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Analysis Of Black Like Me By John Howard Griffin

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John Howard Griffin is bold and adventurous in his writing in the eye opening novel Black Like Me. He is very descriptive in his experience in the South during the 1950’s. Griffin is a middle-aged white man living in Mansfield, Texas in 1959. Committed to the cause of racial justice and is curious of what it is really like to live as a black man in the South. To find out what it’s really like as a black man in the South during the 1950’s Griffin undergoes medical treatment to darken his skin. Griffin then gains the support of his family and a news reporter who works for a black orientated magazine. After this Griffin heads to New Orleans to start his new life as a black man. Griffin knows there may be prejudices, discrimination, and …show more content…

He notices a change in himself of how his facial expression has become more defeated. After awhile he stops taking his medical remedies that turn his skin dark. He does this so he can pass off as white or black. Griffin goes to stores and restaurants first as a white man than as a black man. Griffin immediately notices how much more respect he gets when he is a white man than he does as a black man. In the ending Griffin writes about his journey and his hardships which does not go over well with some people. Griffin receives threats, and is scared for his family’s safety. Griffin had many strengths in his writing; he was very descriptive in retelling his journey. Also he was very vivid with detail in describing some of the awful events that happened in his journey in the South. I also enjoyed how Griffin still went on to write the book Black Like Me and still told his story to the newspapers even though he was receiving threats. Although Griffin did elaborate on many events in the book I feel he could have went more into depth about the part after his journey to the South. Otherwise I rather enjoyed the book and don’t really have anything bad to say about

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Black Like Me is an incredible journey into what life was like in the Deep South during the late 1950s. John Griffin performed a social experiment to see what was life really like for blacks in the Southern States. John Griffin transformed himself into a black man and recorded his experiences into a book, Black Like Me. I was fascinated that 1950s science and medicine had advanced enough to allow someone to change the pigment of their skin. The procedure that Griffin underwent was simply taking pills and exposing himself to ultra violet rays (6).

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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.

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