Reviews

The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man by James Weldon Johnson, Arna Bontemps

jazidukes's review

4.0

Another book about passing. This was interesting, to think about the grey area of people who look one way, but have the consciousness of another way. Is it right or wrong? The protagonist although he could easily pass for white was almost ready to hunker down for a life as a Colored fellow until he unfortunately witnessed the brutality visited upon people of his race with impunity. He decides to give that up to live as a white man as opposed to having the stain of the Colored race upon him. I can compare this to the book Passing or Quicksand. Although this man's life didn't end so tragically. How many people today are descended from people who passed, and does it even matter? Questions i still don't know and probably would never have to answer for myself.

lmbradley's review against another edition

5.0

This book is hugely thought-provoking on at least two levels: 1) plotwise, as I can't stop thinking about the main character and his life-altering choice, right wrong or other, and 2) craftwise, for James Weldon Johnson created a sympathetic though flawed character whose climactic decision forced me to re-examine all that unfolded before to determine which opinions on "the race question" were in fact the author's and which were merely the character's. An amazing example of the not-quite-autobiography.

jwolflink3's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny hopeful informative slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

Excellent gut-punch of an ending.  Very philosophical—few characters are directly named. However, the writing style is very straightforward and the complexity of the book does not reveal itself until the final pages.

mrtramuel's review

5.0

Literary Excellence.

baileydouglass's review

4.0

Very interesting book, I decided to read it after enjoying Passing because of similar subject matter and era.

Very interesting story and morally conflicting and conflicted narrator. I’m sure it reads differently than it would have when it came out, and I’m not entirely sure what to think of it, but I’m glad I read it and will be thinking about it for a while.

delandaab's review against another edition

fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? No

2.0

When first approaching this story, I assumed that society's views would impose themselves onto our main character who at one point, would feel like he's subjected to one group and then another later in his life. I never came to the assumption that our main character would impose these roles and races onto himself and make these choices. I am at one point conflicted with the main character and his choices. He has lived his life, I think, trying to compensate for not knowing who he is. He fell into additive habits, trying to fill these holes with gambling and cigarettes. However, I feel as though he was yearning to be white due to success and success alone. The only times he wanted to associate with other Black people was when he wanted to prove himself to non-white colleagues. The narrator himself is so far removed from anything, that I find it hard to place him in any category other than a man who wants to prove himself through money and power in some shape or form, as expected from a man from this period.


One point of contention in class was about the narrator's relationship with women. The narrator himself mentions that "Black men generally marry women fairer than themselves" and makes it a point in his autobiography to mention all the women he was interested in. All these women were white. All the women he focused on romantically or lustfully were white and non-white were merely mentioned to further the story. He also makes a point to mention that it's not due to the color line but I believe the narrator is simply saying this to make up for the fact that he does only find white women romantically. This can be due to several things but I believe there must be a connection from the moment he no longer saw his mother to be beautiful, but instead, finds disgust in noticing her darker features. Even within his children, he calls his son "a little golden-headed god" due to having white features from his wife. This alone shows his unlying biases against Black features, they later relate to his hatred for his blood. 

I find it interesting that once the narrator begins to no longer associate himself with a "label of inferiority" and live his life with ambiguity, suddenly things start looking up for him. I find it more interesting that he makes a direct correlation with what race he's siding with at that time. 


I find that the narrator is simply missing the point. I find that his efforts to fit in with "his mother's people" were half-hearted and lackluster and therefore, he filled that void with music and addiction.

augustinecarmichael's review against another edition

3.5

school—

easy to read while having a vivid and accurate picture of race in america at the time. i also love
that in the parts where it makes
sense you can feel a lot of black joy despite the circumstances??

lj00's review against another edition

dark informative sad medium-paced

4.0

moonshineforest's review against another edition

3.0

read for a class

badmaamajaama's review against another edition

emotional reflective slow-paced

3.75