Angry Black White Boy as a Hero's Journey Gone Wrong

            Throughout the first part of Angry Black White Boy, my emotions surrounding the book were kinda okaaay… maybe… huh, looks like this might go all right! Oh, this seems like a problem… eh, he’ll figure out something. After all, it’s a Hero’s Journey, right? Right? And towards the beginning, it seemed like it was working out. Whatever I thought of his ideology, he seemed to have one! He had an ability to galvanize people and somehow reach them. And he did make some good points.

            By what I thought was the end of the exciting bit, when he is whisked away in the Deus Ex Machina, I had doubts. But I wasn’t about to give up hope yet! Maybe it looked like Macon had completely failed the Supreme Ordeal, but there was probably another thing coming up where he could, I don’t know, figure out how he relates to black people and become an actual supportive ally! Oh, I was so naïve.

            How do we deal with a failed hero?

            Where did his journey go off the rails?

            From the start, it’s hard to say which aspects of Macon’s life fit onto specific parts of the Hero’s Journey. The Ordinary World is likely the closed-off version of suburban whiteness that Macon criticizes so much in the beginning of the book. The Call to Adventure could be the acquittal of Rodney King’s aggressors, “the day everything changed” or whatever Macon says. But wasn’t he already vying for black acceptance before that day? So when did he really leave the Ordinary World?

            I can’t put my finger on any specific Refusal of the Call, especially seeing as it’s kind of a Call that he gives to himself. Possible Mentor figures: the guys that Macon hung out with at the Five Percenter commune? The kids at the “black table” when he was at school? The black historical figures he looked up to (although, since they never actually met him, they might be more supernatural)? The most compelling Mentors, to me, are Andre and Nique, since they literally mentor him throughout the book, even basically acting as “managers.”

            Macon Crosses the Threshold at some point. Although Macon had left suburban xenophobic whiteness behind (or thought he had) long, long ago, I still think the best Crossing the Threshold moment in Macon’s life is when he shows the guy he’s robbing his face. He now is a known-ish criminal. Andre and Nique still believe he can get off scot-free: the evidence is “as flimsy as a hooker’s panties.” He’s thrust into yet another new world: full of paparazzi and interviews and notoriety. Shortly thereafter, we see Tests, Allies, Enemies in full swing. Macon has to “face off” against crowds of people time and time again. Each time, he’s prepared by his Mentors and then enters into an arena where only he can determine his fate. Andre and Nique can’t pull Macon’s foot out of his mouth.

            What is Macon’s Inmost Cave? There are so many false leads that it’s hard to tell. I think the Inmost Cave experience is when, at the Day of Apology, he is forced to confront people’s appropriation of black culture and the feeling of “did I do this?” And this could be where the Hero’s Journey comes to a screeching halt. Because instead of handling the situation well at all, he freaks out at the kid wearing blackface, and possibly at the portion of himself that he sees reflected in the kid’s physicality. Macon’s Ordeal might be the entire Day of Apology, where he confronts his own defining beliefs. But instead of defeating the enemy and gaining a reward, he’s forced to backpedal.

            Everything is wrong.

            What’s he supposed to do? He’s so far away from anything at all representing normalcy, but he can’t go on in this quest that he’s determined is deeply flawed. (Not gonna pass judgment here about how correct I believe Macon is – that’s a whole other blog post! I’m really trying to narrowly focus on the Hero’s Journey paradigm here.) There’s no playbook here. He maybe attempts to stage a flawed Resurrection (his suicide plan/attempt that he doesn’t go through with) but that doesn’t work out. It’s almost like he needs a Deus Ex Machina to save him from the situation he’s in!

            On the literal and metaphorical Deus Ex Machina, Macon is presented with a Road Back. He’s given the opportunity to basically change himself back and to return to the ordinary world of whiteness. But he doesn’t accept. In this regard, this situation seems more like “good upstanding hero refuses bribe” than anything, since the Road Back is presented as something easy, but also something that would make Macon a sellout. When Macon refuses this offer, things plot-wise get really out of hand.

            Usually, after this point, we expect something in the style of the hero’s previous challenges, possibly amped up a little so they can destroy the last shreds of evil on the earth or whatever. But Macon never really received the Reward, did he? That most crucial part of the Hero’s Journey never happened, so he is in some fundamental way trapped. He cannot become the Master of Both Worlds because he was never master of the Unfamiliar World. He cannot return home unchanged because he’s seen so much. The journey continues, off the rails. He’s whisked away to what we later know is Donner’s last-ditch attempt to convert Macon back to the Ordinary World. Other characters push for Macon’s return. Even Macon decides he wants to return. He embraces the role handed to him. Runs with it. He wishes he could forget all about his journey. And yet because he left his journey unfinished, because he never gained the Elixir, the secret, the power, he is not allowed to leave. His enemies are not vanquished, and neither are the ones inside himself. At the end of the novel, he dies for a cause he no longer supports.

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 PS really enjoyed this class! Have a good summer everyone, especially you, Graduating Class of 2019!