Reality

When reading most classical, or at least pre-World War II novels, the issue of "what reality is this" is barely worth considering. Most of the previous novels we have read in this class, with the partial exception of Invisible Man, have concretely taken place in the real world. For example, in Their Eyes Were Watching God, we never need to ask ourselves whether what is happening to Janie is realistic, or if Tea Cake could actually acquire a guitar. However, White Boy Shuffle, a much more contemporary novel, regularly raises questions such as these. Right from the beginning, Beatty plays with our suspension of disbelief, stating to the reader that he is a messiah to black people, their unwilling savior. Initially this can be laughed off, but by the end of the book it is quite clear that he is literally their messiah, and they await his every word to make their next move. For this reason, this novel falls squarely into the territory "postmodern novel."

                It is not useful to bandy about such terms without a clear understanding of what exactly they mean first. A postmodern novel, in contrast to a Modernist novel, is usually written after World War II, and is more concerned with the nature of the narrative's reality and its interaction with other realities (such as our own) as opposed to a Modernist novel's concern with the subjectivity of the narrator. In a postmodern novel, events that are wildly implausible are often woven into historical scenes or backgrounds to give a different perspective on the chosen subject. White Boy Shuffle regularly employs all of these techniques.

                One of the most notable scenes in the novel, where the strange world that Gunnar lives in intersects our world, is when the LA riots begin and Gunnar feels a rage awaken inside himself. Driven to action, he flocks to the street to begin looting and causing general mayhem. The chapter is patently ridiculous - at one point he and his friend Nicholas Scoby stop a truck driver and beat him senseless with loaves of bread. However, the real events that occurred, such as store looting, are placed in this distorted lens to glean new observations. For example, Gunnar goes to an electronics store to rob it, but finds inside an orderly line where looters wait one by one to receive their plunder before casually strolling out. At another point, the Korean woman in Gunnar's neighborhood burns her own store down after the neighbors refuse to burn it down because "she's too black."  This scene, while on the surface quite funny, recontextualizes the riots as a reasonable if not somewhat violent frustration within the black community about their continued oppression.

                Many scenes which are on the surface hilarious are re-interpretations of accepted tropes and social stereotypes. Possibly the most memorable is Gunnar Kaufman's resident gang, the Gun Totin' Hooligans. Aside from the strangely self-referential name, the gang refuses to fight with guns, resorting instead to medieval and unorthodox weapons. At one point, in some twisted, Wagner-be-damned interpretation of the Ride of the Valkyries and gang shoot-outs, the group dresses in drag, drives up to a rival gang, flirts with them and then proceeds to fight them with such instruments as a bleach-filled balloon attached to a crossbow bolt. This scene is worth reading multiple times, because it not only is the depth Gunnar's gang throws themselves into this con hilarious ("I bet your panties are wet, bro"), it also gives a completely different take on gang violence than is normally given. In this bizarre alternate world, gang conflict is not just senseless shootings, it is a sense of honor, a brigade like any army would lead. It is quite important to them. The scene's take on masculinity is also worth noting. The gang is willing to dress fully in drag and commit to femininity for some time, flirting with the members of the rival gang before fighting them, and finishing by singing opera with the radio. Gang culture is traditionally seen as hyper-masculine, almost to the point where it's the primary message presented, but this scene instead casts gangsters as a group of friends who like to goof around and have fun, even if it means quite serious violence.

                There are many, many more examples of the strange reality that Gunnar Kaufman inhabits, but the message to take from the overall theme of differing reality is that Beatty is attempting to re-interpet reality by presenting a reality that is stranger than our own. By regularly making us ask, "is this really happening? Could this really happen?" he is forcing us to examine the event in our own lives as well. Basketball culture, gang life, and what it means to be black are all warped so deeply in this book that we have to ask at some point, "well, what does it mean that Gunnar is preternaturally gifted at basketball and that even though he is literally the black messiah all he wants to do is die?" Only in the answer to these questions can we begin to understand the reality in White Boy Shuffle, and by extension our own reality.