anmake e sk wo r hreeimesor transfer. hen hen get ff ndwalk own he treet he edestriansanmakeme tep side o et hem ass. he ashier tthe heatre an ellme oge eatswhen he knows here ren't ny, nd he oorman ansendme n up he alcony,nowinghat here ren't ny oge eats,hen he sher ill indtheworst ossibleeat orme.And here's he icture it's lmost ertainooffend e nsome ind fway . . you esenthe act f eeinghekind f ife hown ou'll ever eable o ive. 167)

CHESTERIMES'S ELANCHOLICERCEPTION 239



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Jones makesclear hat simple rrand n black eisure nd consumption an activatethe awaiting ircuits f racialmistreatment. rom manipulating heother n bad faithto fantasizing inematically bout ts exclusion,whites nact nJones's yestheirbelief hat nonwhites re there, s Ghassan Hageventures, to [be] constructed] . .into as much of an object as possible" 70).In doing so, they reate forJones n

overall tmosphere f hostility nd unwelcome hat rompts im, n a melancholicfashion hat Cheng sees as exemplary, o "lose [the] elf as legitimacy" Cheng 20).This socially nducedpersonal risis, ne that Alice describes s "a really tagger-

ing nferiority omplex, mounting o a fixation" If He Hollers 2),can be resolvedthrough wooptions. he first ne, the overs eemto agree, equires hatBob accept"the fact f [his]blackness" nd abideby the multiple ubordinations equired fthe colored ubject Fanon 109). "You don't try oadjustyourwayof thinking othe actual onditions f life,"Alicecharges, nd exhorts ones o"conform o thepattern f segregation" n order o enjoywith her the bliss of Jim Crow-careerismand family ife If He Hollers 66, 168).This conformity roposalwould for criticsuch as Cheng signify program f normative mourning, ne that llows the oveobject of whiteness o be so decisivelyost that he ego desists ts self-desecration

and avails tself f the new attachments such as blackness that t coulddevelop.7Jones himself ees the concession hat his posture equires imto take. Whencouldacceptbeingblack,"he muses, mplicidy sserting imself s racially ndefinite,"when could see no other ut, uch life ooked great" 153).As the overs' xchangestrongly mplies, he curative efuge or acialmelancholia ies n strict egregation.Its torment oulddissipatewhen subjects ccept their acially ntipodal dentities,abideby apartheid onfigurations f the city, nd discard ll psychic esires o be(near)one another.

The other ption, ne that melancholic uch s Jones s inclined o choose sincehe is destined o "wakeup someday nd sayto hell with" heblack dentity nd ifeAlice mplores imto embrace, s an equalizing ose of racial violence 153).Ifmelancholia, s Freud and Cheng see it, results rom urning heanimosity oward

the inadequately ost object upon the ego itself, hen t stands oreason that he actof externalizing he ggression oward he original ost objectwouldproduce one oftwo possibleeffects: consciousness f the realmechanics f loss that wouldpropelthe pathology nto remission, r conversely, psychoticmisrecognition f thestructure f persecution ltogether. imes'swritingmediates etween hese ffects,as we witness n the sadistic atisfaction ones xperienceswhen merely maginingviolence gainsthis two primary hite ntagonists: ne, the Texan MadgePerkins,whose racial nsult eads to Jones's emotion s a crew eader t the docks;and theother, isco-worker ohnny toddart a name that eems to recall he nfamouswhitesupremacist f the earlier wentieth entury, othrop Stoddard),who beats the herounconscious fter osingmoney o him n a crap game.

In the aseof MadgePerkins, ones maginesmaking er as low as a whitewhore

in a Negro slum a scrummy wo-dollar hore." Dominatingher sexually ould,Jones oncludes, keep [him] ookingwhite people in the face" 123).In hecaseofJohnny toddart y contrast, heonly uitable etribution or he ndignities e hascausedJones s death. Arriving t this onclusion, heprotagonist uxuriates n oneof the fewmoments n the narrative here his mind s at peace:

I was oingokill imf hey ungmefor t, thought leasantly.white an, supremebeing. ust he houghtf t did omethingorme; ust ontemplatingt.All he ightnessthat ad een een nmy ody, aking ymotionserky, eeping ymusclesaut,eftmeand felt elaxed,onfident,trong.hadnever eltostrongn ll my ife.38)

As the passageabove ntimates, ones's nguish nd euphoria likeregister iscerally.It is in his body that Jones feels he poignant ffects f his othering; hefantasy fmurdering white male allows him by contrast o feel his body without acial tress




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and thus feelhis socialpotency. antasies bout racial engeance ontain he antidote,these maginings uggest, o the debilitating alaiseof melancholia.

