Pox Party 309-353 "Race is Only Skin Deep"

Race is Only Skin Deep

In this final chapter of Octavian Nothing, Race discriminition is shown at an even greater intensity then in later parts of the book. When talking about African American slaves fighting on the sides of the revolution it shows how the thinking process was back then as the slaves themselves were not rewarded for serving there soon to be country but there owners were. This is interesting that more slaves did'nt  run away from the revolution and onto the side of the red coats where if victorious they would be granted there freedom. This to me in some ways shows just how scarred slaves were of there owners and just how much a master mintality they had burned into these men thoughs. Its also suprising how a man like Octavian who is well educated and aware of all this still stands and fights regardless that he is fighting to keep the way of life he knows, one that will keep him a slave instead of granting him freedom.

When Octavian is imprisoned we learn much of how he thinks and what he thinks about the world around him.On page 316, Octavian says that even when he is thrown into imprisonment with no light he is still black and that is why the whites still beat him. He also comes to learn and like the feeling of shakles and cuffs on him, saying he preferes it to being able to freely walk because its a constant reminder of how good the freedom felt. This is also in my opinion a good analogy of Octavians life as he has always been locked up but because of the way he was brough up it was sometimes not always obvious.

The conversations and moments Octavian and his other imprisoned revolutioners showed how there respect for one another grew as the days did as well. The more tired they grew the less they cared about ones color and more about the basics of surviorship such as food , heat, and friendship. The whites and blacks no longer ate seperate or sat at different fires, there shared struggles brough them closer togther and helped a small bridge of unity form. This was also seen with Octavian and Mr. G-ing his former leader as they would commanly play music togther and talk with one another. This just goes to show that when there is no time to hate someone you begin to see there was never a reason to do so.

Devon Wright