Banjo · Chapter
XXII: Reaction explained
Ray reflects on the hypocrisy of French civilization and its treatment of black people, feeling alienated even in Europe.
What happens
Ray reflects on the hypocrisy of French civilization and its treatment of black people, feeling alienated even in Europe. He argues with a French student about the true nature of French tolerance, and ultimately decides to return to the Ditch, rejecting the respectable life Crosby represents.
Themes in this chapter
Race and Identity
Ray's experiences and conversations reveal the pervasive racism in French society, challenging the myth of French tolerance.
Alienation and Modernity
Ray feels alienated from both white civilization and the black community, struggling to find a place where he belongs.
Colonialism and Exploitation
The chapter critiques the exploitation of African soldiers and the colonial mindset that views black people as inferior.
Characters to notice
- Ray
Ray is deeply disillusioned with French civilization, feeling that despite claims of tolerance, there is a fundamental contempt for black people. He rejects the respectable life and returns to the Ditch.
- Crosby
Crosby represents the respectable, white world that Ray increasingly resents. He tries to persuade Ray to stay in the respectable quarter, but Ray rejects him.
- Banjo
Banjo is mentioned as part of the Ditch community, where Ray feels more at home despite the police harassment.
Key passages
“It could have been easy for him, a black spectator of the drama, to seize upon and gloat over these things as evidences of the true nature of this civilization if he had allowed them to warp and rob him of his primitive sense of comparative values and his instinct to see through superficial appearances to the strange and profound variations of human life.”
Ray could have used the crimes reported in the news to condemn white civilization, but he chose to see beyond the surface and appreciate the complexity of human life.
Ray's refusal to generalize from negative examples shows his philosophical stance.
“Whenever I get mixed up with nice people I always catch it. Better to know nice people, if I must know them, in books, and me for living my own”
Ray feels that associating with respectable people brings him trouble, and he prefers to learn about them from books rather than in person.
Ray's decision to return to the Ditch is a rejection of the respectable world.