"I Could Always Feel Race Trouble...

Never More Than Two Feet Off": Chester Himes's Melancholic Perception Author(s): Tyrone Simpson II Source: African American Review, Vol. 43, No. 2/3 (Summer/Fall 2009), pp. 233-245 Published by: St. Louis University Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/41328604 . Accessed: 22/11/2013 10:32
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Tyrone Simpson II "I More Could Than Always Two Feel Feet Race Off": Trouble Chester . . . Never Himes's

Melancholic

Perception

thesummer of 1950,having been fraudulently and jailedforcausinga arrested In minorautomobile accident witha moneyed whitewoman,Chester Himes steeled himselfforyetanother roundof theongoinganxiety he believedto typify and "Don't let it throw American you,"Himes organizeAfrican psychic experience. himself. of theblackrace" {Quality 112). encouraged "Despair is characteristic that the circumstances surrounded the writer's briefincarceration at thetime Though seemedbleak and unfair, about he thiskindof unbridled what construed pessimism - and theincessant as thepsychological condition of all blacks to personalstruggle - was not uncharacteristic off such malaise of Himes. His publishedmemoirs fight revealtheartist to be poignandy awarethatracismexacteda heavypsychological cost on blackpeople,and thathe himselfmayhave been chiefamongitsvictims. Late in The volumeof his autobiography, Himes Quality of Hurt(1972), the first declarestheblackman to be "the mostneurotic, . complicated, schizophrenic . . in earlier the thathis "entire life account specimenof mankind"(285) after stating had conditioned of catastrophe" all of [him]to a constant (249). After expectation theaccomplishments Himes had earnedby theearlyseventies, a fictionincluding that a him career and had international century literary writing spanned quarter gained feelcompelled to foreground "thequality of [his]hurt"? renown, whywouldthewriter at a moment when he seemedmost existentially at peace, whilewriting his Why, memoirs what bytheSpanishseaside,did Himes commithis pen to documenting In the following unrest? I arguethattheanswersto appearsto be his lifelong essay, thesequestions lie in Himes'stheory of melancholia. Himes'sideas aboutmelancholia, I argue, a sustained meditation on theinterminable forloss first represent mourning in Ann Freud and and others have which 1917, by conceptualized recendy Cheng revised in thestudy of racein theUnitedStates.Focusingon his latememoir, as well as his early LetHim Go (1945),I willshow thatHimes was as novelIf He Hollers mucha theorist as he wras a victim of racialmelancholia. What Himes saw as the of over eternal black Americans the of beingwhitecould be mourning impossibility understood not merely as a paralyzing but as a for pathology necessary strategy endurance and engagement within defined white Whereas by spaces supremacy. racial and theepistemology of prediction itimplies mayhavestoodforHimes paranoia as a virtually inevitable itwas racial consequenceof blacklifein theUnitedStates, himwitha viable theory melancholia thatfurnished of blackpoliticalsubjectivity. makesFreud's of melancholia to thepredicament of race theory responsive to addresshow intersubjective What in theUnitedStatesis hatit seemsdirectly - estrangement and thussocial of mayproducein personsan unending experience emotionalstrife. Since racialization is fundamentally a process of separation and of humanbeings,a theory on object loss is subsequentobjectification predicated to providesome insight on race'spsychic affects. Such is thethinking of Anne likely African American Rew'evv 43.2 233-245 (Summer 2009): 2009 II Simpson Tyrone 233

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AnlinCheng,as she articulates itin TheMelancholy of Race(2001). Chengexplainsthat melancholia is a condition in whichbothwhiteand nonwhite subjectsparticipate. This is possiblebecause both subjectpositionstakeon theotheras an ambivalently desiredobject thatis destined theunevendistribution of racial to be lost through and power.For whiteness, melancholia manifests itselfin whatChengcalls privilege of the"exclusion-yet-retention of racialized others"(Cheng 10). The codification whiteness as a nationalideal engenders theexclusion, and thustheloss of which thisban needs have historically workedto counterbalance yetnational Chengspeaks, sincenonwhites oftenprovidethehumancapitalthatenableseconomicgrowth. theattempts are integral to thereproduction of American life, Though nonwhites - have their contributions to circumscribe their of privileges citizenship despite in been incessant. Thus in important symbolic ways,thesenonwhite subjectsremain U. S. culture, but not completely of it. The condition of coloredpeople as melancholic bycontrast, subjects, expresses in their itself internalization of beingambivalendy desired. AwarethattheAmerican one as both noble and savage,thecolored consistendy imaginary conceptualizes is forever of whiteness and (legal)discourse, defrocked subject bymeansof phenotype from theusufruct of how he or she this ideal. Barred regardless vigorously pursues and rejection of fullcitizenship, thenonwhite melancholic comes to expectdiscipline in herengagement It is byway withthewhitenationand itsprivileged constituents. of thissedimented of rejection, thispalpable sixthsense if youwill, expectation ... a scripted that one'sracial difference an oncoming that"installs cataclysm, promises context of perception"(Cheng 17). itinsinuates, hereclinically thecondition of paranoia Cheng's language euphemizes this and as she proceedswithherstudy, she stops surprisingly shortof declaring the that her remarks about state the fact introductory psychic pathological. Despite at the to readers to look askance underscore cause literary concept exampleslikely of theblacksubject, sobriety position: psychic ChengaltersFreud'sfoundational of punishment" where Freudclaims that melancholia involves "a delusional expectation not merely as thecoloredsubject's due psychological (244), Chengpositsmelancholia as a of political to its ambivalent into the but nation, response incorporation strategy thelatter of resistance. Towardthisend, she extracts two examplesfrom quarter and is theenigmatic Invisible Man (1952). The first RalphEllison'smodernist triumph, for whom the Harlem numbers and Rinehart, runner, clergyman ever-changing pimp, theinvisible manis frequendy theneighborhood. mistaken his travels during through a "formwithout substance[whose]. . . substancelessness Chengespiesin Rinehart chameleon-like provideshimwithpurepotential" (Cheng 132). As theprotagonist's him to a dehumanwho is that aware his racial ; identity Doppelgnger acutely consigns and skin "his Rinehart turns his black invisibility, corporeal izingobjecthood - intoa conduitforsocial mobility malediction" and multipo(111) as Fanon sees it In either a factthatplaces is virtually untraceable, case,his truesubjectivity sitionality. himin perfect in it anyway.1 witha society thatwas not interested harmony The invisible man himself mounts whatChengsees as thesecond crucial gesture of melancholic in thenovel.In one of themostcelebrated acts of subresistance versionin American theprotagonist claimsthebasementof a whites-only literature, the culminates on Harlem as his eminent domain.His subterfuge building periphery to suffuse his withhimillegally off an exorbitant amountof electricity siphoning in light illumination. subterranean forthepurposesof bothliteral and figurai dwelling thatsuch a "The truth is thelight and light is thetruth," he philosophizes, insisting and in he context the best environment can which contemplate provides possible understand theexistential natureof his invisibility (Ellison 7). Chengarguesthat both Rinehartism and utility-pirating and thedeep thought enabledby squatting a one that affords the colored melancholia, subject"a metaphysical, highlightpolitical intellectual meditation" on "objecthoodand its entangled withhistory relationship and loss" (Cheng 130, 133). 234 AFRICAN AMERICAN REVIEW

