The manchild in the promised land

¶ … Claude Brown's Manchild in the Promised Land

Introduction and Title will summarize and analyze various aspects of Claude Brown's autobiographical novel Manchild in the Promised Land (New York: Touchstone, 1999) 415 pp. The meaning and significance of the title, as I see it, is that when the main character, Claude, (often called "Sonny" or "Sonny Boy") comes with his family from the South to the "Promised Land" of New York City, life is so rough that he is forced to grow up fast and become a man when he is still a child. The first word of the title, "Manchild" is a combination of the words "man" and "child." From Claude's descriptions of growing up as an African-American child in Harlem, New York; associating with friends who are tough themselves; attending reform schools; and constantly being exposed to drugs, alcohol, and violence, Claude feels like a child who had had manhood forced upon him, in very unpleasant ways.

Summary

Claude's family has moved from the South to New York City. They, like many Southern blacks then, hope for more opportunity. Claude's Harlem childhood, though, is filled with violence, arrests, guns, knives, drugs, and alcohol. He turns into a juvenile delinquent. Claude wants to better himself, but feels conflicted between being the "coolest cat" in Harlem (or reform school) and escaping Harlem. From11, Claude attends Wiltwyck and Warwick. He receives encouragement from Wiltwick's director Mr. Papanek, and imagines life outside Harlem. He keeps getting pulled back in, though, by Harlem's exciting lure. Finally, after seeing friends killed and other friends' lives ruined, Claude finds strength to leave Harlem.

Analysis of Claude, the Main Character

Claude is a bright, observant, enterprising, funny African-American boy. He seems smarter than just about everyone in the book, with the possible exception of Mr. Papanek, Simms, and others he meets at Wiltwick. He sees through pretense and insincerity. Even as a child, Claude is very clever. He manages to cut school and get away with stealing things, and other crimes. Still, he gets caught sometimes, and then his mother is humiliated when Claude gets arrested and has to stand before a judge, with her there, and be sentenced to juvenile detention or reform school. Claude's father beats him and verbally abuses him. Claude's mother does interfere sometimes, though, when his father is brutally beating him. The story is about the conflict Claude has between staying in his environment and wanting out. It takes all his strength to leave Harlem, his family, and the excitement of the streets. This is not surprising at the end because all along Claude has been very bright, independent, determined, and, underneath all his supposed indifference, determined to make something of himself.

Claude Brown's Purpose in Writing this Book

One never knows another person's purpose for writing a book, especially an autobiography, but it seems Claude may have had three purposes: (1) to tell his life story for others' entertainment (it is very interesting, and sometimes funny); (2) to show the Harlem lifestyle of young African-Americans, and how hard it is to escape Harlem and make something of oneself; and (3), to make sense of his experiences in his own mind. Claude probably hoped to make money too (who wouldn't?) but I doubt that was his main purpose. I think his main overall purpose was to describe and critique the life he had led growing up in Harlem.

Point-of-View: First Person

Since this is Claude's life story, even if it is a fictionalized account, it is only natural that he choose a first person ("I, Claude") point-of-view. Everything happens to him or around him, and we see everything through Claude's eyes I think first person viewpoint ("I") is therefore the best point-of-view for this book. The viewpoint makes Claude's thoughts more immediate and accessible to readers, and also to show Claude's intelligence, sense of humor, personality, and sometimes his cynicism.

Structure