Midnight is white but trapped in poverty with an unstable home life; Corey is Black but raised in a middle-class two-parent household. How do these dynamics impact the trajectory of these characters' lives and how they view each other?

Midnight is trapped in the web of poverty that Ruth managed to escape. Yet he's white and she believes he will always benefit from that privilege in spite of his unstable home life. Is that true? Will his whiteness supersede his economic disadvantage? Corey is raised in a middle class, two-parent household, but he's still Black. What will his future look like? How do these dynamics impact the trajectory of these characters' lives and how they view each other over the course of the novel?

I realize I’m not exactly answering the question….This story line and these two characters brought me back to my first few years of teaching at a magnet school in an inner city. (Savannah, 1995)
White kids’ families chose them to go to this special science “magnet” school while neighborhood ( black) kids attended due to it being their own school.
The neighborhood kids were always a bit in awe at first with the magnet ( white) kids due to the fact that sometimes they had even less than them. The magnet kids were often living in trailer parks on the outskirts of town and wanted a better newer school. While the neighborhood kids assumed that the magnet ( white) kids had wherever they lived an even better school.

It was a pretty special time in that little bubble of an elementary school where lots of conversations were fostered by breaking down the stereotypes.

The status of one's home life is always so important for the future trajectory. I don't know if I can weigh the importance of one's race as more or less important. It seems to me that Corey has a better self-image because of how he was raised and would be less influenced by negative forces. Midnight seems to be searching for the kind of home that Corey has, but will never find it. Some people can rise above that, others cannot.

I do think that Midnight's race does help him in some regards - he's not the one police point a gun at, for example - and I think it's likely his race will benefit him in subtle ways as he becomes an adult. However, I agree with sweeney that his home life will likely be a bigger factor in keeping him impoverished and disadvantaged. I suspect Corey's family would insist on his going to college, while Midnight may not get the same kind of encouragement or support.

I agree with both Sweeney and kimk. A positive home life will help Corey, but none the less, he will unfortunately face discrimination as a black teenager/adult. It is likely that he will be encouraged to pursue higher education. Midnight is not receiving the same positive upbringing. His father's work situation will influence Midnight's future.

The dynamics were a 180 degree turn from the stereotypical depiction of these types of characters and I was happy to see that presentation in the book. There seemed to be equal amounts of anger and resentment from both the white and black characters at the way their livelihoods were financially impacted.

In my opinion, both boys are longing for a family connection. They are both seen as outsiders. Looking in, they both want to belong.

A positive home life is important as beginning point for a successful life. While Midnight is white he does not have a positive role model or the support he needs to make decisions while Corey though a black teenager does have the positive reinforcement and encouragement.

This dynamic reminds me somewhat of We are not Like Them because Jen, the white friend, grows up in a volatile atmosphere with little guidance from her mother; she finds solace and a home with her friend, Riley, who is black and comes from a stable, loving family. Riley's family takes Jen into the fold.

The differences will remain until we quit seeing color. There are some advantages for Midnight - he is the privileged white boy, he is more independent. Corey has the two parent family in a more stable home, but has the stigma of being a black boy. I believe that Corey will always remain the second class citizen just due to his race. He may get out and end up more like Xavier and Midnight will probably end up like Eli. That appears to be the way each of them are headed.