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therejected An impliedby-product of thisunderground practiceof theorizing thandwellon this"negative selfis paranoia.Yet rather (127), Cheng capability" on themoreoption Ellison'sworkto focusing dedicatesherremaining thoughts - formof rebellion - and, she claims, foundin the mistic themorerevolutionary of "identificatory renunciation" (Cheng 135). That is, theradicaloutcome practice to refuse insistence of theinvisible man'sprotracted any sojournis his stubborn thatcastshimas otherthanhuman.To accept being scripting typeof identitarian of or within theinterstices male or female, read as blackor white, gayor straight, melanthat and discursive theseidentities, is to accept theexistential imprisonment choliaand itsmeditative protocolsare equipped to suspend. miss resistance of melancholic As satisfying as Cheng'sformulations maybe, they in Ellison'snovelthatare in turncentral to Himes's own thinking a crucialfactor and Rinehart's the factthatboth theprotagonist's about racialmelancholy: namely, of blackHarlem. thesegregated enclave arewagedwithin and through heroic campaigns one bornof "external of ambivalent As thespatialexpression [racial] incorporation, Harlemprovides black and internal 3), justenough [racial] affinity" (Wacquant hostility fortheseeruptions of black subjective willthatCheng of a geographic prophylactic to here for its contrast becomes instructive celebrates.2 Himes'sliterary imagination in If He Hollers On theone hand,theblackenclavefeatured thisspatialdelimitation. in thenarrative as a nether functions regionbeyondthereachas well as theinterest in Los Angeles (thefictional of whitesurveillance. The Central Avenuedistrict is referred to blackneighborhood) of a veryrealmid-twentieth-century counterpart adornedwithits"husdersand pimps, as "a slick, block,"one conspicuously niggerish Robert and stooges" (If He Hollers 43). The protagonist Jonesis said to gamblers "likeit [being] with[his]folks"(43) because thearea bothindemnifies transgressive of thepublicsphere.On the himfromtheweighty race pressure playand shelters himselffromthe otherhand,Jonesin thatlatter domainis incapableof shielding their melancholia. own that enact when whites theyengage alienating gestures of of thelatter renunciation" Whereasthe"identificatory chapters Ellison'snovelis Himes'sIf He Hollers conditioned subjects anysuchrenunciation byitsHarlemsetting, Los Angeles. to thecontested interracial spaces of wartime himinto an In If He Hollers ventures into thepublic spherethrust ,Jones's interest at a drive-in An his romantic innocent lunch with undesirable conspicuity. for attracts unwanted counter, example, scrutiny: inthe the I looked cars. With for and around atthe Wewere silent a moment adjoining people I at and I of them us noticed several of us were all white. furtively glancing exception they Alice was.NowI felt outwhat were tomake self-conscious, nationality they trying figured ateasearound white illatease. I wondered ifI'd ever feel (165) people. perfectly slighdy into spaces to itselfwhen it trespasses The blackbodyinevitably calls attention of Anatomies reserved forwhites. As Robin Wiegmanarguesin American , her study of instituted theepistemological of segregation space production race,"[t]helegally the and servicesestablished [the]panopticregime"(Wiegman40) thatfortified "radiated[race's] Manicheanboundary betweenblackand white.The arrangement of community theever-present value through gazes, production significatory thetruth of thebodyand,in doingso, produced thatreadand rendered inscriptions to Wiegman, truth theexperiential of thesubjectas well" (40). Segregation, according leave thespaces to to discipline when they makesbodies morevisibleand susceptible thecrisis Bob Jonesregisters This is precisely whichthey havebeen racially assigned. an As a laborer for wartime Jones"saw company, shipbuilding affectively. integrated timehe steppedoutside(If He Hollers a challenge 4). [he]had to acceptor ignore" every not onlydo they Such "integrated" Jones,doublyinhospitable: publicspaces are,for thatcomes withit, the specter of whiteracismand theinvidioustreatment present MELANCHOLIC PERCEPTION HIMES'S CHESTER 235

