Satire

Postmodernism in Tuff

Tuff by Paul Beatty contains many aspects of Postmodernism literature. Beatty uses the response to realism and attempts to disrupt assumptions about certain stereotypes through his characters. The characters in this novel all seem to be based off of some stereotype of society. Beatty simply uses these stereotypes as a base for the characters and then adds elements to them to make them differ from the assumptions presented.
Winston is a great example of this. Winston is presented to the reader as an underprivileged drug-dealer in Harlem. However, as the novel progresses and Winston's character is more developed the reader is able to differentiate him from the stereotype that they are presented with through society. Winston becomes this underprivileged drug-dealer that has a family and who wants a better life for them. He becomes a person who is deeply interested and educated about film and has aspirations in his life. Although Winston still portrays aspects of his stereotype most of them are outweighed by the things that make him different.
This use of Postmodernism in the novel brings about the fact that there is no way to represent stereotypes accurately. There is no way to do this because of the complexity of people and their lives and circumstances. There is not one singular definition for any of the stereotypes out there.

Reasons for simple language in Fledgling

In this novel simple language is used throughout. This may be frustrating to some but there are reasons why this aspect of the novel is incorporated. Some of these reasons include Shori's amnesia and the limiting factors therein and the idea of an allegory within the novel needing to be showcased. The first of these can be backed up with the concepts of Shori having a blank slate about Ina just as the reader does. Her amnesia and the simple language helps the reader to develop and learn with her. The simple language also helps the reader see her as younger although she is 53 years old. Without this simple language the idea of Shori losing her memory and being young in comparison to others would be lost. If there was a stronger language used it would be difficult for the reader to relate to many of the characters in the novel. The second part of this is that the allegory that is present within the novel may get lost or become difficult to understand if the language was more complex. Since this novel is not literally about Ina but about racial issues, this hidden aspect could be lost within complex language. In other novels language is about a journey but in this novel it seems to represent solely the plot which leads to references in the society. The simple language also supports the numerous dialogue apparent in the novel. So although the simple language may make the reader feel as if they are reading something below their level of reading it is all for a purpose. Literature is used to incorporate social ideals and importance and Fledgling does this through simple language.

Shori vs. Lila Mae

Shori and Lila Mae both share a lot of the same attributable traits towards main themes.
* They both are a power to fear, a power that can bring about salvation or death.
* They are both displaced and isolated from their communities.
* They are both pioneers in regards to being the first of their kind.
* They are both figures of salvation and share a theme of resurrection.
* Enlightenment is brought to others around them through their knowledge or sense of self.
* Both of these characters are considered to be a kind of messiah for their kind but they are both not the messiah that their society desires.
All of these things relate to some of the major themes in the novels Fledgling and The Intuitionist. These themes include community, isolation, dislocation, and salvation.

Fledgling: Science Fiction and Horror

Fledgling by Octavia E. Butler is a novel about vampires and therefore involves science fiction and horror writing styles. Science fiction and horror in this novel seem to be identified with futuristic ideas, fear of death, and inhuman and unknown ideas or objects. These are all seen in the relationship between Shori and Wright.
Futuristic ideas are shown with the genetic engineering of Shori. Shori is part human and part vampire and was genetically engineered to have dark skin which would more fully protect her from the sunlight which greatly injures other vampires. The vampires (Ina) in this novel are well ahead of humans in this area of science.
Fear of death is brought about by Wright thinking that he will die if he no longer has contact with Shori. This fear of death creates a stronger dependence on Shori and her venom. The vampires and many aspects about them show inhuman and unknown ideas or objects. The idea of vampires being real is pretty far fetched in society today but in this novel Wright automatically believes that Shori is a vampire.
All of these aspects of the novel show that it is science fiction and horror.

Social and Racial Allegories in The Intuitionist

This novel contains many ideas that all lead to the main allegories of the novel which are that of social and racial status. Some of these aspects of the novel are that of James Fulton and the hiding of his racial identity and the idea of the black box transcending barriers. These ideas in the novel are very important and have many meanings behind them.
James Fulton's being "colored" but portraying himself as white to pass an idea that is in reality a joke is very influential to the allegories of race and social standing. James Fulton had to disguise himself as something he wasn't to succeed in society, he had to break barriers and limitations. The revealing of Fulton as an African American breaks all the social and racial barriers that are presented in the society at this time.
The idea of the black box being undefinable to society and the use of it to transcend social and racial limitations is also very important. This idea shows the black box ending social stigma and revealing the superficial as no longer the deeming factor in society. The black box can also never be wrong just as Lila Mae because it is what someone wants it to be, there are no limits.
This novel shows many ideas revolving around the transcendence of race and social standing. These ideas play a very important role in the revealing of the allegories present.

The Intuitionist

In the novel The Intuitionist there is a great sense of dislocation which contributes to the great allegory that Whitehead is trying to portray. This novel may seem to be about elevators but it is in fact merely a metaphor for something larger. This metaphor could very well relate to race, being dislocated, or to the ideas of heaven and hell.
The dislocation present in this novel is that of time period, region, and African Americans among the mostly Irish whites. The dislocation is a conscious one used by Whitehead to create the ambiguity that is necessary for his allegory. Some of the things that cause confusion in the time period are the language and the scientific ideas presented. For example, Whitehead uses the word "colored" in place of black, which is a non-contemporary language choice. The scientific ideas shown through the elevators having spirits and such show a time period that could be in the future. There are many examples of the varying time period questionableness in this novel. The dislocation is conscious because of the fact that Whitehead wants this story to relate to all times and all places. This novel shows dislocation through the cloudy/unclear explanations of the characters and events. This cloudy uncertainty relates to the African American community in this novel being "lost" among the white community.
The concepts behind the far fetched elevator Intuitionist beliefs are that of heaven and ascension compared to hell. These are ideas are still unclear at this point in the novel but the ascension of the escalator compared to the elevator is definitely a metaphor towards spirituality and religious thought. So with all of this, does is now make sense why the reader can't comprehend the novel well if they don't suspend their disbelief? I think so.