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dem
Reading Group Guide
PLOT SUMMARY: Originally
published in 1967, dem is a classic of the Black Arts Movement. This surrealistic
satire lays bare the convoluted and symbiotic relationship between whites and
blacks. Coffee House Press is pleased to bring back into print this widely unavailable
work. Upper-middle-class
Manhattanite Mitchell Pierce is convinced he has it made. With advancement at
work, an attractive wife, and a comfortable apartment, he has achieved the 1960s
version of the white man’s American dream. This dream, however, slowly becomes
a nightmare, and Mitchell can’t seem to wake up. Did he really find his coworker’s
wife and children dead in an upstairs bedroom of their suburban home? Did his
wife really become pregnant after a brief fling with their black maid’s boyfriend? Mitchell
and his wife enact the twists and turns of human relationships in this startling
novel about the intersections of race, class, sex, love, and marriage. Notable
as a satiric portrayal of white characters from an African American perspective,
this milestone achievement tugs at our ability to suspend disbelief and forces
us to re-examine stereotypes from the past and current images in America’s racial
divide. Packed
with irony, dem exposes the complexities of prejudice on a multitude of
levels, thereby encouraging readers to examine their own hidden stereotypes.
DISCUSSION
QUESTIONS:
1.
Kelley’s novel begins with the Ashanti proverb, "The ruin of a nation begins
in the homes of its people," and ends with Mitchell’s thoughts, "But
in the quiet of the empty apartment, he was no longer certain." What part
does the element of place play in the story? How do location and race interact
in the narrative’s progression? 2.
Mitchell’s prejudices play themselves out in a variety of ways. Which are finally
more important: the confrontational and pivotal events (e.g., the birth of the
twins), or Mitchell’s more subtle prejudicial attitudes weaved throughout the
book? How do you see these elements contributing to the eventual unraveling of
Mitchell’s world? 3.
What understanding of love and marriage is Kelley exploring in the scenes with
Godwin, Mitchell, and Tam? What does the sexual element evident in these scenes
tell us of the couple’s relationships? 4.
Infidelity is a major thread in the novel. How does this thread play itself out?
How are the implications different for men and women? Does this difference relate
to race relations as well? 5.
How would you explain the soap opera dimension of the book? What is Mitchell looking
for in Search for Love? Does he find it in his actual encounter with Nancy
Knickerbocker/Winky? Why or why not? 6.
How do you interpret the blurred boundaries between reality, dream, and perception
in the novel? Is Mitchell a reliable narrator? What effect does this blurring
have on the novel as a whole? 7.
What do the reactions of Tam’s mother to the birth of the twins actually mean?
What motivates her? What role does she play in Mitchell’s life? 8.
At the prompting of Caryle, Mitchell claims black roots at a party. What is the
significance of Mitchell’s passing into the black world of Harlem? How does it
change him? What are the reactions of those around him? 9.
What is the significance of the dream sequence Mitchell experiences after his
visit to Harlem? How would you interpret the dream? Why is it Opal who seems to
be the most prevalent character in these highly sexual fantasies? 10.
How does the exposure of Mitchell’s prejudices make the reader feel vulnerable?
How does this novel specifically challenge you to unearth your own hidden prejudices?
ABOUT
THE BLACK ARTS MOVEMENT:
From
the 1960s through the mid 1970s, a new generation of African American writers,
visual artists, dramatists, dance troupes, and musicians formed what came to be
called the Black Arts Movement. The tenets of this group included the responsibility
of artists to their communities, the union of ethics and aesthetics, and mediation
between cultural production and political commitment. The Black Arts Movement
included such artists as John A. Williams, Amiri Baraka, Nikki Giovanni, Sonia
Sanchez, Clarence Major, and Elizabeth Catlett.
William
Melvin Kelley’s other books include the novels A
Different Drummer, A Drop of Patience, Dunfords
Travels Everywheres, and the short story collection,
Dancers on the Shore. Kelley attended the Fieldston
School and Harvard, where he studied under Archibald
MacLeish and John Hawkes. He lives in Harlem, is a professor
of Creative Writing at Sarah Lawrence College, and regularly
teaches seminars at the Taos Institute of Art in Taos,
New Mexico.
Coffee
House Press’s Black Arts Movement Series is supported
by a grant from the Lila Wallace-Reader’s Digest Fund.
Novels
available in the Coffee House Press Black Arts Movement
Series:
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