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The Sellout


The first book by an American author to win the prestigious Man Booker Prize.
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Why does Hominy want to be the narrator's slave? Even though he calls Bonbon "massa," is Hominy ultimately his own master now that he has been emancipated by the entertainment industry?

Created: 01/18/17

Replies: 8

Posted Jan. 18, 2017 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
davinamw

Join Date: 10/15/10

Posts: 3442

Why does Hominy want to be the narrator's slave? Even though he calls Bonbon "massa," is Hominy ultimately his own master now that he has been emancipated by the entertainment industry?

Why does Hominy want to be the narrator's slave? Even though he calls Bonbon "massa," is Hominy ultimately his own master now that he has been emancipated by the entertainment industry?


Posted Jan. 23, 2017 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
crofly

Join Date: 06/14/13

Posts: 29

RE: Why does Hominy want to be the narrator's slave? Even though he calls Bonbon "massa," is Hominy ultimately his own master now that he has been emancipated by the entertainment industry?

He is a living satire piece. The show is a symbol of how things used to be for blacks. It's all he's ever known. It's when he was most famous and received the most recognition. So it's like he's mentally trapped in the show and by becoming the narrator's slave, he returns to that "comfort" zone in physical form.


Posted Jan. 23, 2017 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
laurap

Join Date: 06/19/12

Posts: 401

RE: Why does Hominy want to be the narrator's slave? Even though he calls Bonbon "massa," is Hominy ultimately his own master now that he has been emancipated by the entertainment industry?

Hominy's identity in The Little Rascals is bound up in a slave-like character. In his relationship to Bonbon, though, by demanding to become a slave and then behaving as he chooses he in effect becomes his own boss. He has defined his own role, rahter than having it defined for him by a demeaning script.


Posted Jan. 23, 2017 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
melanieb

Join Date: 08/30/14

Posts: 265

RE: Why does Hominy want to be the narrator's slave? Even though he calls Bonbon "massa," is Hominy ultimately his own master now that he has been emancipated by the entertainment industry?

Yes, I think Hominy turned the tables on his past and tried to desensitize the injustices and prejudices of his youth by owning the massa/slave relationship. He plays with the concept and controls it as a result.


Posted Jan. 25, 2017 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
joanp

Join Date: 06/13/11

Posts: 102

RE: Why does Hominy want to be the narrator's slave? Even though he calls Bonbon "massa," is Hominy ultimately his own master now that he has been emancipated by the entertainment industry?

Bonbon saved Hominy's life but he still felt irrelevant. The beatings made him fell that he mattered. I think he only felt alive when he was a slave to the movie business. He withstood racial cruelty but he was someone.


Posted Jan. 25, 2017 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
PiperUp

Join Date: 10/27/15

Posts: 146

RE: Why does Hominy want to be the narrator's slave? Even though he calls Bonbon "massa," is Hominy ultimately his own master now that he has been emancipated by the entertainment industry?

I agree with laurap. Although he played the part of slave...he was the one telling Bonbon how to treat him as a slave so he was defining his role as Bonbon's slave.


Posted Jan. 29, 2017 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
louisee

Join Date: 06/29/15

Posts: 143

RE: Why does Hominy want to be the narrator's slave? Even though he calls Bonbon "massa," is Hominy ultimately his own master now that he has been emancipated by the entertainment industry?

I think Hominy was the most comfortable with someone else "in charge" so he gave the job to Bonbon. Since Bonbon doesn't know how to be a master, Hominy does the work of master and slave so he is his own boss. Hominy decides on the master/slave relationship because he feels that blacks are still not equal to whites.


Posted Jan. 30, 2017 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
SusanB

Join Date: 04/28/11

Posts: 15

RE: Why does Hominy want to be the narrator's slave? Even though he calls Bonbon "massa," is Hominy ultimately his own master now that he has been emancipated by the entertainment industry?

I think he wants to be the celebrity but also the home boy, more master to the times than his own master


Posted Feb. 08, 2017 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
poornimaa

Join Date: 05/16/12

Posts: 53

RE: Why does Hominy want to be the narrator's slave? Even though he calls Bonbon "massa," is Hominy ultimately his own master now that he has been emancipated by the entertainment industry?

I felt that Hominy was trying to slip into a familiar narrative, which while uncomfortable, was probably a better known entity than the strange new land he was entering.


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