Reading Response #2

The Prompt: Explain the title.  Explain one character trait.  Connect those two things two a theme idea (only one word).  Make it like a math problem (1+1=2; T+CT=THM)

Corey Ryan

Reading Response Number #2

Period 0

August 25, 2015

Background

I am currently on page 110 of Mat Johnson’s Loving Day. Loving Day is mostly about Warren Duffy’s struggles with his current situation.  Warren is recently divorced.  He moved back to Philadelphia, PA from Wales, Scotland because his father died and left him this huge mansion, a mansion that is falling apart and surrounded by crackheads in the ghetto.  He hates this house.  He also finds out that he has a child, a girl, Tal.  Tal’s mother is dead and her grandfather, Irv, is too old to take Tal’s attitude anymore, hence Duffy and his newly found fatherhood.  The situations all have to do with race: Duffy and his daughter are bi-racial.  Duffy identifies as black while Tal identifies as white.  This creates hilarious dialogue and scenes that parody just how far our society goes to help everyone fit in--whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing.  

The Prompt

The title of my book is Loving Day.  I don’t know if that is an actual day (Okay it is, I just Googled it-it’s June 12).  The title has not been referred to in the book yet.  From my background knowledge I know that the Lovings were an interracial couple from Virginia who took their love all the way to the supreme court to overturn a prohibition on interracial marriage in 1967.  There’s movies and kids’ books about them.  Everyone should know about them.

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The strongest character trait I can attribute to Warren Duffy would be pride.  He is proud to be black, proud to be mixed, but not exactly proud to be white.  “Well, I don’t consider myself as a ‘biracial’ artist...I’m black and I’m an artist” (26).  Duffy is saying this because someone asked him the question of what it’s like to be a biracial artist.  He is proud to be an artist and proud to be black. He is almost too proud.  This question leads to a mess for Duffy involving him being rude and obnoxious to someone he will later fall in love with.  

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As you can see, Loving Day and pride both involve race which leads me to the real heart of the matter: identity.  Race is theme idea.  Identity can not be chosen.  (just an FYI, I don’t know if I like that.  I probably don’t, but I’m keeping it anyways).  

My Thinking

This book has caused me to think deeply about race, specifically, I guess, biracial people and even more specifically, my daughter, Zuri.  I’m white.  You probably guessed that.  My wife is black.  Zuri is mixed.  How will she identify?  Can it ever be 50/50.  How can I teach someone to be proud of being white?  That sounds racist as I don’t know what, but do you get what I’m saying.  Tal is a crazy character but she is only crazy because of how she was raised.  maybe she’s ignorant, but I don’t think so. I think she’s going to be proud of her mixed heritage and actually find some peace within it.  Someday I hope my daughter reads this book and laughs out loud.  This book is a classic for anyone biracial.