The Apple of Knowledge and Self-Awareness

When I first started reading “The Dutchman” I thought it was just another piece about race. But I soon realized it was much more. Weaving undertones of social oppression and digestion throughout the work, Amiri Baraka creates a play that rises above the simple category of race but delves into the tension of racial assimilation. Lula as a character is representative of the white culture and Clay of black culture.  Throughout the play Lula tries to tell Clay about how much she knows about “him.” As a character, I hated Lula. Her repetitious nature as well as her presumptions made her extremely unlikeable and annoying. Clay was the exact opposite for me. One member in my group made a comment about his outburst at the end being terrifying. I never took it as such. For me it was the inevitable outcome to Lula being a know-it-all culture stealer.

                The question was raised in class about what kind of person Clay is and whether or not he knew what was going on from the beginning. While most felt that he was naïve at first and more aware of his absorption of white culture at the end, I disagree. When I read the play I felt like Clay knew all along that he was trying to adapt something that was not his, and really just wanted to be left alone. Clay’s self-awareness is visible in his witty comebacks: “But the rest of the weight is yours,” “I really wasn’t prepared for party talk,” and “Why do you want to sound so old.” Clay matches Lula’s questions and comments with the same power she displays. Also, during Clay’s towards the end he says, “My people. They don’t need me to claim them. They got legs and arms of their own.” This comment for me is the solidifier to the idea that he is aware of his adoption of the white culture, or of social norms in general. Clay simply wants to be left in peace: “If I’m a fake middle-class white man…let me be. Let me be in the way I want.” Clay’s awareness can also be seen through the apples that Lula provides. While she continues to eat them, he stops after the first one. The notion of the apple also appears after Clay talks back to Lula after she makes a comment about them not knowing each other.  After Lula says she knows Clay like the back of her palm, he retorts by asking if it is the same hand she eats the apples with. Lula comes back to say that it is also the one she opens her door with. This bit of conversation alludes to Lula’s indiscretions with African Americans and how she feels that these instances make her knowledgeable about Clay. For Lula, the apple is a huge symbol. It is a symbol of power, knowledge, wealth, and allowance. The apple of knowledge allows her to act the way she does without feeling guilty and as she says, “Eating apples together is always the first step.” While Clay accepts the knowledge of the world he has and tries to move past it, Lula uses her knowledge to fuel her dominating nature.

                Also, Clay’s self-awareness can also be seen close to the end of the play when he comments: “Wow. All these people, so suddenly. They must all come from the same place.” And when Lula asks if he is scared of them, Clay asks why they should frighten him. Clay and Lula see the world in two different ways. While Clay knows of the attempted adoption of cultures and just tries to make his way through it, Lula uses it as a path to destruction. Lula, just as white individuals were seen for a long time in history, is a dominating, all-consuming force that sweeps Clay away to his death. “The Dutchman” is a play about culture adoption and the possible suffocation of one of the cultures: ultimately seeming to be the black culture.