The Role of the White Ally in Mumbo Jumbo (And How it Compares to Ragtime)
There is only a handful of named white characters in Mumbo Jumbo, the majority of whom act as antagonists: most notably Hinckle Von Vampton, an immortal, almost cartoonishly evil Templar Knight; Hubert Gould, Vampton’s lackey; and Biff Musclewhite, a ruthless mercenary. At first, Thor Wintergreen, the white son of a wealthy tycoon, seems like one of the few exceptions. Thor styles himself as something of a revolutionary when he joins the Mu'tafikah, a group dedicated to stealing artifacts acquired through Western imperialism from museums and returning them to their rightful owners. When his motivations as a white man are questioned, Thor protests vehemently, telling Berbelang “Look, I was sincere when I volunteered for this. I wasn’t just another 1. Up there slumming. I just don’t think that I am of much help… if it’s going to cause this much dissension. I mean Yellow Jack and Fuentes. I feel out of place, the remarks about my father. I’m not my father, can’t they understand? (Reed 89)”
But, as it turns out, his co-conspirators may have been justified in their skepticism. When Thor is tasked with guarding Biff Musclewhite, he barely hesitates in betraying the cause he once so firmly declared his allegiance to. But all Musclewhite has to do to be freed is to deliver a single speech appealing to Thor’s sense of white brotherhood, telling him “They are lagging behind, son, you know in your heart this is true (Reed 114).” This sudden, unexpected betrayal suggests cynicism on Reed's part towards white allyship. Thor was willing to risk imprisonment for his cause... if he could abandon it so easily, what white person wouldn’t? And, honestly, did he ever care all that much? How would we even know? After all, he never really did have as much at risk as the rest of them. If everything went south, he would still be protected by his status as a wealthy white man.
I n many ways, Mother’s Younger Brother is a very similar character to Thor Wintergreen both are young, well-off white men that join groups dedicated to undermining white supremacy. But Mother's Younger Brother, unlike Thor, finds camaraderie with other antiracist radicals. As Docotorow writes,“Having in this way suggested his good faith to Coalhouse’s other young followers by appealing to their sense of irony, he went out with them and threw the bombs into Municipal Firehouse No. 2, thereby proving himself to everyone including himself. (243-244)” His sense of commitment never falters, either. Where Thor disgraces himself and ultimately commits suicide, Mother’s Younger Brother sees Coalhouse's revolutionary group through to its dissolution, when he moves on to a new cause. He eventually dies an honorable death fighting for the Mexican Revolution, a revolutionary to the very end. Perhaps because he is white himself, Doctorow’s attitude towards white allyship is markedly different from Reed’s... call it optimism or naivete.
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Works Cited:
Doctorow, E. L. Ragtime. Random House, 2007.
Reed, Ishmael. Mumbo Jumbo. Scribner, 1996.
I agree that Thor and Mother's Younger Brother (MYB) have many similarities as you have pointed out. However, it also seems to me that MYB is not as committed to his cause as it initially seems. When Coalhouse decides to turn himself in to the authorities, MYB has a choice: he can either continue the cause or leave it. In the end, he is not fully committed to the revolution and heads over to Mexico. It seems both authors are making it a point that white allies are not as committed to the movement as their non-white counterparts. However, I agree that MYB is more committed than Thor as he never reveals any information, and still demands for justice for a different, righteous cause.
ReplyDeleteI agree that MYB and Thor make for a fruitful and interesting comparison, and it's hard not to conclude that Doctorow is generally more open to the idea of the "white ally" being taken seriously, while Reed seems pretty skeptical of Thor's commitment (despite his strong insistence that he is "not his father"). We are told that MYB is "fully integrated" into the Coalhouse gang, to the point where his ironic deployment of blackface is appreciated as an in-joke by them; Reed depicts Thor folding like a playing card under the slightest bit of "think of your European ancestors" talk from Biff. This plotline sure seems to support all of Fuentes's suspicions, and trusting Thor costs Berbelang his life. In the context of 1972, I would also say that Reed seems pretty skeptical of white radicals like the Weather Underground or SLA, who badly wanted to align with the Black Panthers and "bring the war home." (A number of them ended up serving jail time, but Black Panthers are in many cases STILL in prison on trumped-up charges, and a number of them were assassinated by the FBI and law enforcement. Generally, white radicals did not meet the same degree of blowback.)
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