The Subtle Humors of The White Boy Shuffle

Paul Beaty, author of The White Boy Shuffle, constantly adds subtle jokes throughout his novel, filling scenes with intense satirical humor that becomes increasingly uncomfortable as the book continues. These satirical remarks made by Beaty’s main character, Gunnar Kaufman, often make the reader laugh out loud. As the book progresses the moments of humor become more and more dark until the culmination of an atom bomb threat that would wipe out all African Americans. Gunnar himself has a build up of tension, that by the end the reader can almost see him as a walking time bomb. This tension is caused by two factors. The first factor is that people expect him to change the world and please them because of his gifts in sports and poetry. The second factor can be seen in the daily racism received by African Americans that Gunnar both witnesses and receives.  

One of the first instances of this satirical joking occurs when Gunnar is in second grade. The teacher at his all white “multi-cultural” school tries to preach to children that they should not see color. When asked what kinds of things are colorblind, instead of responding like the other kids by saying the law, Gunnar responds “dogs.” Gunnar is acutely aware of the obvious racial distinctions of society even at a young age. The government as we can see today is not colorblind. Growing up in and around LA, Gunnar would be exposed to police brutality himself and in the news. Police brutality that is especially pointed at African and Hispanic Americans.

Later in the book Beaty points out the absurdity of the statement, the law is colorblind. Beaty blends his alternate reality with actual history and allows the reader to see Gunnar’s reaction, when the officers who beat Rodney King within an inch of his life are acquitted. Gunnar feels as though; he is not valued by America. He is a worthless human. Beaty captures the emotion of Gunnar extremely well, allowing a reader such as myself who was not alive during the trial, to feel the utter hopelessness after the decision of the court. Amazingly, in this moment of extreme sorrow and heartbreak occurring both to Gunnar and the reader Beaty drop a comedic seen yet again. Beaty eludes to the beating of a white man in actual history when Gunnar beats a white Wonder Truck driver and shames him. He creates a scene without context that would make the reader laugh out loud. Gunnar and a friend of his, beat the white men with fluffy white bread until the crumbs fall from the sky like rain. Beaty makes this scene extremely hard to work through because, the reader almost wants to laugh at his pros, but this heavy weight of Gunnar’s devastation is still present.

Beaty seems to master the ability to make light of even the darkest of moments or statements. His witty tongue and cheek humor never ceases throughout the book. As the reader moves forward, Beaty’s wit becomes harder and harder to enjoy as his novel takes on extremely dark themes. Beaty is calling to mind African American minstrelsy while showing the extreme hardships of being black in America. He makes his reader see that black life is not a vaudeville show. Beaty creates scenes complex scenes that deserve to be reread multiple times to garner its deeper meanings. The White Boy Shuffle is definitely a book I will reread, just to piece together all these subtle intricacies that cannot be understood with an initial reading.