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Part 1, Chapter 32
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in James, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Speech, Performance, and Willful Ignorance
Identity, Narrative, and Agency
Racism, Dehumanization, and Hypocrisy
Innocence vs. Disillusionment
Family, Alliance, and Loyalty
Summary
Analysis
Norman catches up with Jim in the woods, unable to stand the minstrels any longer. When Emmett discovered Jim gone, Norman says, he started cursing Black people like any other enslaver. While Norman sleeps, Jim concocts a plan. Since both he and Norman want to buy their families, Jim proposes Norman pose as a white enslaver, selling Jim repeatedly to make some money. It is the same plan the Duke and the King thought to enact. Though dangerous, Norman agrees their situation cannot get any worse. He estimates his wife will cost 1000 dollars, as she is “good breeding stock.” Jim reads a racist lyric from Norman’s notebook and shares his own desire to write. The men head south.
Discovering that Emmett’s compassion for enslaved Black people was just another performance pushes Norman to abandon the troupe. Although Jim’s plan is the same one the con men came up with, he trusts Norman more as a fellow Black man, for whom the stakes of discovery are equally high. Emmett’s racist lyrics emphasize the impossibility of Norman and Jim remaining loyal to this man who mocks them and denies their humanity.
Themes
After a few days, the men stop in a town called Bluebird. Jim pretends to be Norman’s slave, calling him “Massa Brown.” They see some other Black people in town, like an old woman churning butter at the general store. An old white woman hears Jim talking, which alarms her. Norman assures her that Jim can only grunt and whine, like an animal. He is nervous talking to white people, even if he is able to pass. Jim wonders if Norman is just a crazy white man who imagines himself Black, or if he will abandon Jim to his fate after selling him, regardless of race. Jim gives Norman his notebook to carry, but he keeps his pencil safe in his pocket.
In this scene, Jim and Norman must perform different roles based on their skin color. Jim falls back into the familiar slave dialect, while Norman must affect a white persona, using his light skin to their advantage. The white woman confirms that the idea of an intelligent slave is frightening to some people who take comfort in thinking of Black people as animals. Jim’s sudden misgivings about Norman point to the difficulty of trusting anyone in a world that has consistently dehumanized him. Taking comfort in the pencil’s presence suggests Jim’s main source of hope is his ability to self-define through writing.
Themes
