Unlike a lot of people in class, I actually really liked Macon in the first parts of the book. Most people thought he was way too cocky, and this is true, but it didn't really ruin his character for me. First of all, he's mostly cocky in his internal thoughts, and he doesn't seem nearly as overconfident when talking to Andre and Dominique or even during his interviews. Even internally, his cockiness doesn't seem that real, he actually seems like he's pretty insecure at a lot of points. I think his ego is just something that he created to help pick himself up and to balance out his insecurity.
I also liked Macon because we can tell from the book that he honestly cares and that he's trying to help and make things change. He has a lot of really good, intelligent ideas and beliefs, though he's not the best at actually finding ways to take action, and this often leads to bad things like the taxi robbery and eventually the Day of Apology. Macon also has an interesting enough backstory to get people's and the media's attention, so it seems like he has the ideas and the influence to make some real changes and become a hero, which is where it seems like the story's heading for the first two thirds of the book.
However, the Day of Apology and Macon's decline afterwards prevent him from becoming a hero and actually make me really dislike him for a while. Just because he had one failure, no matter how huge it was, doesn't mean he should give up on all his goals. He should be able come back and try again if he cares about it as much as he says he does, but he instead gets really depressed and tried to renounce literally everything he's done for years, actively trying to "become white" again. This seemed really unheroic to me, and with so little time left in the book, I didn't have hopes for him redeeming himself.
Macon actually adjusts decently well into the extreme white culture he finds in the South, and he seems sort of able to change. The final scene of the book, though, was kind of insane and gave a new, final view of Macon. It would be possible to see Macon's decision to try and shoot the redneck guy as a point of redemption and seeing that he's still loyal to his movement and believes in it, but I didn't read it that way. I think his attempt to kill him wasn't a result of his previous beliefs, but just because he was an awful person and was trying to force him to kill someone else. This seems to be enough for Nique and Conway to think he's passed his test though, and it seems like Macon will be saved, maybe to continue work on the movement and truly redeem himself.
However, when the redneck decides to shoot him, that chance is lost. Macon seems to think he'll die a martyr, sort of giving him a heroic death, but I don't think he does. If Macon had somehow sacrificed himself for the cause, showing all the people who doubted he could go that far at the start of the book, that would have completed a story arc and definitely made him a hero. However, when the redneck guy says "You're going to die for your cause," Macon replies "No." While this could just be a plea for mercy, I would interpret it as him saying that he's not dying for his cause. He's not sacrificing himself to keep his beliefs alive or anything, he's dying because some crazy southern racist hates him for something he did in the past and has a gun; Macon has no choice in this. This isn't redemption for him, it just cuts his story off. Though Macon has the potential to be a hero, and it seems like he would become one, he never fulfills his potential and declines instead, ultimately failing to redeem himself before his death.
I definitely see the potential for Macon's heroism, and I do believe he exhibits significant courage when he puts his face out there publicly as a white "race traitor." But what's striking about the third part of the novel, to me, is how quickly Macon sinks in his own estimation. He seems to embrace the nonheroic part of himself, to renounce all claims to heroism and even to wallow in his own cowardice. He goes from talking big about how he'd never fold when his life is on the line to reveling in his own weakness and shame. It's like he's disillusioned with his own failed heroic potential.
ReplyDeleteI agree he wasn't able to really redeem himself before dying, but I do feel sort of bad because people have been saying if Macon had killed himself or sacrificed himself for the cause, he would have been heroic, and I kind of think it's a lot to expect a 20-year-old to sacrifice their life. Macon's failed attempt at suicide and lack of interest in being a martyr are not completely surprising. What makes Macon unheroic is that he claimed he would put his life on the line and he acted all confident and powerful even though he couldn't go through with it.
ReplyDeleteMacon is a character that is incapable of having a moderate view of himself. He's always at an extreme. He can't just be, he always has to choose on aspect of his character and consciously work to make it be his absolute defining characteristic. I guess that aspect gives him the power to be incredibly heroic and single-minded, but in the later third of the book, he just chooses his antiheroic traits.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree that Macon is an extreme character in both parts of the book. I think that his feelings influencing his decisions to first "become black" and to later renounce that idea are very similar. He didn't like aspects of white culture, and took the most extreme path possible by completely giving up on it. Then when he actually starts having problems, he doesn't do what most people would do if they cared as much as he did about his beliefs by just trying again, he takes the extreme option of completely giving up on it and trying to sort of erase everything he's done for years. This sort of shows that his desire/need to be extreme can overrule his actual beliefs at times, which is an interesting aspect of his character.
DeleteThe ending of the novel makes me wonder about Macon's origins. What exactly was his childhood like? Did he always have illusions of grandeur and heroic potential? In the end it seems that Macon was more disappointed in his failure as hero and leader than he was in his failure to end racism or uplift the black community.
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