"They bowed down to him rather, because he was all of those things, and then again he was all of these things because the town bowed down to him." (page 50)
What suddenly makes a person the leader? Is it appearance over disposition, or brains over brawn, or wealth over impoverishment? One strong aspect is the driving force in the unconscious choosing of a leader, who you put above yourself before even realizing that you have. There is something about Joe Starks that has the town of Maitland, avowedly "bowing" down and it may not just be about his beautiful wife and two story home that "looked like servants' quarters" (page 47). And yes, that is ironic in more ways than one. However, everyone in town speaks highly of the mayor, Joe Starks - ""Our beloved Mayor,"" but "it was one of those statements that everybody says but nobody actually believes..." (page 48) The town folk began to talk about him on his own front porch - because you couldn't say those kind of things directly to your beloved. No, one must only talk about "de devil" only when he was away sorting the mail.
What really seemed to make Joe Starks the leader is how he made himself the leader. From the moment he entered Maitland he had announced that there must be a mayor, and the next moment -look no further- he was the mayor, and when he said that there must be a town post office, he became the post master. Starks has no time to wait, after all the towns' name is Maitland and not Waitland. Moreover, the fact that the other black folk can "feel the switch in his hand when he's talkin," (page 49) to them is enough proof that the way he views himself determines the way the others view themselves, and although they can talk all they want about "slavery being over"(page 47) they were sure going to continue listening to "Mayor--post master--landlord--storekeeper" Joe Stark because "he's de wind and" they're "de grass."(page 49)
If you've ever seen the film Sparkle, this is exactly the way Satin (a famous, wealthy, powerful character) behaves towards everyone around him. Because this takes place in the 1960s, he talks down to black people as if he is their god, and he collaborates with white people to gain power. He and Joe Starks are very similar that they are aware of others' vulnerability and they use it for their own advantage.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with everything being said. They had no leader nor anyone willing to step up and take the title as leader. Therefore, when Joe came he was like their hero. He was the one to save the day. They never looked into his background or his beliefs. They just knew he acted like he had power so he must know something. Whether they liked it or not he was going to be their leader because no one else was willing to step up to the plate.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.bytwerk.com/gpa/posters2.htm
ReplyDeleteThere are an infinite amount of historical examples to the thesis you are making. The most widely known case is Germany during WWII and the propaganda posted saluting Hitler. He wanted the world to be his slave and attempted to instill this universal mindset. I found a link to many propaganda posters you can check out that reflect the idea of world-dominating slavery.
Just for clarification, it's not Joe's house that is describe as looking like servant's quarters. It's everyone else's homes that look like servants next to Joe's home.
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