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but they also foreclose on thedefiant of his veryobjecthood,as well contemplation as on therepudiation of theidentities withwhichpeople soughtto inscribe his body. I maintain thattheseimpossibilities resonate withthelimitations of Cheng'smodel formelancholic resistance as a tragically one thatconcedesto the rebellion, proscribed thatwhitemelancholia to impose upon thecolored subject. spatializations attempts It championsassertions of coloredsubjectivity from degradedspaces of exception rather thanfrom within areasin whichwhitedomination and surveillance are more pronounced. Can a sense of ubiquitous and imminent dread possibly qualify as a viable approach to modern black life? to imagine Whenwe seek,alternatively, a melancholic moreappropriate practice to society's centers rather thanto itsmargins thematter of melancholic perception - returns rather thansimply melancholic resistance to prominence. Can a sense of dreadpossiblyqualify as a viableapproachto modern ubiquitousand imminent blacklife?If thisis indeeda reasonedapproach,abounding withthepromiseof to whatextent it constitute an existential of partial self-protection, might technique survival or even profit? ChesterHimes's engagement withtheissue of melancholia was farfroma disinterested but one animated academicexperience, investments. byhis own psychic Withshocking and candorhis early in The remarks specificity Quality ofHurtlaybare thenature of thewriter's discomfort. theargotof thepsychoanalyst Himes Adopting himself and his the in a on couch that places collegeexperience gesture produces an important discovery: I wastired ofOhioState and its ofdiscrimination and fed University [si' policy segregation, up with condescension which I could never . . . my instinctive withdrawal from bear, intimacy, andmyschizophrenic to be inconspicuous andconspicuous at thesame time. impulses Itwasmuch inlife I came later that tounderstand I simply hadn't status as a accepted my 28). {Quality "nigger" Himes'swordshereconfirm thattheartist theattempts theworld simply repudiated made to cast and treat himas black.In their accountof theearly identifications, Himes'sbiographers EdwardMargoliesand MichaelFabre are sensitive to his efforts to rejecthis own rejection. Estelleas culpablefor They citehis mother "to bring out the'white'in her sons" in thewayshe educatedthem actively trying 11). They also note thatHimes himself wentto greatpains to do "what (Quality whitecollegeboysdid" during his abbreviated in Columbus,and thathe typical stay "seemed to have preferred thecompanyof whitesas loversand friends" despitethe militant intolerance of blackoppression(24). Thus Himes'sdescription of his own eeriespectrality, whathe describes as being"inconspicuous and conspicuousat the same time," not onlyinvokesthecondition of invisibility aboutwhichEllison wrote but also the"melancholic to a colored subject suspension"thatChengattributes thathas been rejected retained white yet by society(14). Yet forHimes anypossibility of "melancholic suspension"was bound to come - and thathis biogdown to earth.Beyondthe factthatHimes recognized crashing an sensed Himes's is no less aware dilemma, identificatory raphers autobiography of thedefining trauma thatlayat theorigin of theartist's condition. melancholic in an expensive Whileworking Clevelandhotelas a busboyin thesummer of 1926 to Himes felldown an elevator pay forthecollegeeducationthatwas to beginthatfall, shaft to itsbottomforty feetbelow.The crushing encounter betweenconcreteand bone brokehis jaw,shattered his teeth, his lower mangledhis leftarm,and fractured three vertebrae. such an accidentwould recordas an important incident Indubitably 236 AFRICAN REVIEW AMERICAN

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in anyone's butwhatendoweditwithuniquepsychic life, consequencesforHimes is thatitwas thedirect of a spatialabsentmindedness, born of therejection and result of his flirtations In his autobiography, ridicule byyoungwhitefemaleco-workers. Himes notesthatafter he entered the shaft witha rebuffed, havinghis overtures "sense of letdown," at thewomen "accusingly" insteadof paying attention staring to theempty corridor beforehim {Quality 20). This accountstrongly impliesthat of the in the medium Himes's own artist his had already youth trhough hindsight, a to social as both act and an function as of begun process rejection physical explicit racialism. Himes explainsthatthissense of overdetermination is compoundedbyhis treatment in theaftermath of the fall, wherein JimCrow healthfacilities proceeded to add insultto injury: literally I remember theexpressions ofregret on theaquiline faces ofthetwostaff doctors who walked toward the their heads the red-faced driver while ambulance, slowly shaking exposIt occurred I hadseen it tulated tomethat a scene wasbeing that re-enacted, dramatically. allbefore inPine inthe white when brother there wasrushed Bluff, Arkansas, my hospital andthe white staff hadturned him So inCleveland in1926, doctors three later, away. years I wasgiven I toowasturned there wasnospace, noempty but a massive because bed, away, ofmorphine. injection (25) Himes would carry thememory of thisspectacular double rejection his throughout life:first, the suddenmangling of his body,characterized as theindex forhis sexual second,the factof his unalterably rejection bywhitefemaleco-workers; damaged the white authorities endowedwiththeexpertise to bodybeingrefused by repair healit.Thoughitis a canonizedtruism bywhichmanycoloredsubjectsabide,Himes A more thatbeingblackleftone susceptible understood to suddeninjury. particularly in the a case of the elevator better of accident, vigilant perception recognition a fuller wherehe was going;in thecase of thehospital, awarenessof theinvidious - could possiblyprevent, behaviorof whiteinstitutions as he might describethem, "hurtful" It is thus no that would dedicate Himes profoundly experiences. surprise his early to measuring thevirtue of melancholic and its ability to fiction perception if not to understand, his own racialrejection. predict, The fictional is theindustrial docks of wartime backdropforthismeditation in whichto explorethelevelof citizenship Los Angeles,a fitting historical context and nationalbelonging thatAfrican Americans could enjoyin theUnitedStates. The protagonist, Bob Jones, is an intelligent, foreman at a shipmechanically gifted building plantwho is doinghis best to remain impressed upon by thenationalist fervor thatanimates thecountry. his fullsympathy forAmericanmiliMitigating is thewhiteracismthatstructures muchof Jones'severyday life. however, tarism, - as He Hollers thus the to a extent which comfortable middle-class life If explores an ideologicalconstruct constituted bymiddle-management responsibilities, college - is truly a car,and a single-family home accessibleformales education, marriage, withnonwhite skin.3 thathe is notwhite, he is equallyawarethathe is not ThoughJonesis cognizant a thinly veiledidentification withthe former. For example, black,and seems to carry theeventthatignites thehero'sanxiety about race is not a lynching, whichmight thesadistic seemaptly to foreshadow liaisonbetween himself and a white womanthat theplot.Rather, itis theinternment of theJapaneseresidents ultimately preoccupies withwhomhe is acquainted: "I'd seen themsendtheJapanese confesses away," Jones, me to getting which"started scared" (If He Hollers 3). Jones"was the same colour as theJapanese"and "couldn'ttellthedifference" betweenhimselfand them(2), to extent the of some the Nisei fromthecitycenter made explaining why expulsion Jonesanxious;it also accountsforhow deeplyfearful Jonesis of theprospectof - thatis,of residing intothenation beingmelancholically incorporated upon national soil in a symbolically The betweenthehue of Jones's abjectterritory. comparability CHESTER HIMES'S MELANCHOLIC PERCEPTION 237

