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December 1, 1959
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Black Like Me, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Appearance, Identity, and Bigotry
Unity, Division, and Communication
Implicit Bias and Systemic Racism
Fear and Violence
Summary
Analysis
Sepia magazine assigns Griffin to write stories about Atlanta, pairing him with the photographer Don Rutledge. However, because Rutledge won’t arrive for several days, Griffin visits a nearby Trappist monastery, where he basks in a feeling of equality and peace. Despite this respite from the constant racial tensions, though, he screams himself awake one night after having his recurring nightmare about white people closing in on him.
By this point in Black Like Me, Griffin has finished the majority of his experiment. However, it’s clear that the emotional effects of his experience as a dark-skinned man are too strong to simply disappear. Indeed, even in the tranquil atmosphere of the Trappist monastery, he can’t get over the feeling of constant terror to which he’s become so accustomed.
Themes
