Banjo · Chapter
XI: Everybody Doing It explained
Ray, a wandering black intellectual, observes the chaotic and cosmopolitan scene of Marseilles' Canebière, reflecting on European nationalism, racial dynamics, and his own deracinated identity.
What happens
Ray, a wandering black intellectual, observes the chaotic and cosmopolitan scene of Marseilles' Canebière, reflecting on European nationalism, racial dynamics, and his own deracinated identity. He meets two English gentleman panhandlers, one of whom demonstrates his technique of soliciting money from tourists. Ray reminisces about the 'Turkey Trot' dance and his early days in America, contrasting the vibrant black cultural expressions with the hypocrisies of European civilization. He contemplates his unique position as a black man observing the 'civilized' world, rejecting patriotism as a poisonous seed, and embracing his role as a detached, amused observer.
Themes in this chapter
Race and Identity
Ray's reflections on posing as British or American, the patronizing attitudes of French and French West Indians, and his own deracinated ancestry highlight the fluid and constructed nature of racial and national identity.
Alienation and Modernity
Ray's detached, amused observation of the 'civilized world' and his rejection of patriotism reflect a profound sense of alienation from nationalistic and modern societal structures.
Art and Music
The chapter includes Ray's nostalgic memory of the 'Turkey Trot' and the song 'Everybody's Doing It,' celebrating black musical and dance culture as a vibrant counterpoint to European pretensions.
Characters to notice
- Ray
Ray is the central observer in this chapter, reflecting on his identity, patriotism, and the European scene. He meets two English panhandlers and demonstrates his detached, analytical perspective on race and nationality.
- Banjo
Banjo is mentioned as having played for the two Englishmen on a previous night, connecting them to the beach boys' circle.
- Taloufa
Taloufa is referenced as the connection to the two Englishmen, whom Ray met on 'Taloufa's shirttail night.'
Key passages
“The sentiment of patriotism was not one of Ray’s possessions, perhaps because he was a child of deracinated ancestry. To him it was a poisonous seed that had, of course, been planted in his child’s mind, but happily, not having any traditional soil to nourish it, it had died out with other weeds of the curricula of education in the light of mature thought.”
Ray does not feel patriotism because his mixed heritage gave him no single nation to love; he sees it as a harmful idea that never took root in him.
Ray's rejection of patriotism is central to his identity as a rootless observer.
“A patriot loves not his nation, but the spiritual meannesses of his life of which he has created a frontier wall to hide the beauty of other horizons.”
Patriotism is a narrow-minded love of one's own limitations, not a true love of a country.
Ray critiques nationalism as a form of self-imposed blindness.