Progress vs. Regress Theme in The Sellout

The Sellout challenges the idea that the story of the contemporary United States is one of racial progress in any straightforward sense. Many things that are supposedly confined to the past—including slavery, segregation, and blackface—appear in the novel, suggesting that these parts of history are not really over, but instead linger in different forms in the present. Examples of progress and regress (that is, going backwards) become completely mixed up, indicating that progress is never a direct linear phenomenon but rather is always accompanied by backlash, regress, and the return of pieces of history that were presumed long gone.

The novel begins and ends with the narrator’s Supreme Court case, Me vs. the United States of America. The narrator places this case in a lineage that includes Dred Scott v. Sanford and Plessy v. Ferguson, two cases in which the Supreme Court ruled in favor of upholding racial discrimination. The story of the Civil Rights movement is often told through the series of Supreme Court cases that dismantled racial discrimination, but Dred Scott and Plessy remind us that not all cases led to progress. The narrator’s own case, in which he—a black man—is charged for owning a black slave, takes this idea of regress to absurd, comic proportions. In the novel, then, the Supreme Court (and the U.S. government as a whole) is not posited as an instrument of justice, but rather an institution that has inhibited the path to progress at least as much as it has enabled it.

The character of Hominy Jenkins is one of the most important ways in which the novel explores the idea of regress. Hominy is an elderly man who tries to hang himself in a scene that bears a strong resemblance to lynching. Instead of being lynched by a mob, however, Hominy attempts to lynch himself, thereby introducing the fact that he is bizarrely determined to resurrect the worst elements of America’s treatment of black people and inflict them on himself. This continues when, after the narrator saves Hominy’s life, Hominy insists on enslaving himself to the narrator, who he begins calling “Massa.” The idea that a black man would voluntarily lynch or enslave himself is obviously absurd, but the novel uses this comic absurdity to challenge understandings of racial progress. The trauma of America’s historical treatment of black people lingers in the present, causing black characters like Hominy to behave in nonsensical, self-sabotaging ways.

Another major example of regress in the novel is the narrator’s effort to re-segregate the city of Dickens. Following Dickens’ removal from the map, the narrator decides that the only way to reinstate the city is to re-segregate it. This again challenges the idea that progress is linear. The narrator’s desire to bring back Dickens is a desire to bring back something that already existed but was taken away—but it’s an open question whether or not this counts as a desire for progress or regress. Hominy hopes that re-segregating the city will encourage white people to move to it. He points out that this is the opposite of “white flight,” what he humorously calls “Ku Klux Influx.” White flight might be considered part of a regress narrative, as it is a sign of increased racial segregation that leads to the economic depression of areas that white people have left. On the other hand, the “Ku Klux Influx” the narrator seeks is arguably just another name for gentrification, a very real phenomenon that also defies easy categorization as either progress or regress. Gentrification means increased economic prosperity, but it also involves the destruction of existing communities (usually those of people of color). As the narrator’s actions show, it is also closely tied to racial re-segregation. The narrator’s explicit efforts to re-segregate Dickens may initially appear absurd, but in fact these efforts reflect the impact of gentrification in real life. This shows that the desire for economic prosperity and white “influx”—which some people would consider indicators of progress—are directly tied to the regression of racial equality.

The narrator’s ambivalence about the inauguration of Barack Obama at the end of the novel encapsulates the text’s relation to the tension between progress and regress. As Foy Cheshire celebrates Obama’s inauguration with a sudden display of patriotism, the narrator looks on in bemusement. The implication of this is that unlike Foy, the narrator is not convinced that Obama’s presidency is proof that America has progressed to a point of racial equity. When Foy tells the narrator that he’ll “never understand” and the narrator agrees, the narrator appears to resign himself to the nonsensical combination of progress and regress that defines life in America. He refuses to join in with Foy’s celebration of the apparent progress of Obama’s election because he knows that pure progress is not possible.

Progress vs. Regress ThemeTracker

The ThemeTracker below shows where, and to what degree, the theme of Progress vs. Regress appears in each chapter of The Sellout. Click or tap on any chapter to read its Summary & Analysis.

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Progress vs. Regress Quotes in The Sellout

Below you will find the important quotes in The Sellout related to the theme of Progress vs. Regress.

But I don’t feel responsible anymore. I understand now that the only time black people don't feel guilty is when we've actually done something wrong, because that relieves us of the cognitive dissonance of being black and innocent, and in a way the prospect of going to jail becomes a relief. In the way that cooning is a relief, voting Republican is a relief, marrying white is a relief—albeit a temporary one.

