comment on theme

Bump employs Claude’s quest to find a place where he belongs to underline the difficulty of achieving belonging for people of color in America. Grandma and Paul seem to have accepted the idea that there is no place in the world where they belong, with Grandma at one point proclaiming that “the entire universe is ruined” and that “no one wants us anywhere” (125). When Claude announces his plan to move to Missouri for college, she shuts down the idea that he might find belonging there, stating that “the world is no place for a self-hating black boy” (125). Paul reinforces to Claude that he does not even belong with his own parents, and tells Claude that “they don’t want to see you” (13). Claude is apparently not alone in his struggle to find belonging; Paul tells Claude that his father is “wandering, lost” (130). Janice deals with similar challenges, not knowing whether to move to Ohio with her boyfriend for college or to stay on the South Shore and become a waitress. The constant movement of characters in and out of the novel, especially at the beginning, reinforces the problem of belonging for everyone in Claude’s world; characters enter and leave in search of greater comfort and belonging, never seeming to find it on the South Shore.