TW: White Boy Shuffle Suicide Commentary

Finishing up Paul Beatty’s White Boy Shuffle I am nothing but impressed. The last few chapters really come to a closing, a lot of time has passed and many things have happened but the flow stays the same. And despite the fact that the final scenes of the book may be seen as depressing or completely hopeless, Beatty continues using his witty banter all the way to the end.

In our final class discussion for the book, we discussed the final chapter and more specifically the final pages of the novel in detail. A couple years have passed since Scoby’s suicide and Gunnar’s subsequent attempt. Despite the mass of suicides and scheduled bombing of Hillside, Gunnar’s life seems somehow positive. He is married to Yoshiko, they have their daughter Naomi, and Psycho Loco often comes to visit. It seems like Gunnar is living this relatively laid back “happy family life”. When Psycho Loco asks him about suicide though, Gunnar is still adamant about his stance on it. He explains to Psycho Loco and the reporter earlier on, that suicide isn’t just giving up and quitting life. That’s the “western” idea of suicide as Gunnar puts it, but his suicide isn’t that. I would describe it as an act to pull himself out of his torture. If life is your hell, the idea of going to hell can’t seem that bad right?

Gunnar describes himself as the horse that pulls the stagecoach, he is always pulling the burden of everyone else along. If any of you remember from US history, for me this idea evokes images of the Reconstruction, “This is a White Man’s Government” cartoon we discussed in class. The black man in this image is being stepped on, and broken down by the white man and the white man’s government. What I mean by this is, even if the white man doesn’t literally step on the black man, with his power in controlling the government and legislature he will always crush the black man in the end. This cartoon though drawn in 1868 is relevant, Gunnar’s feels like he has always played that role. Suicide is the only way that Gunnar sees these crippling pressures arise from off of him.

            If we look at Scoby’s case, he decides to commit suicide at a time where he is completely overwhelmed by his feelings. Despite Gunnar’s help, Scoby realizes through Gunnar’s philosophy that it was his time to set himself free. Scoby didn’t have a lot to lose (although I’d hardly say any life is more quantifiable than another) in comparison to Gunnar, so we see his death slightly differently. Most significant I think, is the note he left behind. The note is purely for Gunnar, his best friend. I think suicides notes often have a negative connotation, that the victim is attempting to get some acknowledgement or attention. In this case it is clear that Scoby doesn’t really care about anyone else, he cares for Gunnar (as well as Yoshiko and Psycho Loco) and wants to say his one last farewell to the people he knows. His ending of the letter where he says he is waiting for Gunnar up there one day, I think is especially meaningful. Moving onto Gunnar’s attempt to suicide I think the readers find him position different than Scoby’s. Because of his fame, his voice, it seems that he has a lot to lose if he dies. But to Gunnar it is fairly obvious that it doesn’t mean anything to him.  Basketball clearly isn’t on his priority list, and writing his poems is personal, for him and not for anyone else (even though others are inspired by it). Gunnar knows that the people closest to him Yoshiko, Psycho Loco, his mom, would understand if he needed to commit suicide. The only thing that pulls him out of the water, is the idea of seeing his daughter grow up. Gunnar in this moment at least, is willing to sacrifice his freedom to for his child.

Playing the Dozens

Why That Abbott and Costello Vaudeville Mess Never Worked with Black People

By Paul Beatty

who’s on first?

i don’t know, your mama

Beginning Paul Beatty’s The White Boy Shuffle we see that Gunner’s character takes a slightly different route than the voices of the protagonists we have heard so far. Gunner is funny, he also uses sarcasm in very divisive ways. Often Gunner makes light of things that we find uncomfortable, we as readers find ourselves unsure whether or not to laugh. I think Gunner’s use of laughter is connected to what we’ve discussed in Invisible Man. The Narrator often used laughter uncomfortably as well, he laughed at things that weren’t funny and that’s what made him “crazy”. I think this laughter that we see is in some ways a coping mechanism used by these protagonists to deal with the harsh realities they are facing.

“Playing the dozens” as we briefly discussed in reading Invisible Man is another way of describing this use of joking, laughter that we see often in the black community. If you don’t know, it is basically a game of insults that goes back and forth until one person quits. Despite the obvious idea that insults are mean, they actually bring people closer together. A good “roast” can actually be the fire to kindle a new friendship. I think the relationship we see with Gunner and Scoby where they relate to each other in what may seem slightly unconventional ways.

I think the use of laughter in these two novels is very similar. They both bring up the ideas of discomfort, laughter at the expense of a person or a situation. The types of lives that our protagonists experience aren’t funny or easy. But in Gunner’s case his humor is what makes him happy, what helps him to cope with the issues that he won’t let boil up inside of him. For the Narrator, in his mind his sanity is actually proven when he can laugh through the injustice he sees.