The Third Generation [Paperback]

Himes' classic and vivid writing brought to life for me turn-of-the-century African-american society. This rich and rewarding book reads like a classic, and I think it should be on every high school reading list. The characters are heart-breakingly human; they capture you immediately and take you through a compelling and exciting story.

I first read "the third generation" when I was too young to understand most of it, although I knew even then that it was a good book - and therefore decided to read it again. The residue of it's subject matter is still around, although much improved over what it was before. It addresses insecurity, tension, anguish, wishful thinking, fear and prejudice that spring directly from the inability to find a place in a society that rejects certain of us. I understand now that unless you were "walking in the shoes" it is virtually impossible to really know what racial issues are all about or how deeply they affect not only the life but the psyche, which is the root of all of it. It also delves into a sub set of problems in the subject and that is the issue of how lighter skinned people of color classified themselves within their own. Even that is a misnomer, obviously, since the wording could be reversed - but it didn't seem to work that way.

Briefly, the story is about a woman who can, and does, pass for white. Her family background is like many that derive their roots from the American slave era - the result of philandering between an English aristocrat who owned her father's mother and subsequently her father as well; and her mother was the result of an Irish overseer and a part Indian slave. She determines that there is no advantage whatever to accept being colored. But she is trapped. She spends her life in agony over denying it, minimizing it, even resorting to deception in her family background to cover it in the places she feels needs changing. She marries back into the circle of a race she can't accept because there are no other avenues open to her regardless of how she views herself, and that ultimately destroys her emotionally, and spreads to those around her, most of whom are trying to lead normal lives within who they are.

It deals intimately with the resulting unhealthy relationship it promotes with her youngest son, who is most like her in complexion - which she seizes on. She wants more for him than what she can give him (she believes his future rests with her direction away from his roots); it's an obsession. One can emphasize with her to a degree because we see where and why it originates; nobody wants for their children something that hurt them - hence the practical reference to the biblical quotation "the third generation". Unfortunately, enabling can quickly turn into an excuse rather than promote a better motive - and Charles, belonging to no world of his own, moves toward self-destruction with the "excuse" handed to him and fed by everything around him.

It was a very well written, and therefore effective work, bringing conscience to anyone who wanted to listen and gain insight into the world some of us didn't live in. The old saying "unless it affects you, you can't see it" has special meaning in many problematic areas, including racial issues. These kinds of works did help change things, albeit very slowly and perhaps the change is never absolute, human nature being what it is.

I tell you sometimes the angst of charles would be a little too much for me. He was an immensely troubled young man. However, the blame for his pyschosis was his mama. She is the source. The lesson that I have re-learned is that you have to be very careful who you marry. The person can either uplift your life or bring you down. Lillian certainly brought the professor down. The woman has some serious problems and as result of Charles being her favorite, he has problems himself. She absolutely a tragic mulatto.

It is also a great example of how a parent can ruin a child. The writing is excellent.

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