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nonblackminority is reprised at theend of thenovelwhen bodyand thatof another in is enlisted the as for Jones forcibly military punishment a rape of whichhe was accused. The Mexican himto induction two who would accompany falsely youths are said to be "both brownskinned," and moreaccurately, "about [his]color" (203). The repetition of thisgesture at thebeginning and end of thenovelrevealsnot only a narrative universe about thecolor schemerequisite fora body'sracial skeptical but also about the tacit insistence that he is not quite classification, protagonist's black.4 That Himes's Bildungsroman initiates a thematic of resistance pattern psychic to racialized that is in observed his as works objecthood exemplified subsequent in his autobiography when thewriter statesearly thathe does not accept the status - shouldnot be lost on us. of beinga nigger In If He Hollers , Bob Jones'srepeatedinsinuations againsthis own blacknessare mademorecurious whenplacedalongside tacit of the hero'sdesirefor whiteness. signs On one occasion,Jones'slargely sarcastic of a whiteman who electsto celebration sharea tablewithhimat a local bar appearsoverly exuberant. The indication thata in thisinstanceto relaxhis segregational whitesubjectwould be willing privileges "I mustbe turning movesJonesto remark whitereally and truly," and thento close - however his revelry at To be his here clear, rejoicing by"grin[ning] [theman]" (40). - is directed ironic not at thebriefsuspensionof racialist behaviorbutinsteadat - sitting theracialline'sbeingredrawn to includetheheroin a social privilege with whitepeople previously deniedhim. Keepingin mindFreud'snotionthatjokes are neversimply jokes,we mustlook withwhitesbut also at thejocular closelynot onlyatJones'seuphoriaat dining womanin whose home he boards. Joneshas withElla Mae, themarried exchange ThatJonestakesa second showerin the same daymoves herto inquireabout his intent. Theirplayful however: volleyis brow-raising, "I'mtryna turn I laughed. white," "I wouldn't lilasit's bes'prised shecracked back. none, said," "Youknow I love how much the white I said; I couldn't itgo. let folks," "Youjust ain't iteither," shekept on."Allthat 'emallthe youdo 'bout saying talking I seeyou time. the whitest coloured could find." (47) got girl you From thewayit starts thisexchange was to be one of simplerepartee, it seems,as theinterlocutors humorousindirection. Yet possibly expresstheir opinionthrough Ella Mae quickly impelledbyhow close she feels Jones'squips come to thetruth, offers herown candidassessment of Jones's thebanter latent identifications. Notably, continues becauseJonesis incapableof "let[ting] itgo,"whichthough itrefers hereto his repartee withElla Mae speaksalso to Jones'sinability to mutehis commentary about thewhiteness he desires, has somehowlost,and cannotretrieve. Jones's colouredwoman he can find"can be read as a then,of the"whitest courtship, melancholic to satehisdesire subject's "choosingthefantas/'(Cheng111),attempting forwhiteness and itsprivileges his resentment towards despite beingaggressively excludedfrom both. - and in turn, - is melancholic, To theextent that his creator we can see as Jones inevitable his ineloquencein responding to of the his whitedesire. directly question As he and his girlfriend theviability Alice engagein one of several over epic disputes of their she interrupts theexchange "Do witha direct romance, youwantto question: be white, Bob?" (If He Hollers thequery, 97) His apoplectic girlfriend quickly rephrases the unwittingly Jonestheburdenof a response.Beyondfaithfully sparing depicting of a I lover's that the author leaves Alice's chargedexchange quarrel, argue question unanswered because itspsychic thatit mustbe so. Whitedesireso weight requires concessionto it fully organizesthistaleof masculine becomingthatanyexplicit mustbe deferred in orderforthe story to be fully told. For theego to admitsuch reverence foran objectit lost and sworeto detestwould providea melancholic 238 AFRICAN AMERICAN REVIEW

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solutiontoo self-abnegating to endure.Thus theclosestJonescomes to responding to Alice'sinquiry ". . . all I ever occursmuchlaterin thenovelwhen he declaims, - [was]justto be acceptedas a man" (153), but even then,because of its wanted thematter of racializeddesireremains utterly psychic implications unspeakable. - thatis, as a of himselfas a racially interstitial subject Jones'sunderstanding in that refuses blackness cannot command the of yet subject privileges whiteness of his desire renders him to the melancholic trap spite particularly susceptible the stonewall of midcentury Los Angelesracism Chengdescribes.6 Unsurprisingly, For all intents condition. and purposes, immediately dropshimintothispathological a rebuff of his own racialrejection, Jones'sannouncement If He Hollers beginswith so alienating thathis possibilities forexistential are few. The unsetdedhero recovery explainsthepeculiarnatureof theAngelenos'unwelcome: intheplants so much. lookon the It wasn't refused ... It wasthe being employment them about a . . . so startled faces when asked looked you job. They just people's goddamned "I can that I'd even asked. Asifsome inthrough the door andsaid, friendly doghadcome Itshook talk." me.(3) of employment discrimiJonesproceedsto explainthatthepoisonous combination theinternment of theJapanese, and theatomicbombingof Japanesecities nation, instantiates an interminable thatresembles thediscomfort of Freud'smelananxiety choliaexacerbated towardparanoia."I could alwaysfeelrace trouble," saysJones, me. Nobody said a "serioustrouble, nevermorethantwo feetoff.Nobody bothered moment.. ." (4). For literary aficionados more accusword.But I was tensedevery of a narrative's central is abruptly tomedto a gradualunfolding tension, If He Hollers in stating itspreoccupations: itsherois notwhite, is treated as such,is deeply efficient troublebecause of them. and comes to expectadditional byboth factors, aggrieved themeaningof theseexistential The remainder of thetalewillexplorerecursively and howJonesmanagesthemboth psychically and morally. features, that theprotagonist The plotis sustained the fact white Los by Angelesgrants of If He to exercise suchmanagement. The openingchapters multiple opportunities Hollers listof prohibitions chronicle a veritable laundry bywhichBob mustabide to are avoidwhitepunishment. fortheherois thattherestrictions Potendychallenging so numerous and diverse thattheyappear to reignoverhimin a totalizing fashion. In addition to not applying fora securejob,he shouldnot try to outrace whitedrivers hotels or on thehighway he should not restaurants (60); he (12); patronizereputable shouldnot beat whitemen at gambling withwhitewomen (33); he shouldnot flirt whiteworkers (25); he shouldnot expecthis (18); he shouldnot expectto supervise blackrepair crewto be assigned choicejobs in theshipyard (12); and mostimportandy, in theworkplace(27). These behaviorsproduce he shouldnot counter whiteinsults inJones'smentally disastrous effects and result scared,walledin, "livingeveryday lockedup" (4). Witha ubiquity and persistence thatgrants credenceto Pavlovian in American and theseracialproscriptions condition theory, equality Jonesto lose faith of thewhitepracticeof racism. Joneseloquendy developa recalcitrant expectation in a desperatesoliloquyto Alice: describes his disposition Takefor as simple as going downtown to a moving instance picture doing something show . . . every one of them has the of some kind ofcontrol over my got power goddamn ownbehavior. . . . SayI ride thestreetcar, the conductor canmake mestand there waiting orthree a transfer. I get off and for orhecan make meask two times for Then when my change at walk down the street the canmake mestep aside toletthem Thecashier pass. pedestrians when sheknows there aren't andthedoorman can thetheatre cansellmelogeseats any, send meonupthe that there aren't then the usher will find seats, balcony, any knowing loge - it'salmost tooffend mein the worst for me. Andthere's the certain seat picture possible some ofway . . . youresent thefact ofseeing thekind oflife shown never be kind you'll able tolive. (167) CHESTER HIMES'S MELANCHOLIC PERCEPTION 239

