Macon's Personality

When we first started reading Angry Black White Boy I was not impressed with Macon's personality (I'm still not terribly fond of him but we'll get to that later). Right from the beginning of the book Macon seems arrogant and overconfident because he compares himself to great people like Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X and belies that he's justified in robbing people to gain equality for black people. I didn't have a problem with what he was trying to do, but I didn't like the way in which he tried to accomplish his goal.

Because Macon is so arrogant he sticks to his opinions no matter how crazy they may seem to us. He thinks he's being noble by stealing from rich, white people and giving back to the poor (except I don't think that he actually gives his stolen wealth to anyone). Macon believes that the best way to make black people look good is to make white people look bad. One of his craziest schemes to show this is the Day of Apology. The Day of Apology seemed like a joking suggestion, but Macon takes it seriously. The idea of forcing white people to apologize to every black person in sight seems absolutely ridiculous, not to mention uncomfortable. From white people's perspective, it would probably be awkward to start apologizing to complete strangers for racist things they may or may not have done. From black people's point of view it might seem creepy if a bunch of random white people start saying sorry to them. My biggest problem with the Day of Apology is that Macon believes that he can apologize for all the racist things that have been done to black people throughout history and expect them to forgive him. Indeed, the Day of Apology is a failure since the apologies don't seem to make the vast majority of black people feel better about racism.

Although Macon may be stubborn and arrogant, his one redeeming quality is that he can be quite smart. He is able to control his mouth in front of the press and think before speaking on the radio. It's impressive that he can come up with reasonable responses to different kinds of people on the spot over the phone. However, Macon's vices outweigh his virtues so I still dislike him as a character.

Room's Ending

I greatly enjoyed the ending of Room, especially after reading the end of The Memory of Running. At the beginning of Room, Jack is perfectly content with his surroundings. He is never upset that he can't go outside to play or that there is only one window in Room because he does not know what the outside world is like. Jack doesn't think that Room is cramped or that it's kind of gross because of a lack of fresh air. He likes Room and gets angry with Ma for disliking the only home he's ever known.

In the middle of the book, we see Jack's discomfort at the thought of leaving Room when Ma is planning an escape. Jack is always hesitant when Ma tells him that the escape will take place that night. It's understandable that Jack fluctuates between being that hyped kid who wants to be his mom's hero and being a scared five-year-old, but we can see Jack's maturity in the end when he finally agrees to hide in the rug to escape. Ma is able to persuade Jack that leaving Room would be best for both of them. Jack's decision to escape just for Ma seems as heroic as his actual escape.

After Jack and Ma arrive Outside, Jack misses Room, but Ma could not be happier to be free from her prison forever. Throughout the second half of the book, Jack continues to think of Room as his home and has difficulty adjusting to Outside. He constantly asks Ma when they will go back to Room and is always disappointed when she replies that they will never return. At the very end of the book when Jack is finally able to convince Ma to let him visit Room for the last time, we see a big jump in his maturity level. Sure, he's still the same tiny five-year-old he was two months earlier, but now he realizes that Room looks cramped and dirty. He also starts to realize that there's more than one of every object. At the end of the book, Jack recognizes that he must say good-bye to Room and is able to let go of his childhood home. The ending of Room shows how much Jack has developed in a short time period.