Into Oblivion(black man 1959)

A detailed Summary of Into Oblivion(black man 1959)

For years John Howard Griffin had pondered the idea of what it would be like to live as black man in the Deep South in the late 1950's. Griffin was a specialist in race issues; he was very aware of the fact that a black man would never speak the truth about his situation to a white man. Griffin explained that the blacks of the South had learned not to speak of anything that the white man might find displeasing, doing so would most certainly be in vain. The white man would simply not listen, or make sure that the black man's life became one of misery. Griffin was not satisfied in hearing only the answers a black man would give to a white man. He felt that if he was ever going to intimately understand the life of a black man in the South of the late 1950's he must become a black man himself. Griffin was more than aware of the risks that doing something of this nature would bring to himself and to his family, but he did it all the same. Griffin must have been an incredibly compassionate man. Griffin would make his transformation to a black man through the use of medication and exposure to a sun lamp. He would leave behind his identity as a white man and his family for seven weeks. As Griffin left the office of the doctor who helped h

One way that the whites of the South insured that the black man would remain a second class citizen was an economic one. The whites would get the black man into debt and make sure he stayed there. Griffin found it close to impossible to find work as a black man. Even the black man who had worked his way through college would find securing a well paying job in the South nearly impossible. A well-educated black man in the South would be reduced to menial labor a majority of the time for no other reason than the tone of his skin. This discouraged even blacks that could afford a college education to be less motivated to pursue one. The problem of few colleges and universities that accepted black students was also a problem. One black man explained to Griffin that this economic trap set up by the whites of the South led many young black men to simply give up. If they had nothing to lose what difference would it make if they were to die in a car accident or a knife fight (p. 43)?

The word oblivion is defined as the state of being utterly forgotten. Oblivion is a suiting word for the white view of the black man of the South in the late 1950's. From reading Griffins experiences as a black man is quite obvious that many Southern whites were oblivious to the fact that a darker shade of skin does not lessen a person's humanity in anyway.

Griffin explained that a large amount of his time as a black man was spent trying to meet basic needs. One especially vital need always proved to be a problem, where could he find a restroom he would be allowed to enter? One establishment, a small food stand, was more than happy to take Griffin's money, but when he asked about a restroom their willingness to help him quickly vanished. Griffin had noticed a very rundown outhouse behind the food

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Approximate Word count = 1202
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: People