Irony and its role in White Boy Shuffle
One of the most glaring things in White Boy Shuffle is its humor paired with a slightly disturbing undertone. While it is easy to get caught up laughing along with the hilarious narration of Paul Beatty, it's important to understand the importance of combining comedy with reality. A perfect example of this combination manifests itself in Beatty's depiction of basketball. To Gunnar, basketball was something that came naturally. At first, he learns only about the rules and how to play in an abstract sense. Even though a normal person wouldn't have a clue how to play ball, Gunnar grabs the rim, "the ball slamming through the hoop with an authoritative boom" (Beatty 74). Skoby and the rest of the boys are quick to point out how unusual it is for someone with his age or experience to be able to dunk. This whole scene seems all well and good, but also has an important message behind it. In most professional sports, the consensus is that hard work improves skills, and creates athletes. This is not the case for Gunnar, as he has a natural aptitude for playing basketball. The fact that Gunnar stands out from the other athletes in the book, seems to play a part in his character. After being enrolled in El Campesino Real High, we see Gunnar being forced into the typical student-athlete role; being put into supplementary courses under the assumption that his academics weren't up to par with the other students. El Campesino Real seems to be exploiting his talent, assuming that his enrollment in the school is the reward for him leading their team to victory. This is obviously not the case, which brings us to our second ironic moment involving basketball. The fact is that Gunnar doesn't fit into any of society's categories for athletes; he is incredibly smart and has natural talent, yet doesn't seem to care about high school basketball. I think it's interesting that we can't categorize Gunnar, and I am excited to see where he ends up at the end of the book.
Good post. I also find the satirical tone to be a defining part of this novel. The way Beatty addresses the social issue always come with this tone. For example, when Gunnar talks to Scoby about how much the recruiters want to know about him as a person, he sarcastically alludes to the fact that they only care about his statistics on a piece of paper. I've been told somewhere that satire is the best way to undermine authority, so I believe that Beatty is going for that effect in the "White Boy Shuffle".
ReplyDeleteI think it's really cool how Beatty takes a stereotype but then changes it so it doesn't follow all of the cliches, like Gunner playing basketball but being "supernaturally" good at it and also being a super smart guy. I don't think Gunner doesn't care about high school basketball necessarily, it's more like he likes basketball but doesn't like the whole "collective self-esteem" that's at stake. I also think it's interesting that we can't categorize Gunner, but that's a good thing because humans are complex and don't easily fit in one box.
ReplyDeleteThe scene where Gunnar is at the free throw line, debating whether to miss or make the free throws is another example where we see Gunnar's supernatural talent for playing basketball. Showing how Gunnar is so inherently and effortlessly good plays into the stereotype that black people are good at basketball and don't have to work for their success. Reading about how little Gunnar cares about basketball by the end of the book further makes him seem almost inhuman because of how good he still is.
ReplyDeleteI really like how beatty made the character of gunnar someone who has had everything thrown at him. Only then, after realizing that no matter what he achieves, he will still always be a stereotype to white america. in every way he should have beat any negative stereotype because of his amazing talents and yet they persist. Suicide shows us that there really is no escape, there is no working your way up. Bledsoe tried to work his way up but clearly it didn't work.
ReplyDeleteI think Gunnar's responses to his own "talents" are very interesting, and they provide an interesting commentary on the nature of these talents. He sees them as completely mundane, he gives them no value. He can choose to miss his free throws or make them, and it makes no difference to him. He can choose to go to Harvard, but it has no value to him. He can't gain anything from life, because he is stuck in a perfect world.
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