The Ancestors

The final phrase of Angry Black White Boy is incredibly ambiguous: "Burleigh pulled the trigger, and Macon joined his ancestors." Though the statement could go in any number of directions, it definitely brings us back to the Fleet Walker/Cap Anson situation and makes us question which one Macon is more closely associated with. The prologues about Walker and Anson at the beginning of each section help set a historical backdrop for Macon's actions in each book. In the first two books, we are introduced to a sort of binary with Fleet Walker and Cap Anson. As Anson's direct descendent, Macon is determined to not live up to him and wants to make amends for what Anson did to the black community. In his attempts to counteract Anson's actions, Macon goes through all of his efforts to be "down" and be accepted by black people. Therefore, is he trying to be like Walker? Early in the book, Macon describes himself as "blacker than each and every one of these..." (123) at the Black Student Union. However, there is a huge problem that prevents Macon from being able to really be like Fleet Walker: he isn't black, so no matter how hard he tries to be unlike Cap Anson, he cannot take on a Fleet Walker role. So is there another option for Macon?

We are given an interesting third character leading up to the final book, entitled "Race," and that is Red Donner. Donner is white, but he ends up dying in place of Walker, as he distracts the mob by smearing greasepaint on his face and letting them chase after him. Donner provides an interesting sort of third party approach to Macon's dilemma of how to address the issue of race.

Therefore, when we get to the climax of the novel, we can wonder, who are Macon's "ancestors"? Does he end up acting as a true descendant of Cap Anson, or could he have been a martyr for the cause like Red Donner? Honestly, the last part of the book doesn't really help us much with this question. The ending of Macon's story lines up in many ways with both Anson and Donner. First of all, Macon simply walks away from the riots in New York and flees to the south, which is eerily similar to how Cap Anson walks off the field when Walker hits a home run: they both flee from the cause. However, Macon is fleeing because he feels that he has caused more harm to black people than good, while Anson walks away because he is angry that a black person has accomplished something big (a home run). Both retreat to a situation where white supremacy can take control: Macon flees to the south, while Anson has segregated baseball.

However, the situation becomes even more complicated when it comes to Macon’s death, as it lines up pretty closely with Red Donner’s. When Donner was killed, “The mob caught him first of all and didn’t check too hard to make sure he was the man they wanted, or maybe they didn’t care…” (p. 275). Similarly, Burleigh threatens Macon and Leo with violence, because he wants to give them "equal treatment under the law," so Macon in a way is suffering in the way Donner suffered: he is seen as a race traitor. As Burleigh says, Macon "ain't been white for a long time," (334) reaffirming his race traitor status, and which could hint at Donner taking on the appearance of a black man. In Macon's final moments, Burleigh says he will be a martyr for the cause, which may be true due to the evidence I mentioned before. However, Macon says "no" at the last second, and then he "joined his ancestors," perpetuating the ambiguity of Macon's situation through the end of the book. 

Jack's "Return to Normal"

Though much of Jack's story aligns nicely with Joseph Campbell's model for the hero's journey, his unique situation does not lend itself to a clear "return to normal" or "master of two worlds" resolution at the end. For most of Jack's time in Outside, he thinks that the solution to his problems would be to go back and live in Room again, but also be allowed to go Outside every once in a while. Since this is clearly not plausible (for any number of reasons) and not at all a solution to any of Ma's problems, Donoghue finds other ways to try to resolve Jack's situation and give him a more realistic return to normal.

Jack was plunged twice into the unknown to set off his hero's journey: first when he leaves Room to enter Outside, and second, when Ma was in the hospital and he had to face Outside without her. Therefore, when Ma returns, Jack has some return to normal, because he is used to being with her 24/7, and now he gets to be with her again, and just the two of them get to live together in the Independent Living. One could even say that he is the master of two worlds in that he is capable of functioning with and without Ma (though he is still very reluctant to leave her). Despite being reunited with Ma and "master of two worlds" in that respect, Jack still really needs some closure with Room, because it is still his world in a sense, and he cannot really become master of it until he moves on from it.

Therefore, Jack really becomes "master of two worlds" in the last few pages of the book. When he finally gets to go back in Room, Jack is shocked at how unfamiliar it is to him:
"We step in Door and it's all wrong. Smaller than Room and emptier and it smells weird. (...) Nothing says anything to me. 'I don't think this is it,' I whisper to Ma." (319)
In the process of comparing everything in Outside to Room, Jack's view of Room had been glorified in his mind, and when he got back, he realized that it might not have been the amazing place he remembered it to be. In addition, by seeing Room in the context of Outside, Jack can also view Room from Ma's perspective. Jack also becomes a master of two worlds in this sense as well, in that he has mastered both his and Ma's perspectives towards Room, which was pretty much the one main conflict between the two of them when assimilating into Outside.

By seeing Room from Ma's point of view, Jack is able to really leave it in his past, further ensuring that he is the "master of two worlds," despite not being able to return to his normal life in Room. In the second to last line, Jack says, "It's like a crater, a hole where something happened," (321), showing that he doesn't expect anything else to happen there in the future. In addition, by willingly saying good-bye to everything in Room, we can see that he is now okay with leaving it behind, because he gets to do it on his own terms. Though Jack does not get to return to his ordinary world like some of the more traditional heroes, he still becomes "master of two worlds" in his own way: by being able to live with or without Ma, by understanding both his and Ma's points of view towards Room, and by willingly leaving Room behind.