The existential hoicesJones faces t the close of If He Hollers eem to positionthe novelquite neady for symbolic ulmination nd closure. The tale seems to askwhether he hero willhonor the racial ontract, s philosopher harles Millswould

phraset, or whether e will take

vengeancen two racialrivals o

levy symbolicblow to the system f oppression.Our critical urposes require hatwe cast thispivotal uery n a different ay:how will Himes'snovel deal with he melancholiccomplications t articulates? n a self-conscious id for blackbourgeois espectability,Jones hoosesmarriage nd the protective omestic ocoon that Jim Crow ifewithAlicepromises.However, hisbid fails nexpectedly ymeans of MadgePerkins'sown act of racial vengeance, n her entrapment f Jones n the rape and lynchingritual hat givesmidcentury merican ace relations ts most distinctive ccent.Through hisperverse urn he novel nsists pon the structure f melancholia yforeclosing n the possibility f domestic eparation nd black racialmourning like.

In imagining hat Alice nd I could have a life f our own, nside ll of thepressure, wayfrom t, eparate rom t, hatno white erson ouldever ouch" 169),

Jonesnstantiates

mourning rocessthat ould

presumablyeal his

psychefrom

its racialunrest. igns of this healing merge n the aftermath f his hasty etrothalto Alice,beyond he nternal eclaration hat [he]was a different uy;didn't hinkthe same;didn't eel he same" (172).He promises oapologizefor nsulting adge,even though he nsulted im first; e returns o the docks to cadge for he ob helost as a result f his altercation ith her, nd he even ponders harnessing ispen-chant for xpecting heworst from white people the consummate ymptom fracialmelancholia. n musing bout returning o his post and keeping t, Bob thinks:"I'd have to take people at face value, . . have to believe heymeant what they aidinstead f always icking t to pieces" (175).

This new vow starkly ontrasts ithJones's revious posture, ccording owhich he could anticipate hite bad faithwellbefore t was acted upon. The most

spectacular xample f this s Jones's ssessment f the same MadgePerkins hatwould cause his professional nd personal demise.Seeingher whilerunning nerrand n the repair hip, ones ensesthat he would feignmortal ear t being ncloseproximity ith blackmale.Jones ubmits, I knew he nstant recognizedher that he was going to perform. ." (27).Later, fter ones dmits his sexualattraction oMadgeand decides that dominating er s crucial o his savingface,Jones oncocts n his head a twisted arrative bout how Madge positions herself nthe vexed constellation f heterosexual ace relations. is ruminations re nothingshort f disturbing:

itwasn't hat adge aswhite;twas heway he sed t. hehad sign p nfront fherasbig s Civic entre- EEPAWAY, IGGERS,'MWHITEAndwithout avingosay neword he ould eep ll hewhite enntheworld eelinghey ad oprotect er

from lack apists.hatmade er oublyangerousecausehe houghtbout egromen.I could ell he irst ime hat sawher. he wantedhem orun fter er. he xpectedt,demandedt s her ue. could magineer easinghem ith er ody, howinger arethighsnd reasts. hen avinghemynchedorooking.125)

Beyondreminding s of Jones's nonblack elf-identification he refers o the menMadgetaunts nd seeks to entrap s "them"), hispassagereveals he ntense natureof the hero's melancholic remonitions. espite having ery itde nteraction ithhis female emesis, heprotagonist onfidendy ndicts er adistic esire o orchestratea lynching itual hat eatures erself s its central etish. he fact hat ones emainsutterly onfident n his ntuitions ould remain nsignificant f the narrative id notactualize hem n ts denouement. irtually verything hatJones's hapsody boutMadge proposes proves o be true. While nspecting hework of his old repair rew




