"Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man" — Study Guide (Brief)

“Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man” — Study Guide

• Setting

The narrator’s life starts in a small town in Georgia of which we don’t know the name. He is a bi-racial man, son of a white slave owner and one of his female slaves. While the narrator was still young his mother moves to Connecticut, and takes him along with her. There he goes through his last years of education, but when his mother passes away he returns to Georgia and enrolls at Atlanta University. Later in the book we also see him going to Jacksonville, New York, Paris, London, Amsterdam, Berlin, Washington D.C., Macon (Georgia), and then back to New York, where he lives the rest of his life.

• Main Characters

- Narrator: The protagonist of the novel, but we don’t know his identity. Son of a white slave-owner and one of his female slaves. He has an inner conflict about which race he belongs to.

- Mother: African-American who worked as a slave. She is able to provide for her son due to the slave-owners kindness.

- Father: Good, rich, white, southern gentleman. Slave owner. Took care of the protagonist in the financial aspect when he needed it, though they only met 2 or 3 times.

- Shiny: Very bright, thus the nickname “Shiny”, black student. Classmate of the narrator. Makes the narrator want to glorify the black race.

- Northern Millionaire: Takes the narrator as his personal musician. Travels to Europe with him and they get along very well. The narrator admires him. 

• Plot

The story centers around the issue of race for a bi-racial man, our narrator and protagonist. While young he believed himself to be white, but a harsh experience makes him realize he is actually African-American. Through different experiences and adventures, our protagonist, a well-educated and talented black (bi-racial) man, decides to “pass” as a white man in order to secure a better, and less dangerous, life for himself and his family. However, he is deeply concerned, an sometimes regrets, about leaving behind his race for his own benefit.

• Themes

- Racial Identity: The author questions whether he is black or white. One event in particular really has an impact on his view of his own race.

- Absent Father: While his father took care of him financially, the narrator only met him 2 or 3 times. The absence of a father-figure has an impact on him.

- Racial Conflict: Though he is born an African-American, the narrator doesn’t necessarily sympathize others of his race. In fact, he only appreciates the well-educated black men.

- Self-Interest vs. Self-Sacrifice (for the black race): In the final chapters of the book the protagonist gives up his dream of glorifying the African-American race in exchange for his own safety and that of his family by “passing” as a white man.

- Passing: Passing refers to a bi-racial African-American man using his lighter skin to “pass” as a white man. In the book it symbolizes the protagonist’s abandonment of his attempt to make his own race great.

• Anything else you deem important?

- Is it really an autobiography?

Though it is titled “Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man” it is not an autobiography. The events in the book are fiction, but based on that of the author’s life.

- Was the author racist?

Some specialists who have written about the book think that the author himself could be considered a racist as reflected through the narrator’s actions. When talking about the African-American race he does so in a way reflecting that of whites at the time, and the fact that he “changed” race also shows how he wasn’t completely proud of his race.