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Blacker The Berry Sparknotes

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In life, there are no directions for entering adulthood. Everyone makes mistakes and learns valuable lessons as they grow into mature human beings. In Wallace Thurman’s satirical novella Blacker the Berry, Emma Lou experiences growth in a unique manner. Contrary to the development of the average young adult, Emma Lou displays an irregular path to maturity due to her irrational premises and prejudiced interpretations of reality. First, Emma Lou’s method to find new friends exemplifies her distorted maturity. In Emma Lou’s journey from high school into college, she intends to find new friends. Normally, this process would include various trials and errors, discovering which students she has similarities with, and branching out from there. …show more content…

When Emma Lou eventually befriends someone who enjoys her company and relishes their friendship, she distances herself. Emma Lou discovers this student has failing grades and the school will send her back home, thinking to herself that it “serves her right, [she’s] glad [that] she’s gone”(29). Only a misguided individual would consider thinking such a thing as their only friend departs, never to be seen again. Thurman demonstrates that Emma Lou develops differently, that his story outlines a perverted sense of growth. Therefore, her unreasonable actions in acquiring and sustaining friends exemplify Emma Lou’s flawed …show more content…

Whilst in Harlem, Emma Lou’s single-bedroom studio place fits her well and she functions nicely. One night, her landlord expels Emma Lou from the building, leading her to look for other options. While looking for a home, she does not focus on weighing the costs or location, rather she thinks of how “[t]hey were all too cold-looking” and “she preferred the red-brick houses to the green-brick houses”(74). This is a normal occurrence on a path to maturity, yet Emma Lou’s response is not. Young adults would consider the practicality of a new home, emphasizing whether or not it would work for them logistically. In this sense, Thurman distorts the expected response and expectation of what maturing young women would think in this process. Maturing involves understanding what is best for you and thinking practically, this contradicts Emma Lou’s experience and demonstrates abnormal

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