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at ts request, ob stumbles pon Madge sleeping n a hidden ompartment n theship. he awakes, ocks the both of them nside, nd attempts oenlist ones n thevery orm f sexual ontact hat ccording o his fantasy hey ach desired o recodeas rape.Much ikeJones's deas about whiteness tself, adge's ctions oubly nthrallthe melancholic ubject n an existential hort-circuit romwhich he cannot scape.Their violent

ugsnd

tussles,heresults f

Madge'sefforts o

engineersexual

encounter nd then punishing im for his refusal, ulminate n the declaration hatthe once-melancholic erounderstands s a foregone onclusion: I'm gonna get youlynched, ounigger astard" 181).As if on cue,the couple'swhitemaleco-workersburst hrough hebarrier o ensure hat he full measure f Madge's andJones'sfantasy omes true.8

Upon his arrest here s evidence hat he once-mourning ut more hopeful erohas regressed nto his former melancholic tate. Convalescingn a hospital nder hewatch f armed guards, ones reckonswith not only hebodilyharm hat he fulfill-ment f the mutual apefantasy rought pon him, hough t never ctually ccurredbut lso with he possibility hat he crime e did not commit ouldproduce dditionalpenalties. ust s he was unable to convince he mob of his nnocence, e surmisesthat his defensewouldbe

equallyecklesswithin he formal orridors f American

justice. ones ndeed xpects the whole structure f American hought obe against[him ince] heAmerican radition adconvicted him] hundred ears efore" 187).The protagonist o longer efers o his own experience s the grounds for his pes-simism. nstead he anticipates is unfair onviction ue to the historically oorjurisprudence racticed n Negro others.Havingat several oints n the novelasserted imself s a nonblack ubject, ones's elf-interpellationnto the taintedjudicialhistory f the rape narrative ignals serious dentitarian oncession ndthus his full escent nto melancholic bjection. f HeHollers hus seemingly eadsas a cynical aveat oblacks eeking ocialequality n the postwar ra. t argues hatthe anguish f a melancholic uspension ar ess salutary han he"pure potential"Chengdescribes that f being ivically ejected, ocially etained, nd tragically

paranoidn a

patternhatwill

ndlessly epeat hroughoutne's natural ife is a fate

from which ne cannot scape.Yet n spite of its own ronic nding, he novel stops short f suggesting hat

one cannot scapefrom heracialmelancholia roduced by the white public sphere.Forwhereas he quasi-paranoiac antasies ntertained yBobJones lways hreaten obecome co-opted s worldly ituations hat nly further mbroil im n fear-riddenparalysis nd socialdeath, f He Hollers uggests hat he black subject's nxiouspredictions till ffer form f consciousness hatmediates etween humiliatingcapitulation osegregation nd a psychotic iteralization f persecution nd revenge.

The novel abounds with utbursts f angstprovoked yJones's melancholicforesight, articularly hen he imagines etributive iolence s the response opresentor future acialmistreatment. uch angst s potent nough oprompt ones, t a pointin the

storywhen he

"began feelingmelancholy,"o forsake is nterstitial tatus

ydeclaring imself just a simplenigger astard" 74).Never would he "be a hero,"he ventures, ecause he didn't ossessthe requisite acial mpertinence oconfrontone of the many estures f white alumny. Had a thousand hances every ay;"Jones ays, a thousand oming omorrow. f I could ust hang on to one and say,'This s it ' And go out blowing p the white folks ike hat at [in film e saw]didthe Nazis" (74).

Strikingly, ones's elf-abnegating eflection esonateswith he ogicHimesarticulated n his essay Negro Martyrs re Needed" (1944),a Crisismagazine pin-ion piece that receded hepublication f If He Hollers y one year. n this ssayHimes posits that rue qualitywouldemerge rom racial evolution, ne sparkedby a blackperson ourageous nough oresist n incident f racialdiscrimination na spectacular ashion. he novelist irtually hastises he magazine's lackreadership




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13/14

rawmaterials or esthetic roduction. arriet acobs,RichardWright, llison, ToniMorrison, nd W.E. B. Du Bois have all been moved by the theme f existentialcircumspection oexplorehow essential t was or should be to black well-being.11It was Du Bois'sspeculations n double consciousness particularly is claim hatthe blacksubjectwas "giftedwith second sight" Du Bois 214),that llowedhim"to look at one's self

throughhe

eyesof others"

