The Souls of Black Folk · Chapter
Of the Coming of John explained
This chapter contrasts the parallel lives of two young men named John—one Black, one white—growing up in the same Southern town.
What happens
This chapter contrasts the parallel lives of two young men named John—one Black, one white—growing up in the same Southern town. Black John struggles through education at a Northern institute, gradually awakening to the Veil and racial oppression, while white John returns from Princeton with arrogance and disdain for his hometown. Their paths collide when Black John attempts to uplift his community through teaching, only to be shut down by Judge Henderson, white John's father, who closes the Black school. The chapter culminates in a tense encounter at a New York opera house, where white John publicly humiliates Black John, and later a violent confrontation in Altamaha that ends in tragedy.
Themes in this chapter
The Veil
Black John first notices the Veil between him and the white world, feeling anger at slights and the color-line that he had previously accepted as natural.
Education and Leadership
Black John's journey through the Institute and his attempt to teach in Altamaha embody the struggle for Black education and leadership against white opposition.
The Color Line
The chapter starkly portrays the color line through the separate worlds of the two Johns, the opera house segregation, and the closing of the Black school.
Characters to notice
- The Narrator
Provides the overarching perspective on the two Johns and the racial dynamics of Altamaha.
- John Jones
The Black John who attends the Institute, struggles with his studies, awakens to the Veil, and returns to teach in Altamaha.
- The White John
The white John, son of Judge Henderson, who returns from Princeton with contempt for Altamaha and clashes with Black John.
- The Judge
Judge Henderson, white John's father, who closes Black John's school and embodies white paternalistic authority.
- Jennie
The shy little waitress at the Henderson house, who is asked about her John (Black John).
- Mandy
A student in Black John's school, struggling with reading.
Key passages
“He grew slowly to feel almost for the first time the Veil that lay between him and the white world; he first noticed now the oppression that had not seemed oppression before, differences that erstwhile seemed natural, restraints and slights that in his boyhood days had gone unnoticed or been greeted with a laugh.”
Black John gradually became aware of the racial barrier separating him from white society, recognizing for the first time the oppression he had previously accepted as normal.
This passage marks Black John's awakening to the Veil and the reality of racial oppression.
“And neither world thought the other world's thought, save with a vague unrest.”
The Black and white communities of Altamaha remained isolated in their perspectives, only occasionally sensing a mutual unease.
Highlights the theme of the color line and the lack of understanding between races.
“John, this school is closed. You children can go home and get to work. The white people of Altamaha are not spending their money on black folks to have their heads crammed with impudence and lies.”
Judge Henderson shuts down Black John's school, asserting that white taxpayers will not fund education that encourages Black assertiveness.
Illustrates white resistance to Black education and the economic control exerted over Black communities.
