The B-Side of Oblivion

Abstract

The narrator in Michael Thomas’s Man Gone Down is routinely objectified as a Black male, intimidating to men and sexually exotic to women. Class and culture tensions stem from the narrator’s urban poor upbringing in Brooklyn and his wife’s suburban New England childhood. The narrator’s mother, heavily influenced by the racial movements of the 1960s, admonishes her son to become a leader of his people. Her encouragement, although well intended, yields similar results to his objectification: unrealistic standards that seem impossible to meet. He is conditioned not to question the disparity between his capabilities and what he perceives others want from him. The result: His body and activity are policed by others to achieve externally imposed goals that are rarely desirable or familiar. Furthermore, he rarely questions the ethical implications of meeting these compulsory obligations. This is the primary issue I raise in this article.