Literary Analysis of Symbols in Amiri Baraka’s Dutchman Aleksandr Yelesin

Flying Dutchman and Symbolism Clay is the Captain/Dutchman in the myth. Downfall comes from foolishness and temptation. Both characters ignored potential danger, and it led to their deaths. “The captain refuses to retreat in the face of the storm” (Donahue, N.D.). Clay could not resist the temptation of attractive Lula, much like the captain who sailed straight into a storm he could have avoided.

Clay allowed Lula to seduce him, despite his initial reluctance. Like the Dutchman cursed to sail forever, Clay will never get off the train. “Lula: May people accept you as a ghost of the future” (Baraka, p. 1953). Clay is doomed to die just like the Dutchman. Clay allowed Lula to seduce him, despite his initial reluctance. He knew the dangers of a black man talking to a white woman. Yet, they flirt in public and he even kisses her neck and hands (p. 1953). Clay is naïve in thinking Lula would go to a party with him and they would “screw” (p. 1952).

Religious Symbolism Christian symbol of apples. Eve was seduced by a snake to eat the forbidden fruit, the original sin in the Bible. Lula is constantly eating apples, and Clay accepts one from her. “Lula: Eating apples together is always the first step” (Baraka, p. 1949). “Lula: And with my apple-eating hand I push open the door and lead you, my tender big-eyed prey, into my…hovel” (p. 1954). “Lula: Would you like to get involved with me, Mister Man? Clay: Why not? A beautiful woman like you. Huh, I’d be a fool not to” (p. 1949). Accepting the apple is Clay’s point of no return. Clay was “punished” for accepting the apple, because it is a sin against society at the time. Eve disobeyed God, and then Clay disobeyed social customs.

More on Eve Garden of Eden? Does symbolism of Eve and the apple suggests that Clay was living in a sort-of Garden of Eden before he met Lula? Clay is pretending to live in a paradise despite efforts by white people to bring him down. “Clay: If I’m a middle-class fake white man… let me be. And let me be in the way I want” (Baraka, p. 1958).

Snow White Clay calls Lula “Snow White.” “Clay: Hey, what was in those apples? Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the fairest of them all? Snow White, baby, and don’t you forget it” (Baraka, p. 1956). Ironic. In folklore, Snow White is the one tricked into eating a poison apple, but Clay doesn’t realize he is Snow White in this situation. Clay doesn’t win in the end, unlike Snow White.

Romeo and Juliet Lula describes her house as “black as a grave.” “Lula: You’ll say, ‘This place is like Juliet’s tomb” (Baraka, p. 1955). In Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, Romeo kills himself in Juliet’s tomb because he believes she is dead. Clay/Romeo didn’t have patience and killed themselves foolishly. Clay ‘killed himself’ by acting out of line in a society that doesn’t allow it. Both could have waited longer in their situation and it would have ended peacefully. Like Romeo, Clay will not leave Juliet’s tomb. Symbolism of tragic lovers. Only, Lula moves on while Juliet killed herself. However, Lula’s house was “Juliet’s tomb,” so it is possible that she planned to kill Clay there, and not in the train.

Glass/Seperator At the beginning, Lula catches Clay looking at her through the window. The window symbolizes the separation between black and white Americans at the time. By the end of the play, we see that just removing that barrier will not solve racial tension. Lula broke the barrier on purpose and ended up killing Clay. “Lula: I even got into this train, going some other way than mine. Walked down the aisle… searching you out” (Baraka, p. 1948).

Conclusion Lots of symbolism that foreshadows Clay’s death at Lula’s hands. Apples are a major part of the story, linking it to Snow White and the Garden of Eden in the Bible. The Flying Dutchman and Romeo and Juliet are well known stories that end with preventable deaths. Baraka is saying through his play that black and white Americans will always be in conflict when they are together.

Works Cited Gates, Henry Louis and McKay, Nellie Y. (1996). Amiri Baraka. Dutchman. The Norton Anthology of African American Literature (p.1946 -1960). New York: W.W. Norton & Co. Print. (Original work published 1964) Donahue, James. (N.D.) Legend of the Flying Dutchman. perdurabo10.tripod.com. Web. Retrieved from: [http://perdurabo10.tripod.com/ships/id19.html]