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Black Men Characters in Jones’ Old Boys, Old Girls

Pages: 1
Words: 159

To begin with, Old Boys, Old Girls, written in 1986, is more focused on Ceasar’s homicide which was initially omitted in Young Lions. This story includes the trial of the main character, “at trial, with the weight of all the harm done to him … he was not always himself” (Jones, 2004, p. 2). To be exact, the trial seems to be the principal struggle against Ceasar during the chapter.

In addition, Jones shows him as a victim of the system who is punished for his crime. However, precisely the justice system does not give Ceasar a chance to prove that he is indeed a good person (Jones, 2004). As a result, the author shares the idea that criminals are not necessarily bad people, and sometimes psychological traumas are the reasons for their mistakes in the future. Therefore, it can be assumed that the writer aims to battle the stereotypes and display black characters, not in a bad light.

References

Jones, E. P. (2004). Old boys, old girls. The New Yorker. Web.