The Sellout

The tension between racial and personal identity propels the story. Me introduces himself as “a [B]lack man” (6), but he doesn’t allow his racial identity to dictate his thoughts and feelings. In the Supreme Court, he waits for the “overwhelming sense of [B]lack guilt to drop [him] to [his] knees” (18), but the intense feelings never arise. Me confesses, “I don’t feel guilty” (20). The Black Supreme Court Justice (strongly implied to be Clarence Thomas) tries to make him feel guilty, as do his dad and Foy Cheshire. Even his romantic interest, Marpessa, diagnoses him with “Attachment Disorder” (183) for not interacting appropriately with Black culture. Me doesn’t follow the figurative script. When cops murder his dad, he doesn’t perform the expected actions. Me explains:

You’re supposed to cry when your dad dies. Curse the system because your father has died at the hands of the police. Bemoan being lower-middle-class and colored in a police state that protects only rich white people and movie stars of all races (42).

Instead, Me takes his dad to the donut shop, denies the think tank members the chance to exploit the death, then buries him in the backyard. Me’s singular behavior doesn’t detach him from Blackness.