Post-war American Society in the Devil in a Blue Dress - Essay Example

English, Essay Topic: Devil in a Blue Dress essay Introduction The racial setting in the novel is in Los Angeles in the year 1948. Easy Rawlins is a black World War II veteran, now engaged in trying to make a living in the civilian society. He is a twenty-eight -year old black man from Texas. In the multiethnic society the borders between the races, especially between the blacks and whites are still demarcated well. Getting fired from the job is not a good experience, but that happens in the life of Easy. That compels him to take up alternative assignments and engage in the secular activities to make a good living and to repay the mortgage installments of his house. The assignment as a detective is initially thrust upon him. Destiny is waiting to work in his favor. A mysterious white man offers him money to find a missing white woman named Daphne Monet. That man must have been impressed by his gallant performance record in the army. Easy describes about the man whose assignment he is to take up. “His grip was strong but slithery, like a snake coiling around my hand" (p.10).He is gangster, DeWitt Albright. The plan is to search her first and then to take charge of her in person along with the substantial amount of stolen money. This assignment by a white gangster to a black ex-army man highlights the personal credentials of Easy and indicates possibility of cultural transgression in that period of American history. His selection is a tribute to his individual merit and the white man must have seen the advantage in engaging a man who is trained in military discipline, as well as the arrival of the black community at the dominant site of action in Los Angeles. The assignment given to Easy has important social implications and it is a tough, calculated decision for the individuals of both the races. To highlight this aspect the author gives the true atmospheric picture of racial segregation in the post-war Los Angeles, and no segment of the society remains untouched by its evil influence. Easy had to carry out the assignment amidst a hostile background where policemen and other top authorities in the law and order hierarchy might implicate him in many types of crimes. He confronts prejudice from all sides and in every angle. Thus the assignment is tension-filled right from the word go for Easy. Easy Rawlins, the army man: He gained varied combat experience in World War II and he was a ferocious fighter in hand to hand combat in which he killed many German soldiers. About his interactions with the white race, Easy states, “….I was used to white people by 1948. I had spent five years with white men and women, from Africa to Italy, through Paris, and into the Fatherland itself. I ate with them, and slept with them, and I killed enough blue-eyed young men to know they were just afraid to die as I was.”(p.9) With his accomplishments in the combat, he proved that a black man was just as capable of heroic acts as any white soldier. He had the practical experience of observing, as to how white men acted during distress. He took part in liberating Jewish survivors from the Nazi concentration camps and this experience taught how and why one should love humankind and what the price of peace was! After the war, he wanted to lead a peaceful life and completed his high school education and wished to prosecute his studies further. He got a job as the machinist in an aircraft production plant but lost it for challenging his white boss. This showed his fighting qualities and he was ready to face the inevitable to uphold the principles dear to his heart. Easy Rawlins, once he is out of the army: Once he was fired from job, Easy Rawlins found himself in a desperate situation. One aspect of the personality that all the army men carried with them life-long was their pride, and Easy Rawlins was no exception to that trait. He had to take care of the financial commitments of mortgage and wanted to own his house. The assignment as a detective was rather forced upon him. Though he took up the assignment, the going proved to be tough. Forget earning money, his first priority became to stay alive from hostile situations that engulfed him from all ends. Apart from the police, he had to confront highly placed politicians and financial community of Los Angeles and members of the underworld. He accepted the job with lots of misgivings finding no other option to tide over his financial woes. Soon, he realized that he had landed himself in a mess. He was implicated in murders (which he did not commit) was arrested and beaten up by the Los Angeles police. To add to his woes, more than one agency was on the lookout for Monet for different reasons. In this dangerous web, Easy shows his ability to tackle the situations of Black culture and White aristocracy and emerges as a brilliant public relations expert. He maintains his individual dignity in all the situations. The truth of a black man is much different from the professed societal truth dominated by the white authorities. The novel involves cultural critique and highlights the hardships of American blacks, their trials and tribulations, through the life of Easy. Even a tough man like Easy, with his military background, finds the going tough to adjust to the intrigues of civilian life. He lands into deep trouble and he is blamed for some of the murders, police want him to find the killer, otherwise he can be sent to the gallows. Being in such predicaments, it is a moment of self-discovery for Easy, that in the process of questioning and cross-questioning, he realizes that he has talent in this art. He does the assigned job, with the meticulous persistence of a researcher. The test case that falls to his lot unasked for opens up future possibilities for him. With the resolution of the first case as a detective, which he completes with flexibility and grace, challenging all the unexpected difficulties, the confident ex-military man Easy, turns more confident to take up the career as a Private Investigator, on a permanent basis which protects his freedom of movement and access to the needed areas in a socially restrictive society, in which he lives. Conclusion: In the character of Easy Rawlins, Walter Mosley has created a determined survivor, a true quality of the military man, put to excellent end-use in the secular life. Military life has a disciplined framework, barring exceptions. Not so in the civil society, in which Easy has to face complicated struggles and navigate a murky moral realm. Optimum will is the essential quality of a military man, which Easy puts to use, to do his assigned job of tracing the missing beauty Monet. From an unwilling detective, he proves to be the genius in that art of investigation. Through the post-military life of Easy, the author provides a detailed account of the post-war social history of USA. Through his character he creates a genuine portrayal of African American life and the relationships of the powerful white hierarchy and the common black man. He highlights the obvious difference between the two dominant races of America, black and white of the 1940s. The former through vivid descriptions of jazz clubs, dark alleys and underground bars and the latter through pursuit of power and aggrandizement for wealth with no consideration for human values when their interests are challenged. Works Cited Mosley, Walter. Devil in a Blue Dress. W. W. Norton & Company; 1990; Print. . Read More