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in blackleisureand consumption can activate Jonesmakesclearthata simpleerrand theawaiting circuits of racialmistreatment. Frommanipulating theotherin bad faith to fantasizing about its exclusion, whitesenactinJones'seyestheir cinematically beliefthatnonwhites are there, as Ghassan Hage ventures, "to [be] constructed]. . . intoas muchof an object as possible" (70). In doingso, they createfor Jonesan overallatmosphere of hostility and unwelcomethatprompts him,in a melancholic fashion thatCheng sees as exemplary, to "lose [the]self as legitimacy" (Cheng20). This socially inducedpersonalcrisis, one thatAlice describes as "a really staggerto a fixation" inginferiority complex,amounting 92), can be resolved (If He Hollers twooptions. The first thatBob accept one, theloversseem to agree, through requires "the factof [his]blackness"and abide bythemultiple of subordinations required thecoloredsubject(Fanon 109). "You don'ttry to adjustyourwayof thinking to theactualconditions of life," Alice charges, and exhorts Jonesto "conformto the in of order to her the bliss of JimCrow-careerism with pattern segregation" enjoy and family life(If He Hollers 166, 168). This conformity proposalwould fora critic such as Cheng signify a program of normative one thatallowsthelove mourning, to be so decisively lost thattheego desistsits self-desecration objectof whiteness - suchas blackness - thatit could develop.7 and availsitselfof thenew attachments himself sees the concession that this himto take."When I Jones posturerequires could acceptbeingblack,"he muses,implicidy himself as racially indefinite, asserting "whenI could see no other out,sucha lifelookedgreat"(153). As thelovers'exchange thecurative forracialmelancholia lies in strict strongly implies, refuge segregation. Its torment would dissipate when subjectsaccept their racially antipodalidentities, abide byapartheid of thecity, and discardall psychic desiresto be configurations one another. (near) The otheroption, one thata melancholic suchas Jonesis inclined to choose since he is destined to "wake up somedayand sayto hellwith"theblackidentity and life Alice implores himto embrace, is an equalizingdose of racialviolence(153). If as Freudand Cheng see it,results from theanimosity toward melancholia, turning theinadequately lost objectupon theego itself, thenit standsto reasonthattheact of externalizing theaggression toward theoriginal lost objectwouldproduceone of twopossibleeffects: a consciousness of therealmechanics of loss thatwouldpropel thepathology intoremission, or conversely, a psychotic of the misrecognition structure of persecution Himes'swriting mediatesbetweentheseeffects, altogether. as we witness in the sadisticsatisfaction whenmerely Jonesexperiences imagining violenceagainsthis twoprimary whiteantagonists: the Texan Madge Perkins, one, whose racialinsult leads to Jones'sdemotionas a crewleaderat thedocks; and the his co-worker Stoddart white other, (a namethatseemsto recalltheinfamous Johnny of theearlier twentieth who beats thehero supremacist century, LothropStoddard), unconsciousafter losingmoneyto himin a crapgame. In thecase of Madge Perkins, her"as low as a white whore Jones imagines making - a scrummy in a Negro slum two-dollar whore."Dominatinghersexually could, Jonesconcludes,"keep [him]lookingwhitepeople in theface" (123). In hecase of Stoddart theonlysuitable retribution fortheindignities he has Johnny bycontrast, causedJonesis death.Arriving at thisconclusion, in one theprotagonist luxuriates of thefewmoments in thenarrative wherehis mindis at peace: I wasgoing ifthey tokill him mefor I thought A white a supreme it, man, hung pleasantly. the ofitdidsomething for it.Allthe me;just being. Just thought contemplating tightness inmy that hadbeen seen motions muscles left me taut, body, my jerky, my making keeping I felt and I hadnever felt inallmy life. so strong relaxed, confident, (38) strong. As thepassage above intimates, Jones'sanguishand euphoriaalikeregister viscerally. It is in his bodythat of his othering; thefantasy effects of Jonesfeelsthepoignant a whitemale allowshimbycontrast to feelhis bodywithout racialstress murdering 240 AFRICAN AMERICAN REVIEW

