The Autobiography of an Ex-Coloured Man (Cyclopedia of Literary Characters)
At a glance:
- Author: James Weldon Johnson
- First Published: 1912
- Type of Work: Novel
- Type of Plot: Psychological realism
- Time of Work: Between the Civil War and World War I
- Setting: Southern United States, New York City, and Europe
- Genres: Long fiction, Psychological fiction, Autobiographical fiction
- Subjects: African Americans, New York, North America or North Americans, Northeast, U.S., Self-discovery, United States or Americans, Racism, South or Southerners, Nineteenth century, Europe or Europeans, Music or musicians, New York City
- Locales: New York, NY, South (U.S.), Europe, Atlanta, GA, Connecticut, Jacksonville, FL
Characters Discussed
The narrator, a musician and composer who is not named in the novel. The son of a mulatto woman and a rich white father, the narrator moves from Georgia to Connecticut at an early age. He is extremely light-skinned, and the truth of his race is kept from him; his discovery that he is black is a traumatic one. Having been reared by his mother, he develops into an extremely sensitive adult. He is well read, has good manners, and exhibits considerable culture. He is, however, also naïve and somewhat cowardly. The latter trait is most clearly seen when, after...
[The entire page is 1252 words long]
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