Related Characters: The Narrator (speaker)

Page Number and Citation: 18

Explanation and Analysis:

There is a black woman in the Supreme Court who has been berating the narrator while making references to black pride and American history. The narrator knows that she wants him to feel guilty, but, strangely, he actually feels relieved from guilt for the first time in his life. The fact that he has been charged with a terrible crime (which has not yet been revealed) and is on trial in the Supreme Court relieves him of the “cognitive dissonance” created by being both black and innocent in the face of a racist society that criminalizes black people. The narrator Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et

He's demanding to know how it is that in this day and age a black man can violate the hallowed principles of the Thirteenth Amendment by owning a slave. How could I willfully ignore the Fourteenth Amendment and argue that sometimes segregation brings people together. Like all people who believe in the system, he wants answers. He wants to believe that Shakespeare wrote all those books, that Lincoln fought the Civil War to free the slaves and the United States fought World War II to rescue the Jews and keep the world safe for democracy, that Jesus and the double feature are coming back. But I'm no Panglossian American. And when I did what I did, I wasn't thinking about inalienable rights, the proud history of our people. I did what worked, and since when did a little slavery and segregation ever hurt anybody, and if so, so fucking be it.

Related Characters: The Narrator (speaker), The Black Justice

Page Number and Citation: 23

Explanation and Analysis:

The justices of the Supreme Court are finally hearing the narrator’s case, Me v. the United States of America. While the narrator’s lawyer Hampton Fiske is speaking, the black Justice begins to shift uncomfortably and eventually demands: “Nigger, are you crazy?”. The narrator explains that the black Justice believes in the system, and in this passage shows how this means believing in progress. The narrator lists a series of historical ideas that are commonly taught and believed, yet are not all true. Many of these ideas—such as Lincoln fighting the civil war to free the slaves and America entering World Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum

In a way most Dickensians were relieved to not be from anywhere. It saved them the embarrassment of having to answer the small-talk "Where are you from?" question with "Dickens," then watching the person apologetically back away from you.

Related Characters: The Narrator (speaker)

Related Symbols: Dickens

Page Number and Citation: 58

Explanation and Analysis:

The narrator’s father has been killed by the police. Five years later, Dickens is removed from the map of California by the authorities of neighboring cities, who hope that erasing Dickens will help keep their own property prices up. The narrator is devastated by Dickens’ erasure, but not all “Dickensians” feel the same way. The stigma associated with living in Dickens is so extreme that many people would rather be from nowhere than from the city. The word “Dickensian” is usually used to describe situations that resemble the novels of Charles Dickens, and especially the urban poverty and abjection that Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam vo

"If you ask me, Mark Twain didn't use the word 'nigger' enough," I mumbled. With my mouth filled with at least four of America's favorite cookies, I don't think anyone understood me. I wanted to say more. Like, why blame Mark Twain because you don't have the patience and courage to explain to your children that the "n-word" exists and that during the course of their sheltered little lives they may one day be called a "nigger" or, even worse, deign to call somebody else a "nigger." No one will ever refer to them as "little black euphemisms," so welcome to the American lexicon—Nigger!

Related Characters: The Narrator (speaker)

Page Number and Citation: 97

Explanation and Analysis:

The narrator is—reluctantly—at a meeting of the Dum Dum Donut Intellectuals. Foy Cheshire has complained about the amount of times Mark Twain uses the n-word in Huckleberry Finn, and boasts that he rewrote the book, replacing the word with “warrior” and the word “slave” with “dark-skinned volunteer.” The narrator does not usually participate in the meetings, but he is annoyed by Foy’s argument, as he believes that it involves denying the reality of the world. Although the history and present reality of racism in America is painful, the narrator believes that simply ignoring this reality will not make it any Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus volup

Those pompous Dum Dum niggers wanted to ban the word, disinvent the watermelon, snorting in the morning, washing your dick in the sink, and the eternal shame of having pubic hair the color and texture of unground pepper. That's the difference between most oppressed peoples of the world and American blacks. They vow never to forget, and we want everything expunged from our record, sealed and filed away for eternity. We want someone like Foy Cheshire to present our case to the world with a set of instructions that the jury will disregard centuries of ridicule and stereotype and pretend the woebegone niggers in front of you are starting from scratch.

Related Characters: The Narrator (speaker), Foy Cheshire

Page Number and Citation: 98

Explanation and Analysis:

At a meeting of the Dum Dum Donut Intellectuals, the narrator silently mocks Foy Cheshire for his decision to rewrite Huckleberry Finn with the n-word and the word “slave” taken out. The narrator becomes more and more irate, claiming that people like Foy and the other Intellectuals want to erase history. This passage lays out why the narrator objects to the practice of ignoring stereotypes. He believes there is something inherently ridiculous about this project, as shown by his claim that the Intellectuals want to “disinvent the watermelon.” On a more serious level, the narrator also compares the beliefs of Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque

"That's gay," countered her Latino nemesis, who was juggling the gonads with one hand.