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Fantasiesabout racialvengeancecontaintheantidote, and thusfeelhis socialpotency. theseimaginings to thedebilitating malaiseof melancholia. suggest, seem to position The existential choicesJonesfacesat theclose of If He Hollers culmination and closure.The tale seems to ask thenovelquiteneadyfora symbolic as philosopher CharlesMillswould whether theherowillhonortheracialcontract, on racial rivals to levya symbolic or whether he will take two vengeance phraseit, blow to the system of oppression.Our critical purposesrequirethatwe cast this way:how willHimes's novel deal withthemelancholic pivotalqueryin a different In a self-conscious it articulates? bid forblackbourgeoisrespectability, complications domesticcocoon thata JimCrowlifewith and theprotective Joneschooses marriage Alice promises. However,thisbid failsunexpectedly bymeans of Madge Perkins's in herentrapment of Jonesin therape and lynching own act of racialvengeance, accent. race relations itsmost distinctive ritual thatgivesmidcentury American of melancholia turnthenovelinsists by upon the structure Throughthisperverse alike. and blackracialmourning on thepossibility of domesticseparation foreclosing In imagining that"Aliceand I could have a lifeof our own,insideall of the from from it,thatno whitepersoncould evertouch"(169), it,separate away pressure, heal his psychefrom a instantiates processthatcould presumably Jones mourning betrothal in aftermath of his hasty the of this itsracialunrest. healingemerge Signs that"[he] was a different declaration to Alice,beyondtheinternal guy;didn'tthink thesame; didn'tfeelthe same" (172). He promisesto apologize forinsulting Madge, to thedocks to cadge forthejob he himfirst; he returns even thoughshe insulted his penwithher,and he even pondersharnessing of his altercation lost as a result of theworstfrom whitepeople- the consummate chantforexpecting symptom to his post and keepingit,Bob thinks: In musingabout returning racialmelancholia. "I'd have to takepeople at facevalue,. . . have to believetheymeantwhattheysaid it to pieces" (175). insteadof always picking to with contrasts This new vow starkly according Jones'spreviousposture, well beforeitwas actedupon. The most whitebad faith whichhe could anticipate that of the same Madge Perkins exampleof thisis Jones'sassessment spectacular an and personaldemise.Seeingherwhilerunning would cause his professional mortalfearat beingin errand on therepairship, Jonessenses thatshe would feign I recognized "I knewtheinstant witha blackmale.Jonessubmits, close proximity admits his sexual after . ." to herthatshe was going perform. (27). Later, Jones heris crucialto his savingface, to Madge and decidesthatdominating attraction in about how Madge positionsherself narrative Jonesconcoctsin his head a twisted are nothing His ruminations race relations. of heterosexual thevexed constellation shortof disturbing: ofher it.Shehada sign sheused itwasthe waswhite; itwasn't that upinfront way Madge to I'M WHITE!Andwithout KEEP AWAY, Centreas bigas Civic NIGGERS, having her had to in the world the men all white one she could word they feeling protect say keep men. about because shethought her That made from black Negro doubly dangerous rapists. her. Sheexpected torun after them I sawher. Shewanted first time that I could tell the it, her bare with her her them itas her due.I could demanded body, showing teasing imagine for them Then andbreasts. (125) lynched looking. having thighs to themen us of Jones'snonblackself-identification (he refers Beyondreminding nature the intense reveals this to as taunts and seeks passage entrap "them"), Madge litde interaction with of thehero'smelancholic Despite havingvery premonitions. desireto orchestrate indicts hersadistic theprotagonist his female nemesis, confidendy The factthat fetish. herself as itscentral ritual thatfeatures a lynching Jonesremains did not if thenarrative in his intuitions would remain confident insignificant utterly about that actualizethemin itsdenouement. Virtually everything Jones'srhapsody of his old the work true. to be While repaircrew inspecting Madge proposes proves PERCEPTION HIMES'S MELANCHOLIC CHESTER 241

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at itsrequest, Bob stumbles in a hiddencompartment on the upon Madge sleeping She locks the both of them to and enlist awakes, inside, ship. attempts Jonesin the form of sexual contact that to his desired to recode each very fantasy they according as rape.Much like ideas aboutwhiteness itself, Jones's Madge'sactionsdoublyenthrall themelancholic from short-circuit whichhe cannotescape. subjectin an existential Theirviolenttugsand tussles, theresults of Madge's efforts to engineer a sexual encounter and thenpunishing him forhis refusal, in thedeclaration culminate that theonce-melancholic herounderstands as a foregone "I'm gonnagetyou conclusion: bastard"(181). As if on cue,thecouple'swhitemale co-workers lynched, younigger - andJones's burstthrough thebarrier to ensurethatthe fullmeasureof Madge's comes true.8 fantasy there is evidencethattheonce-mourning butmorehopeful hero Upon his arrest has regressed intohis former melancholic state.Convalescing in a hospital underthe watchof armedguards, withnot onlythebodilyharmthatthefulfillJonesreckons ment of themutual itnever occurred rapefantasy brought upon him, though actually butalso withthepossibility that thecrime he did notcommit couldproduceadditional he surmises penalties. Justas he was unableto convincethemob of his innocence, thathis defensewould be equallyfeckless within theformal corridors of American of American to be against justice. Jonesindeedexpects"thewhole structure thought tradition had convicted a hundred before"(187). [himsince]theAmerican [him] years The protagonist no longerrefers to his own experience as thegroundsforhis pessimism. Insteadhe anticipates his unfair conviction due to thehistorically poor on Negro others. jurisprudence practiced Havingat severalpointsin thenovel asserted himselfas a nonblacksubject, intothetainted Jones'sself-interpellation of therape narrative concessionand judicialhistory signalsa seriousidentitarian thushis fulldescentintomelancholic thusseemingly reads abjection.If He Hollers as a cynical caveatto blacksseekingsocial equality in thepostwarera.It arguesthat theanguishof a melancholic thanthe"purepotential" suspensionfarless salutary - thatof beingcivically and tragically retained, Chengdescribes rejected, socially - is a fate thatwillendlessly one's natural life paranoidin a pattern repeatthroughout from whichone cannotescape. Yet in spiteof its own ironicending, thenovel stops shortof suggesting that one cannotescape from theracialmelancholia the white producedby publicsphere. Forwhereasthequasi-paranoiac fantasies entertained threaten to byBob Jonesalways become co-optedas worldly situations thatonlyfurther himin fear-ridden embroil and social death,If He Hollers thattheblacksubject'sanxious paralysis suggests stilloffer a formof consciousnessthatmediatesbetweena humiliating predictions to segregation and a psychotic literalization of persecution and revenge. capitulation The novelaboundswithoutbursts of angstprovokedbyJones'smelancholic whenhe imagines retributive violenceas theresponseto present foresight, particularly or future racialmistreatment. Such angstis potentenoughto prompt at a point Jones, in the story when he "began feeling to forsake his interstitial statusby melancholy," himself"justa simplenigger bastard"(74). Neverwould he "be a hero," declaring he ventures, because he didn'tpossess therequisite racialimpertinence to confront one of themanygestures of whitecalumny. "Had a thousandchancesevery day;" If I could justhangon to one and say, Jonessays,"a thousandcomingtomorrow. 'This is it!'And go out blowingup thewhitefolkslikethatcat [ina film he saw] did theNazis" (74). reflection resonates withthelogic Himes Strikingly, Jones'sself-abnegating in his essay"Negro Martyrs articulated Are Needed" (1944), a Crisis magazineopinion piece thatprecededthepublication of If He Hollers In thisessay byone year. Himes positsthattrueequality would emergefrom a racialrevolution, one sparked an incident of racialdiscrimination in bya blackpersoncourageousenoughto resist a spectacular fashion. The novelist chastises themagazine's blackreadership virtually 242 AFRICAN AMERICAN REVIEW

