Analysis Of Black Like Me By John Howard Griffin

Black Like Me by John Howard Griffin told his incredible journey experiencing racism in the Jim Crow South as an African-American. The book opened the eyes of many readers by illustrating the horrific treatment African-Americans experienced in the 1950s. The purpose of this historic book was to explore racism and to spread the truth about the harsh life of the black race during racial segregation. In the beginning of his experiment, Griffin traveled to New Orleans, Louisiana. He met and confided in a local shoe shiner by the name of Sterling Williams, both as a white man and as a black man. He noticed Sterling seemed more comfortable speaking to a black Griffin about the black man’s concern to please the white man. In New Orleans, Griffin

“I’m not pure Negro,” he said proudly. “My mother was French, my father Indian (56).” Once Griffin arrived, he was harassed by a group of white men. He was the target of thrown fruit and mean insults and quickly realized how horrible Mississippi was. Next, Griffin hitchhiked his way through Mississippi and Alabama, until he reached Montgomery, Alabama. In Montgomery, Griffin noticed how different the city was from the other places he had experienced earlier in his experiment. The black community worked together to fight against racism. He also noticed the disbelief whites had toward the passionate resistance that the black community possessed. “The Negro’s feeling of utter hopelessness is here replaced by a determined spirit of passive resistance.... Here, the Negro has committed himself to a definite stand. He will go to jail, suffer any humiliation, but he will not back down. He will take the insults and abuses stoically so that his children will not have to take them in the future (120).” After he concluded his experiment, Griffin began to make his journey known. He wanted the world to see how African-Americans were treated. He spoke out to many media

In comparison to other books I have read, Black Like Me was a powerful and moving book. Griffin’s writing style and vocabulary were simple, yet impactful. It was an autobiographical diary, as he wrote from his point of view. Many authors attempt to complicate their writing, forcing readers to deeply analyze the meaning of their words, but Griffin’s words and sentences were not too complex. The simplicity of his writing allowed me to comprehend and trust what he was writing. Griffin’s characters used both inner dialogue and outer dialogue throughout the book. Griffin included his feelings and thoughts about everything he experienced, as well as his specific interactions with different people from different parts of his journey. He is similar to many authors in this way, as many writers indulge in the inner thoughts and feelings of their characters as well as their interactions with others. Griffin met several people with different views and language throughout his journey. For example, he met many white people who used racial slurs and sexual language. The characters he wrote about were believable, as they spoke honestly about racism and readers saw the views of racism during this time from a