Coalhouse's Movement

There's been a fair amount of class discussion recently about Coalhouse Walker, primarily concerning his actions following the destruction of his car. One of the most controversial aspects of of these unfolding events is probably whether or not his violence is justified. Coalhouse could have just as easily paid the arbitrary fine set forth by the men and been on his way. Being a full grown man black man living in this period of America, he, like many others, has in all likelihood had to submit to the unfair tolls of racism before.  This time was different though, and he instead chose to take the hard way, refusing to suffer the consequences of his skin tone. He firmly asserts and fights for the belief that he has rights equal to any other and justice will prevail for him.

He's fully aware that he's representing something larger than himself by taking such a resolute stand. He knows that if he emerges from this struggle victorious, this instance will be cited again and again and will hopefully begin to set a precedent for the rights of African Americans in the future. Presenting himself as a respectable, well-off man, he demands to be taken seriously. Doctorow certainly seems to, judging by his lack of irony about Coalhouse and his distancing himself from the events to make them flow as organically as possible.

Doctorow doesn't condone Coalhouse's murders and destruction of property, but he does appear to deem it necessary. Coalhouse has thoroughly demonstrated that, alone, he has pretty much exhausted all possible legal means of getting his justice. Nonetheless, I feel he was fully prepared, and unfortunately expecting, to escalate the situation. He couldn't just give up and accept defeat, his single mission was to restore his dignity and make a push toward African American civil rights. He's not some crazed psychopath who just snapped one day, he's actually being very transparent with his desires and making the conditions of his war very clear. He doesn't want to have to fight it, but he feels as though he must, and for it to have any meaning at all it needs to be as public as possible. The bombings of the firehouses hold the public's attention and the car is a tangible thing that he wants people to see and feel for, as though it were a martyr of some sort.

The violence shouldn't be necessary, but racism is extremely ugly. Coalhouse is now waiting for the authorities to 'just give him his car and justice' instead of spending all the effort to pursue him in parallel to how they originally wanted him to 'just pay the $25.' The war was certainly starting to work in his favor too, as "Will Conklin became a despised person everywhere." (219) Coalhouse is tired of waiting for his justice and has now willfully become the leader of a movement, and as far as I can tell, he's playing this out as best as he possibly could.

END HISTORY AS FICTION POSTS, BEGIN HERO'S JOURNEY POSTS

This blog has been recycled from one class to another, so this is the point where my posts on "History as Fiction" stop and my posts on heroism-themed literature begin. So stop scrolling.