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forbeing"the only[oppressed] thesetactics[of groupwho have not yetemployed in some manneror otherin thequest fordemocratic resistance] equality" ("Negro in thenovel,Himes localizeshis cri159). WithJones'sself-admonishment Martyrs" of a brawny industrial laborerwho is politAmericans in the figure tiqueof African but conscious to racial too injustice ically compromised enough recognize psychically it.As if pointing to a morepromising to confront however, postwarfuture, If He of itsparableon blackmelancholia Hollers containsthedespairing by implications - therawmaterials - to propose of a vexedunconscious and dreams fantasy allowing fromthenovel'smelancholic thetermsfora redemptive bind. reprieve to a tourin theU. S. army, we findhim BeforeJonesis convictedand sentenced that in as violent as the altercation led to his a cell and dreams jail dreaming sleeping himhis retributive lastrequest:he kills arrest. The visionstarts Johnny bygranting down bya physically and forthedeed, he is tracked Stoddart, imposingmarine Stoddart Perkins. The exchange to whomhe confesses bothkilling and raping sergeant of thatresults reveals the two characters to be from disclosure equallyguilty Jones's heinousbehavior. The dream-sergeant proclaims: - pointing "I done all women" decorations on killed allsonabitches, tothe raped kinda - "see these, The Bronze thePresidential Memorial hischest thePurple Heart, Star, I got for I ain't even Medal. these a lotofsonabitches even a GoodConduct Citation, killing seen until after wasdead. they inonepart oftown . . . "Goddamn he said, a white woman some you're boy," "rape andkill a white man hecalled a nigger." He stopped then run clear across town 'cause you atme, "I ain't a nigger the tears outofhiseyes, andsaid killed and regretfully looking wiped butthere hedrew back andletitgo andI sawitcoming Then yet." slowly bigas a house I could wait for it.. . . (If HeHollers wasn't dobut 199) anything in both arenas, no As he enduressavagebeatings Jones'sdreamsprovethemselves in protecting him from violence.Yet in the moreeffective thanreality physical and agencyinJonesthatwas not manifest we findgumption provinceof theoneiric in thenarrative This hallucinatory proper. exchangealso showsJonesbehavingconfaculties withhis whiteantagonist, frontationally thoughhis predictive augurcertain of violent doom. Even thoughhe sees "it coming," Jonesadmitshis commission - deeds thathe has already such as theStoddart murder deeds racially politicized into the of a waking and thePerkins structure Without rape (199). lapsing paranoiac his status both a and dream confirms as cognitive Jones's Negro martyr experience, in thewaking lifeof thenovel, a violentcriminal, twopositionsintowhichJones, a Even if onlyin his dreams, can onlybe interpellated Jonescan inhabit passively. in that his to sacrifice life and limb structure paranoid explodes wakingself-paralysis of thewhitesupremacist of the destructive double contravention order, regardless in thearmy it is this of racism's Upon his forcedenlistment magnitude response.9 senseof self-possession thatallowsJonesto declareto theothercompulsory recruits, "I'm still here" (203). After declaration here victimizations, myriad Jones'sexistential as a forlorn no fearful of or fanatical about the racialized subject yet longer speaks I maintain, life.If He Hollers that thatgalvanizeshis fantasy insists, foreknowledge the subjectmustbypassin orderto forgea viableblack racialparanoiais something value as a psychotic of engagement Its theoretical structure withthe subjectivity. in a worldin whichracismis certain.10 The worldis in Himes'sview diminished of to inhibit the of black desire works actualization speculative practice paranoia - in thepublicsphererather and democratic thanto forceitshand.Yet in progress themelancholic Jones'slifeintotheviolent pursuing suspensionthatcharacterizes a structure that fantasies of his imaginary Himes introduces of perception life, resembles but whose on its and viability political paranoia psychic depends purely virtual status. of If He Hollers intoa distinguished Withthepublication , Himes pennedhimself thathas foundin melancholic tradition of African American writing paranoiathe CHESTER PERCEPTION HIMES'S MELANCHOLIC 243

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Harriet foraesthetic rawmaterials Ellison,Toni Jacobs,Richard Wright, production. and W. E. B. Du Bois have all been moved bythethemeof existential Morrison, itwas or shouldbe to blackwell-being.11 to explorehow essential circumspection - particularly his claimthat It was Du Bois's speculations on double consciousness theblacksubjectwas "gifted witha second sight"(Du Bois 214), thatallowedhim "to look at one's selfthrough theeyesof others"(215)- thatcanonizedtheprospect of blacks'appropriating whitevisionforthepurposesof their own clairvoyance, It is in an epistemological with racial thusoffering oppression.12 advantage dealing it thatoccasionedMorrison's such racializedforesight and theneed to transcend Denver to "knowit and go (1987) to tellhergranddaughter Baby Suggsin beloved In a mode of fantasy thatneither on out theyard"(Morrison 244). articulating fully Himes's a mainstream nor racial as to racism, fully rejects accepts paranoia response thepsychic fora black subjectliving novelvaluably worksalutary early distinguishes of racialoppression, fromthesocial and ideologicalforcesthat underconditions of violentand antisocial theseconditions. For all his sustained sustained exploration never the fact that further social was necessary Himes abandoned adjustment fantasy, on both sides of theblack-white racialdivide.From Himes'svantagepoint,eroding and eschewing thestraitjacket of racialprediction would be thekey racialprivilege intotheabyssof absurdity. lifefromfalling to keeping modernAmerican

