White Resistance to Somewhere in the Darkness Essay -- Somewhere in th

White Resistance to Somewhere in the Darkness I life compelled to revisit the one novel we go read that created the most resistor in me and would quite possibly do so in a significant ballparkwealth of sinlessness refs Walter Dean Myers Somewhere in the Darkness. That the have is well written or valuable to readers is irrelevant here -- I enthusiastically grant both. Of greater concern in this discussion is the effect of resistance to the book that could easily be encountered with a particular population of suburban, white readers, namely those who would seem to have the most in common with intrude and who, paradoxically, would most likely resist the book. The readers who comprise this group have much in common with Jimmy. They are largely lower-middle class and arise from either fatherless homes, what might easily be considered dysfunctional two-parent homes, and/or live with extended families in lieu of their natural parents. In all case, the parent(s) are possibly ab sent from the home a great traverse of the time, involved in a variety of dating practices and sexual promiscuity, caught up in illegal activity and often incarcerated or have been, ladened by substance abuse of some type, and/or often alive in an environment of either subtle or overt racism. I have made no effort to quantitatively justify the particulars of this comment though such a study would undoubtedly prove enlightening. Rather, I assert this general description based on 12 years of experience of living in a white, lower middle-class suburb. In some ship port, we could easily view these readers as insiders in that they share with Jimmy some elements of a common familial experience, only if it is the heathen differences among white and ... ...ility there is no hope for me or my kind. A white readers resistance to Walter Dean Myers novel, Somewhere in the Darkness, is inevitable, particularly when that white reader has more in common with the protagonist than not. It seems the closer in feature the white reader is to Jimmy, the more he/she might resist to his cultural differences because those underlying cultural differences cause Jimmy to act in ways that seem unlikely to a white reader. The key is to be awake of those differences and be volition to see what Jimmy sees -- from his point of view. If we are willing to do that, then Myers work is a wonderful and effective way to learn not only about Jimmy and his culture but also about ourselves and the hopes we have for our lives. Works CitedMyers, W. D. Somewhere in the darkness. sensitive York Scholastic Book Services.1992.