215)that anonized he

prospectof blacks' ppropriating hite ision for he purposes of their wn clairvoyance,thus offering n epistemological dvantage n dealingwith acial ppression.12 t issuch racialized oresight nd the need to transcend t that ccasionedMorrison'sBabySuggs n beloved1987)to tell her granddaughter enver to "know t and goon out the yard" Morrison 44). In articulating mode of fantasy hatneither ullyacceptsnor fully ejects acialparanoia s a response omainstream acism,Himes'searly ovelvaluably istinguishes hepsychicwork alutary or black subject ivingunder onditions f racial ppression, rom he social and ideological orces hatsustained heseconditions. or allhis sustained xploration f violent nd antisocialfantasy, imes never bandoned hefact hat urther ocialadjustment asnecessaryon both sides of the black-white acialdivide.From Himes'svantage oint, rodingracial

privilegend

eschewinghe

straitjacketf racial

predictionouldbe the

keyto keepingmodern American ife from allingnto the abyssof absurdity.

Notes I wouldike o hank ani eutill, rystal eels,atya ohanty,onatellazzo,DianeHarriford,Jonathanburne,ndKevin ell or he upporthey rovided en ringinghis ssayopublication.I also ery uchppreciatehe enerousnd areful ork f heournal'snonymouseviewers.

1.SeeCharles.Johnson,APhenomenologyf he lack ody,"n CallMyselfnArtist: ritingsby nd bout harlesohnson,udolphyrd, d. Bloomington:ndiana P,1999),09-22.inehart'stransgressivehape-shiftingesonatesith ohnson'sardonicallyold eclarationbout lack eing:"[N]oteingecognizeds a subjectsmy trength, y hanceor unningndmasquerade,or uerrillawarfare"117).

2. See lso vaTettenborn,MelancholiasResistancenContemporaryfrican mericaniterature,"MELUS 1.3Fall 006):01-21.3.The ovelpens ith he rotagonistobJones iting rofessionaluccesssthe eason or is

increasingsychiciscomfort.eobserves:And ince 'dbeenmadeeadermanut t Atlas hipyard,[anxiety]as eallyettingome"3).This emarkuggestshe xtent owhich ones'sroblem ightehis esire or changef tation, hetherrofessionallyr acially.

4. tagakieadshismoments a sign fwhat ean McCannalls imes'santi-racialistopulism."She alls his onversationetweenonesnd he wo raftees n upbeatnterchange"hat providesnopeningor futureased n nterracialommunity"Itagaki6).Thoughheresmuch videnceo ug-gest ones'sHimes's)upportfmultiracial,lass-basedolitics,argue erehat e must ecognizeherefreshingacialcumenismhat onesmbraceseresan xpressionf is nsistent isidentificationwith lackness.nother ords, ones'soliticalpen-mindednesss symptomf is acialmelancholia.

5. nstructiveo his ointsSeshadri-Crooks'sork n ace nd acaniansychoanalysis.he rgues

that he art f he ubjecthat xceedshe ymbolicegisters exualdentity;acialdentityffershesubjectway o melioratehis ndefinability.sSeshadri-Crookstatest, [t]heignifier hitenessriesto illhe onstitutiveack f he exed ubject"7).

6.The ovel iguresones'ssraciallynterstitialn wo dditional ays:ne, y rantinghe rotagonistacar,makingim ne f he ew lackmen ho s aptainf is wn mobility;wo, ymakinghe eroa"leaderman"ho upervisesn ll-blackonstructionrew.

7.Freudianheoriesfmourningndmelancholiaavet heirasishedea hat he ubject,s processof ts wn elf-constitution,dentifiesbjectsowardhicht edirectsts ibido fterhe profoundlyainful"detachmentromhemotherFreud44).

8. tagaki ighlightshe xtent owhich adge erkins'sntrapmentfJones evealshat acial esireanimateshe ccusationarmore hanexual esire oes75).

9. nhis tudy fHimess a hard-boiledriter, hristopherreu raiseshemoral estraintf hedreamequencesn fHeHollers.eeBreu,Freudiannot r Gordiannot?: he ontradictionsfRacializedasculinitynChesterimes'sfHeHollerset im o" Callaloo6.3Summer003):66-95.