Notes

Donatella I would like tothank Rani Izzo,Diane Harriford, Neutill, Keels, Mohanty, Crystal Satya this topublication. and Bell for the meinbringing Jonathan Kevin Eburne, essay they provided support work the reviewers. I also much the and careful of journal's anonymous generous very appreciate inI Call anArtist: 1.SeeCharles "APhenomenology of the Black S. Johnson, Myself Writings Body," Rinehart's Indiana 109-22. and about Charles ed.(Bloomington: UP,1999), Johnson, by Rudolph Byrd, declaration about black resonates with Johnson's bold being: sardonically transgressive shape-shifting for for and asa subject ismy chance guerrilla cunning masquerade, "[N]ot recognized strength, my being warfare" (117). African inContemporary American EvaTettenborn, "Melancholia asResistance 2.Seealso Literature," MELUS 31.3 101-21. 2006): (Fall asthe reason for his success novel with the Bob Jones 3.The citing protagonist professional opens out atAtlas "And since I'dbeen made leaderman discomfort. Heobserves: Shipyard, increasing psychic be remark the extent towhich Jones's wasreally tome" problem might (3).This [anxiety] getting suggests a change ofstation, whether orracially. his desire for professionally Himes's "anti-racialist moment asa sign of what Sean McCann calls 4. Itagaki reads this populism." that an an"upbeat between Jones and the two draftees She calls this conversation interchange" "provides evidence tosugthere ismuch a future based oninterracial for 76).Though community" (Itagaki opening the I argue here that wemust of class-based Jones's multiracial, recognize (Himes's) politics, gest support disidentification of his insistent that embraces here asanexpression racial ecumenism Jones refreshing isa symptom of his racial melancholia. with blackness. Inother Jones's words, political open-mindedness and Sheargues work onrace Lacanian 5.Instructive tothis isSeshadri-Crooks's psychoanalysis. point the racial offers that the issexual that the of the exceeds identity; identity subject symbolic register part tries Whiteness this AsSeshadri-Crooks states a way toameliorate it, "[t]he signifier undefinability. subject the constitutive lack of the sexed tofill (7). subject" the asracially interstitial intwo additional 6.The novel Jones's one, ways: by granting protagonist figures the hero the men who iscaptain of his own a car, him one of few black two, making mobility; by making crew. a "leaderman" who anall-black construction supervises asa process attheir the idea that the and melancholia have basis theories of 7.Freudian subject, mourning itredirects its libido after the identifies toward which of its own self-constitution, painful" "profoundly objects the detachment from mother (Freud 244). that racial desire of Jones reveals the extent towhich Perkins's 8.Itagaki entrapment Madge highlights does accusation far more than sexual desire animates the (75). restraint of the Breu the moral Himes asa hard-boiled 9.Inhis of writer, study Christopher praises The of inIf "Freudian Knot orGordian Knot?: Contradictions dream HeHollers. SeeBreu, sequences inChester HeHollers Let Him Go"Callaloo 26.3 766-95. Racialized Himes's (Summer 2003): Masculinity If AFRICAN AMERICAN REVIEW

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Unlike most hard-boiled Jones rather than enacts his violent a preference that heroes, desires, symbolizes anethical uncommon tothe Yetwhereas Himes's later crime would engenders subjectivity genre. writing - indeed, instrumentalize fiction asthe of its violent desires if wetake the murderous fantasy-space seriously of Himes's last Plan we then an see author his the mass novel, , plot working way uptoimagining killing - If of white HeHollers reveals more Himes's own ideas about people clearly subjectivity. 10.Onthe run after accused of Jones insists that hehasn't a chance" of exonerated being rape, "got being for the false When Alice asks how hecan besosure that the will beunfair and racist, charge. justice system I don't Jones . . . but that know isn't the now" Theresponse recoils, "Okay, point right (193). recognizes the of while that the intuition should be epistemological unreliability paranoia, simultaneously insisting taken and acted seriously upon. 11.SeeJohn L. Jackson, Racial Paranoia: The Unintended Political Correctness York: Consequences of (New BasicCivitas inwhich hequestions whether correctness hassofatefully sanitized Books, 2008) political discourse about race that blacks and whites remain that their harbor public suspicious counterparts negative intents towards them. 12.For a moving meditation onblack melancholic weneed turn nofurther than toDu Bois's perception, The Souls Black inwhich weencounter both a theorem that evinces the for melancholic Folk, of potential resistance and anintensely of the author's this The latter can be personal example exercising prerogative. inthe found fourteenth "Of the of the inwhich First Du Bois deems death a safe Born," essay, Passing haven for his deceased son itwill because the infant In the soul murder of white racism. Burghardt spare consolation inthe the a melancholia of which death, finding boy's elegy bespeaks tragic yet proportions, isnoless foundational tothe "double consciousness" Du Bois theorizes. Anne Anlin. The Race: Assimilation Hidden New York: , and Cheng, Melancholy of Works Psychoanalysis, Grief Oxford UP,2001. Cited Du Bois, W.E. . The Souls Black Folk. 1903. Three Classics. New York: Avon 1965. Books, of Negro Invisible Man. 1952. New York: 1990. Ellison, Books, Ralph. Vintage Frantz. Black White Masks. 1952. Trans. Charles LamMarkmann. New York: Grove Fanon, Skin, 1967. Weidenfeld, and Melancholia." 1917. Standard Edition the Works Freud, Sigmund. "Mourning of Complete Psychological of Vol. 14(1914-1916): On the the on Freud, Movement, Sigmund History of Pyscho-Analytic Papers Metapsychology, and Other Works. Ed.and trans. James London: 1963. 237-60. Strachey. Hogarth, Diana. on and Culture. New York: Fuss, Identification Papers: Readings Psychoanalysis, Sexuality, Routledge, 1995. Ghassan. White Nation: Fantasies White ina Multicultural New York: Hage, of Supremacy Society. Routledge, 2000. Chester. HeHollers Let Him Go.1945. New York: Thunder's 2002. Himes, Mouth, If - . "Negro Are Needed." Crisis 51.5 174. Martyrs (May 1944): 159, - . The Hurt: The Chester Volume I. Garden NY:Doubleday, 1972. Himes, Quality of Autobiography of City, M. "Transgressing Race and inChester Himes's HeHollers Let Him ." Go Itagaki, Lynn Community If American Review 1(Spring 37. 65-80. African 2003): and Michael Fabre. The Several Lives Chester Himes. UPof Jackson: 1997. Edward, Margolies, of Mississippi, Charles. The Racial Contract. NY:Cornell Mills, Ithaca, UP,1997. Toni. Beloved. New York: 1987. Morrison, Knopf, ALacanian Whiteness: Race. New York: 2000. Seshadri-Crooks, Kalpana. Desiring Analysis of Routledge, Loie. Ghetto. International the Social and Behavioral Sciences. Eds. Neil J.Smelser Wacquant, Encyclopedia of and Paul B.Baltes. London: 2004. 1-10. Pergamon, American Anatomies: Race and Gender. Durham: Duke Wiegman, Robyn. UP,1995. Theorizing

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