Truant by Claude McKay
"Truant" by Claude McKay follows the journey of Barclay Truant Oram, a man grappling with his identity and societal expectations. Immigrating from the West Indies to the United States in pursuit of education and a better life, Barclay initially idealized the cultured existence he believed awaited him. However, at thirty-six, he finds himself entrenched in a life that feels confining and disconnected from his agrarian roots. As a railroad car waiter, he has dedicated himself to his work, sacrificing vacation time and personal desires to support his family. Yet, growing discontent with his unfulfilling role leads him to rebel against the expectations placed upon him.
In a moment of defiance, Barclay chooses to abandon his position, embracing a sense of freedom akin to that of a truant. This decision, however, brings conflict with his wife, Rhoda, who is more concerned with their social standing than understanding his emotional turmoil. As he contemplates his future, Barclay ultimately decides to forsake his familial duties and the constraints of Western society, seeking a new identity aligned with different values. Through this narrative, McKay explores themes of identity, cultural conflict, and the quest for personal freedom amidst societal pressures.
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Truant by Claude McKay
First published: 1932
Type of plot: Psychological
Time of work: The 1920's
Locale: New York City
Principal Characters:
Barclay Oram , a West Indian émigré working as a railroad car waiterRhoda Oram , his wife, a former school teacher with social aspirationsBetsy , their four-year-old daughter
The Story
Barclay Oram is viewed by others, and views himself, as just a servant boy who is subject to moodiness. Much like an adolescent truant, Barclay is seeking to define himself in relationship to the dominant social values and to come to terms with his conflicting allegiances. When he immigrated to the United States from the West Indies in search of an education and a better life, it never occurred to him that he could have attained wisdom informally, without sacrificing the "green intimate life that clustered round his village." He was seduced by an image of the cultured life, paying little attention to how his pursuit might transform his world or what compromises he would have to make in order to achieve the trappings of success that he coveted. Thus he finds himself, at the age of thirty-six, imprisoned in a steel-tempered city, cut off from his agrarian roots, playing the role of "dutiful black boy among proud and sure white men."
Throughout his life he gladly has accepted menial jobs as a way to finance his dream. When confronted with his lack of educational preparedness, he spent a year in self-study to make sure that he could pass an entrance exam. Once at the university, however, his studies gave way to his social life. He married the pregnant Rhoda not only because he was enamored of her charm, but also because he did not want her forced to accept menial employment in order to care for their child.
Barclay has been serving as a railroad car waiter on the Eastern loop for three years. He has exhibited all the traits of the loyal employee, foregoing vacations in order to collect the tips necessary to provide for his family and never missing a day of work. Despite his devotion, he has been transferred from a run on which all the employees worked as a cohesive unit to a run on which animosity and mistrust are the watchwords.
In consequence, Barclay has grown weary and bitter. Resenting the fact that he seems "fated to the lifelong tasks of the unimaginative," he decides to abandon his regular ways and play the truant. Rather than rejoining the crew after a stopover in Washington, he malingers, thus missing the train and earning himself a ten-day layoff for his negligence.
Like a suspended truant who revels in his newfound freedom, Barclay is elated and envisions spending his time in carefree pursuits such as parties and movies. Although the thought of lost income troubles him, his concern is only momentary. His wife, Rhoda, however, is less than pleased. Rather than sympathizing with the emotions that have led him to this state, she frets about the impact of his actions on herself, their child, and their social position.
Her concern with social standing leads Barclay into an extended reverie that results in his decision to desert his wife and child. He becomes the consummate truant. He renounces his connectedness to the Western world and swears his allegiance to "other gods of strange barbaric glory"—gods who value the substance rather than the symbols of the life that is lived. At the end of the story, he leaves the apartment bound for a destiny that has yet to define itself.