John Widemans identity crisis in the Brothers and Keepers - Essay Example

John Wideman’s identity crisis in the “Brothers and Keepers” In “Brothers and Keepers”, the narrator, John Wideman takes us through an epic journey of his relationship and Bobby, his brother who is serving a life sentence without parole. John, an educated black man, hoped to use education to change his life. Apparently, the narrator grew up in a ghetto in Homewood Avenue in Pittsburgh where life was deplorable. While living in Laramie, the professor still has a strong connection with his family particularly his brother at the penitentiary. In Laramie, a safe town inhabited by whites, John is considered a novelty due to his racial orientation, black. Apparently, despite marrying a white, Judy, and appearing to candidly understand how to get along with the whites way of life, John loses his identity, and his identity crisis leads to more revelations of the challenges that people undergo in the family institution. John’s identity crisis evidently comes to the surface in the early sections of the novel where he is seen living in an alienated world. John Wideman projects the reality surrounding his identity by telling the story of Robert’s life through Robby’s words. Through this, John sees life and the world, in general, through Robby’s eyes. In “Our Time”, John’s creative prognosis of the life of his brother forces him to pity with him like never before (Clark 117). As Robby talks, John drifts back into his own internal world. In his fabricated world, John is isolated from the brother and comfortable in an imaginative world that is filled with soothing self-images. Through Robby’s account of the torturous experience in “the hole” (prison’s Behavioral Adjustment Unit), John projects his refuge where he will “savor the sweet solitary pleasure” (Ishmael N.p). He believes that he will silence Robby’s distasteful description of life by assuring himself that he is the “fairest of them all.” In this fabricated world of self-assuring images, John finds it difficult to understand who he is and whether this fabricated world that education has helped him create is perfect for him or whether the brother’s life should concern him (Wideman 26). He is afraid to face his life, but as the story progresses, John gains the courage to accept his condition and overwrite his version of reality. He becomes ingenious about his life; thanks to Robby’s intelligence. The images, manners, lifestyles, and symbols that John sees as a result of his loss of identity are conflicting with his growth and disparaging to his life. Wideman’s skirmish with his inner demons in the domain of personal life becomes more multifaceted. John succeeds in dealing with the isolation in the artistic level as well as the intellectual level, an applaudable aspect. However, from a profound analysis of the novel, it can be seen that the assessment and acceptance of the results of his flight from the ghetto, his home, and the emotional roots are things that are multifaceted and difficult to reconcile. Wideman’s estrangement from his roots which is worsened by his brother’s criminal life further contributes to Wideman’s identity crisis since he wonders whether it is his fault that Robby is in prison (Clark 104). His brother’s criminal record and the deplorable conditions that reigned the ghettos he had earlier fled from haunted him wherever he goes, making it even harder for him to make independent decisions. “…Pennsylvania, my years of willed ignorance, of flight and hiding, had not changed a simple truth: I could never run fast enough or far enough. Robby was inside me” (Clark 106) Thus, Wideman’s identity crisis emanates from the ostensible fact that he was attempting to prevaricate the composite and agonizing realities that required to be addressed. Whereas Robert Wideman (Robby) is aware of himself, his brother, John, is irresolute about himself. His failure to understand who he is becomes a major source of powerful, ominous, and wonderful monologues throughout the novel. John finds himself in these monologues as he tries to analyze his feelings and motives in life. He personally admits that he has lots to hide. “I have a lot to hide…” (Ishmael N.p) John’s identity crisis is similar to that often experienced by many partly espoused ethnic novelists in the middle-class. This crisis causes John to sometimes rebuke himself through tough and self-effacing sorrow. However, this crisis places him in the middle of two worlds, a position that allows him to perfectly explore the profound and original truths concerning the two worlds. Whereas somebody might perceive John’s positioning as remorse, I consider it a case of double consciousness which is purely not a dilemma, but instead bolsters a man’s intelligence evolution. This is a major aspect that helps John to place himself in the shoes of his brother, and intensely understand Robert’s life, something that most people cannot do in the contemporary world. John comes to accede his own life by learning and observing his brother’s life, and as such he has no justifiable reason for remorse (Ishmael N.p). His tenderness to the brother’s life challenges and commotions further indicates that John’s identity crisis was intentionally created by the author to develop the story further in a way of striving to merge two worlds that appear to be far apart, but it somehow works due to the bonds of bond, which appear to be resilient. Evidently, Wideman’s identity crisis provides an ample platform through which readers can see the challenges of failing to face the realities. His crisis leads to personal confusion, but later on makes him a perfect companion of his brother Robby since he is one person who is at a position to understand the challenges that life brings forth. Wideman’s fight for reality and the fabricated image of his world makes the reader visualize an ideal world where self-centeredness overweighs blood bonds. As a black educated man, Wideman wonders whether to associate himself more with the blacks or whites, bringing into light the racial differences and subjugations that have worked to obstruct the peaceful coexist of races for decades. As one reads the novel, they are forced to ask themselves, “Will our past haunt us forever?” This is the same question that Wideman struggles with and hinders his ability to take bold decisions in life, even as a professor. The crisis that Wideman finds himself in as he strives to merge the two different worlds advances the themes of racial segregation and escape from reality that fundamentally forms a major part of the book. Works Cited Clark, Keith. Contemporary Black Mens Fiction and Drama. Urbana: U of Illinois P, 2001. Print.< https://books.google.co.ke/books?id=J0cf4t_9arUC&pg=PA106&lpg=PA106&dq=Wideman%27s+identity+crisis+in+the+Brothers+and+Keepers&source=bl&ots=TIzJwEourI&sig=-2kEu3o8rjpm6-IOANFpnkf-mTU&hl=en&sa=X&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=Wideman%27s%20identity%20crisis%20in%20the%20Brothers%20and%20Keepers&f=false>. Ishmael Reed. "NYTimes." The New York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia. N.p., 1984. Web. 15 Nov. 2015. . Wideman, John Edgar. Brothers and Keepers . New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1984. Print Read More