Trick Baby by Iceberg Slim is similar to the other examples of the noir genre that we have read this semester but also has contrasting elements in terms of what establishes these characters on the margins of society. It is similar in its portrayal of darkness, especially in reference to black characters. Like the character of Bob in If He Hollers Let Him Go, these characters exist in a world of darkness in which they are struggling to get out of the darkness; however, for these characters and black men in general it is inescapable. In Trick Baby we see the character of White Folks trying to escape his past and his origin, which is what establishes him on the margins of society and this seems like it may lead him further into the inescapable darkness.
White Folks is multiracial in that his mother is black and his father is white, which already establishes him on the margins of society. Similar to the character of Alice in If He Hollers Let Him Go, White Folks is unable to escape this as a part of his identity, as it has been brought up several times thus far in the book. White Folk wants to be accepted and wants to be a part of the same world as Blue: “Blue, I owe you my life. I can’t forget how you stood by me when the Goddess put me into that crazy drunken tailspin. Nothing can change that or the sincere affection I feel for you” (26). However, it is evident that no matter how much White Folks attempts to throw himself into the same world as Blue, the fact that he is white-passing and that he is possibly a “trick baby” will always set him to the margins, even in the darkness. Two prominent examples in the book so far are communicated to White Folks by Blue and Mr. Murray. In a conversation, Blue explains to White Folks that, “Some blacks have hated you because they believed you were really white…as a white child born of a brown mother, they had to hate you” (27). White Folks will always be separate from Blue and this world that it seems he is dedicated to, but his racial identity and origin will always keep him separate. When meeting with Mr. Murray, White Folks had to strongly declare that he was not a “trick baby,” but even after this declaration, Mr. Murray said he would not believe him until he saw proof on an official document of his mother’s marriage to a white man.
Trick Baby shows us a very different character on the borders that we have not yet seen in the other works of Noir that we read this semester. In The Expendable Man, we saw the characters on the margins of society dealing more with class relations, and in If He Hollers Let Him Go, we saw the characters on the margins pertaining more to race. In Trick Baby, it is quite different as this has to do with race, but also with someone’s origins, their background, which doesn’t necessarily pertain just to race. As we are being introduced to new examples of Black Noir and Noir in general, one thing that has become clear is that anyone can exist or be pushed to the margin and be on the bounds of society for really any reason.
Its interesting that you say that White Folks is a different type of marginal character. Now that we have moved from a white perspective that looks upon the “other” in books like Farewell, to the perspective of the other themselves, we have to redefine what it means to be on the margins of society. In Trick Baby we have to consider how black people view each other just as much as we consider how they are viewed by the “normative” society. As we move on in this class, the emphasis of noir on the outskirts of society is complicated by what we consider society to be. Basically, who’s gaze are we looking at the character from? The assumption that we all have been taught is that whiteness is society, but I think we have a more rich conversation when we deconstruct that assumption and use books like Trick Baby see marginality in a different light.
Something interesting to consider with this novel is the shifting paradigm in what we consider the “margin.” Like Sweet Sweetback, White Folks exists within a realm of society that the mainstream, white, Christian majority would already consider on the margins; however, the disruption to White Folks’s life isn’t a further descent into this realm, but a logical progression paired with a corrupt authority. Those are a lot of words to say that I think you’re right. We’ve reached a turning point in this course.