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Unlike ost ard-boilederoes,onesymbolizesatherhan nacts is iolent esires,preferencehatengendersn thicalubjectivityncommono he enre. etwhereasimes'sater rime riting ouldinstrumentalizeictionsthe antasy-spacef ts iolent esiresindeed,fwe ake eriouslyhemurderousplot fHimes'sast ovel,lan we hen ee n uthor orkingisway p o magininghemass illingofwhite eopleIfHeHollerseveals ore learly imes'swn deas bout ubjectivity.

10.On he un fter eingccusedf ape, onesnsistshat e hasn't got chance"f eingxonerated

for he alseharge. hen lice sks ow e an e o ure hat heusticeystem ill eunfairnd acist,Jones ecoils,Okay,don't now but hatsn't he oint ight ow"193). he esponseecognizesthe pistemologicalnreliabilityf aranoia,hileimultaneouslynsistinghat hentuitionhouldetakeneriouslynd cted pon.

11. eeJohn .Jackson,acial aranoia:he nintendedonsequencesf oliticalorrectnessNew ork:BasicCivitasooks,008)nwhich e uestionshetheroliticalorrectnessas ofatefullyanitizedpubliciscoursebout ace hat lacks ndwhitesemainuspicioushat heirounterpartsarboregativeintentsowardshem.

12. or moving editationnblack elancholicerception,eneed urn ofurtherhanoDu Bois'sTheoulsf lackolk,nwhich e ncounter oth theoremhat vinceshe otentialormelancholicresistancend n ntenselyersonalxamplef he uthor's xercisinghis rerogative.he atter an efoundn he ourteenthssay,Of he assingf he irst orn,"nwhich u Bois eems eath safehaven or is eceasedon urghardtecausetwill parehenfanthe oulmurderfwhite acism.n

findingonsolationn he

oy's eath,he

legyespeaksmelancholiaf

ragicroportions,ethich

isno ess oundationalo he double onsciousness"u Bois heorizes.

Cheng, nne nlin. he elancholyf ace:sychoanalysis,ssimilationand idden rief ew ork:Oxford P, 001.

DuBois,W.E. . The ouls f lackolk. 903. hree egrolassics.ew ork: von ooks,965.Ellison,alph.nvisiblean. 952. ew ork: intageooks, 990.Fanon, rantz. lackkin, hite asks.952. rans. harles amMarkmann.ew ork: rove

Weidenfeld,967.Freud,igmund.MourningndMelancholia."917. tandardditionf he ompletesychologicalorksf

Sigmundreud, ol. 4 1914-1916):n he istoryf he yscho-Analyticovement,apersnMetapsychology,and ther orks.d. nd rans. amestrachey.ondon: ogarth,963. 37-60.

Fuss, iana.dentificationapers:eadingsn sychoanalysis,exuality,nd ulture. ew ork: outledge,1995.

Hage, hassan. hite ation:antasiesfWhiteupremacyn Multiculturalociety.ew ork: outledge,2000.

Himes,hester.fHeHollerset im o. 945. ew ork: hunder's outh, 002.- . "Negro artyrs reNeeded."risis1.5May 944): 59, 74.- . The ualityf urt: he utobiographyf hesterimes,olume. Garden ity, Y:Doubleday,972.Itagaki,ynn ."Transgressingace nd ommunitynChester imes'sfHeHollerset im o"

Africanmericaneview7. Spring003):5-80.Margolies,dward,ndMichaelabre. he everal ivesf hesterimes.ackson:P ofMississippi,997.Mills, harles. he acial ontract.thaca, Y:Cornell P, 1997.Morrison,oni. eloved.ew ork: nopf, 987.Seshadri-Crooks,alpana. esiring hiteness:Lacaniannalysisf ace. ew ork: outledge,000.Wacquant,oie. Ghetto. nternationalncyclopediaf he ocialnd ehavioralciences.ds.Neil . melser

and aul . Baltes.ondon:ergamon,004. -10.Wiegman,obyn. mericannatomies:heorizingace ndGender.urham: uke P, 1995.

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Melancholic