Stereotypes

Stereotypes

                The characters that compose the novel The Tropic of Orange are all of a different race and ethnicity that those who are typically associated with the country they are either living in or moving towards. Each character adds a unique perspective either into what it means to be non-white in America or how America exposes the ‘lesser’ countries that surround it.

                My favorite character is Buzzworm, who out of all the characters (besides Rafaela) may be the most stereotypical. He is a tall black man who knows the streets and those who inhabit them, constantly listens to music (albeit the radio), and has ‘swag’ with his variety of watches. The greatness of this character lies in his ability to bypass the stereotypes that are placed on him and create his own persona out of what is expected of him. He knows the streets because he turned his back on them, listens to music and the radio for knowledge and a variety and diversity of sounds, and turned ‘swag’ into something that has a great deal of meaning behind each and every one of the timepieces he wears. He symbolizes someone who was once sucked into the lifestyle that was expected of him and was able to turn around and uses the knowledge that he has gained along the way to help and aide those around him, particularly the youth. Buzzworm was able to create his own cool by breaking free of the life that was presented to him.

                The other character who seems to be similar in breaking stereotypes is Manzanar. Here is a man who began his career as a surgeon, assumed successful, and is now a homeless man living under a bypass. Similar to Buzzworm, Manzanar’s early history is described as being stereotypical to how American’s view Asians. Words that come to mind when the word surgeon is mentioned are hard work, smart, studying, no life, which are also words that are used to describe the Asian population by those who don’t truly know them. The fact that Manzanar was able to walk away from what was viewed as ‘the good life’ and become a homeless conductor of freeway traffic is a testament to his ability to break free from the conformities that surround him in America.