Name: Kaan Kalipci

Stimulus: Blackout
Critical Analysis
DraIt 2
06/02/03
Wordcount: 1414.


Blackout` is a short story by Roger Mais. It is set in Jamaica and is about racism and the
contrast oI two diIIerent races, sexes and cultures!

The story starts oII explaining the blackout in the city and the general atmosphere oI
uncomIortable and tense over the city. At this point the story builds an expectation oI some
sort oI conIlict. An American women was waiting at a bus stop. Suprisingly she was not
bothered by the darkness, and she was not nervous. A black man slowly approaches her and
asks Ior a light Ior his cigarette. As she does not have matches she oIIers her cigarette and as
he thanks her she Ilicks the cigarette away. She does that because she is disgusted that a
Black man touched her cigarette and thereIore she doesn`t want to smoke it anymore. AIter
the Ilicking, there`s a moment oI discomIort and she asks him why he was still there. He
replies with an apology as a comment on her action. He stays and keeps talking about her
apparent wealth and as he talks she becomes more uncomIortable. The conversation between
the two then Iocuses on gender and race. At that moment the reader can sense that actually
the woman is interested in the current situation and she might actually be looking Ior an
adventure, but he tells her that she is not his type oI women which undermines her. During
the conversation the reader can also see that the woman has some very racist thoughts. AIter
a while he sees the bus coming and points at it. She gets on the bus and as it starts moving,
she urges herselI to look back at him and challenge her prejudices, but thinking oI the society
and worrying about how unacceptable it would seem she can`t succeed and doesn`t look back
while the man picks up the cigarette Irom the gutter.

During this short story there is always this Ieeling oI menace and some kind oI threat which is
created by the blackout and the odd conversation between the two. This Ieeling is created
especially at the beggining, introduction oI the story when the blackout and the loneliness
were being described by Mais. He used words and phrases such as; wave oI panic, bands oI
hooligans roaming the streets aIter dark and assaulting unprotected women, slinking black
shadow, to get the message across. There are some words in those phrases which highlightes
that Ieeling oI menace and the threat such as panic, hooligans roaming, shadow. AIter the
man is introduced, Mais used those types oI words to show how uncomIortable and nervous
the women becomes when talking to the man. During the conversation we come up with
words such as; unrest, unnerved, he made her Ieel uncomIortable, nervously, challenging,
disturbing quite oIten and that is again to emphasize the discomIort oI the woman about
talking to the man. She Ieels very nervous and uncomIortable Ior some reason. It is also
obvious that the man is actually enjoying her discomIort so he keeps on talking about her to
make her Ieel nervous. At the same time he is trying to teach her the ridiculusness oI her
racist thoughts by standing up to her with dignity and pride. He is not teaching as in giving a
lecture but he is trying to make her see her own mistakes.

The story has two characters; the man and the women. They are very diIIerent Irom each
other both in terms oI character and physical. The man is a poor black Jamaican, and the
woman is a wealthy white American. Their nationalities can also tell a lot about their
characters. American, arrogant (superior), and Jamaican, like most oI the people in third
world countries, digniIied. As the story develops, the woman gets adventurous about
everything, the blackout, the man, the conversation. Words such as; novelty, intrigue, any
sort oI adventure, tropical islands prove this point and emphasize her actions, behavior and
thoughts. Throughout the story, there are no names Ior those people, instead they are reIerred
to as the man and the woman. The reason is that those two are complete strangers and they
represent the general behavior oI men and women around the world. It is the universal
application to men and women in general. Again in the story the word Black` is always
capitalized like a proper noun to show that the man is one oI its kind and to respect him. Even
though the reader gets the Ieelings oI the women, and her interpretation oI the man`s attitudes,
the story is not told Irom her point oI view. It is a third person narrative. During the story,
we actually empathize with the man. Because oI his behavior, there is a certain respect built
Ior him and a sense oI antagonism grows Ior the woman.

The main themes oI this story are, racism` and intimacy`. The whole story is based on
racism and the racist thoughts oI this women and also there are some moments oI intimacy
between the two despite their corresponding thoughts. She always makes racist comments but
the man doesn`t seem very oIIended by them. Instead he plays around with her by making her
Ieel nervous Ior the comments she made. When the man approaches to her the narrator says
Irom her point oI view; the thing that struck her immediately was the Iact that he was
lack.In her country not every night a white woman could be nonchalantly approached by a
lack man. This shows how racist and prejudice she is against black people, which is a big
reason Ior that disappointment and antipathy against her. During the conversation she keeps
on making racist comments and having racist thoughts. She had no intention oI standing at a
street corner jawing with well, with a Black man, In America they lynch them Ior less than
this. The discomIort oI the woman can also be seen Irom this racist comment; II he had said
something rude she would have preIerred it. It would have been no more than she would have
expected oI him. She expects this Black man to say something rude at her but instead he
starts talking to her to make her nervous and tense Ior the things she just did.

There are moments oI intimacies which sparkle between the two oI them during the
conversation. The woman wants something to happen between them, that`s the major reason
why they`re created. Unlike other aspects, they don`t start until the conversation begins
which makes sense. When the man Iirst asked Ior the light she thinks there was a suggestion
oI intimacy` and later on him coming close to her and bending over to light the cigarette also
suggests some sort oI intimacy between them. Also her talking about jawing with a Black
man and how indecent that is, is also intimacy but that is the last one in the story because aIter
a while the man tells her that he is not interested in her. That unexpected comment makes her
undermined and emotionally damaged. The reader is also shocked and appreciates the man
rejecting her because it makes the reader think that man is more superior, it also makes the
women Ieel and seem less important and attractive than both the reader and herselI thought
she was.

At the end oI the story, the woman gets on the bus and at the same time the man is picking up
the cigarette. This shows how poor and desperate this man is. He is very poor and he doesn`t
have enough money to buy cigarettes so he collects the ends oI them Irom the streets. It is
also contrasting because during the story this picture was painted in our heads about the man
that he was very great and wise, and even though him picking up that cigarette doesn`t change
the Iact that he is still very smart and logical the reader starts to pity him. This shows how
diIIerent two cultures can be and how diIIerent their reactions to events can be. Also the man
playing around with the woman and making her uncomIortable is a new way oI deIense Ior
negros because the expected was Ior him to get mad and start shouting at her but instead he
shows her that even though he is diIIerent he is more oI a human than she is.