"Juggling is gay!"

"Calling people who call you 'gay' just because you called them' gay' is gay!"

"Okay, that's enough." Charisma scolded. "My God, is there anything you kids don't think is gay?"

The fat boy thought for a long moment. "You know what's not gay...being gay."

Related Characters: The Narrator (speaker), Charisma Molina (speaker), Sheila Clark (speaker)

Page Number and Citation: 166-167

Explanation and Analysis:

The narrator has given a presentation at Career Day at Chaff Middle School. He demonstrates how to castrate a farm animal, and a little girl called Sheila Clark volunteers to perform the castration. Afterward, the narrator speaks with Charisma Molina, Marpessa’s best friend and the assistant principle of the school. The narrator and Charisma overhear Sheila and another student teasing each other about doing things that are “gay.” This exchange again complicates ideas about progress and the notion that younger generations are more progressive than older people. Initially, it seems as if the children are homophobic, as they repeatedly use Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas.

“Segregate the school.” As soon as I said it, I realized that segregation would be the key to bringing Dickens back. The communal feeling of the bus would spread to the school and then permeate the rest of the city. Apartheid united black South Africa, why couldn't it do the same for Dickens?

Related Characters: The Narrator (speaker)

Related Symbols: Dickens, Marpessa’s Bus

Page Number and Citation: 167

Explanation and Analysis:

Charisma has mentioned that ever since the narrator put up a sign telling passengers on Marpessa’s bus to give up their seats to white people, the bus has become the safest and most peaceful place around. She admits that she wishes Chaff Middle School would become more like the bus. Suddenly, the narrator tells Charisma to segregate the school, and as soon as he does so he realizes that this will also solve the problem of bringing back Dickens. The narrator’s reasoning at first seems ridiculous. Conventionally, segregation is thought of as imposing the opposite of a “communal feeling.” Yet Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perfe

During Black History Month, my father used to watch the nightly television footage of the Freedom buses burning, the dogs snarling and snapping, and say to me, "You can't force integration, boy. The people who want to integrate will integrate." I've never figured out to what extent, if at all, I agree or disagree with him, but it's an observation that's stayed with me. Made me realize that for many people integration is a finite concept. Here, in America, "integration" can be a cover-up. "I'm not racist. My prom date, second cousin, my president is black (or whatever)."

Related Characters: The Narrator (speaker), The Narrator’s Father

Page Number and Citation: 167

Explanation and Analysis:

After the narrator tells Charisma that she should segregate the school, he realizes that segregation is the key to bringing back Dickens. He reflects that the assumption that segregation is inherently bad might be mistaken. He then remembers his father’s critique of integration. While the narrator’s father does not appear to have advocated for segregation, he was skeptical about the extent to which integration actually works to bring about racial equality. As this quotation shows, surface-level racial progress can disguise the persistence of real racism. From this perspective, the narrator’s embrace of segregation and other seemingly regressive projects makes more Dolorem

I'm not so selfish as to believe that my relative happiness, including, but not limited to, twenty-four-hour access to chili burgers, Blu-ray, and Aeron office chairs is worth generations of suffering. I seriously doubt that some slave ship ancestor, in those idle moments between being raped and beaten, was standing knee-deep in their own feces rationalizing that, in the end, the generations of murder, unbearable pain and suffering, mental anguish, and rampant disease will all be worth it because someday my great-great-great-great-grandson will have Wi-Fi, no matter how slow and intermittent the signal is.

Related Characters: The Narrator (speaker)

Page Number and Citation: 219

Explanation and Analysis:

The narrator has learned that his segregation policy is already starting to improve life in Dickens. He is at a meeting of the Dum Dum Donut Intellectuals, where the members are discussing whether on some level slavery was worth it because they would rather be born in the present-day United States than in Africa. This infuriates the narrator, and in this passage he emphasizes how ridiculous the Intellectuals’ reasoning is. The narrator’s anger is palpable in this quotation, which is one of the most serious moments in the novel. While he arguably exaggerates the position of the Intellectuals for comic Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium

"This is me at the Compton Cookout . . . I'm the third 'ghetto chick' from the right." I stole a glance at the snapshot. The women and their dates blackened and Afro-wigged, toting forties and basketballs, smoking blunts. Their mouths filled with gold teeth and chicken drumsticks. It wasn't so much the racist ridicule as the lack of imagination that I found insulting. Where were the zip coons? The hep cats? The mammies? The bucks? The janitors? The dual threat quarterbacks? The weekend weather forecasters? The front desk receptionists that greet you at every single movie studio and talent agency in the city? Mr. Witherspoon will be down in a minute. Can I get you a water? That's the problem with this generation; they don't know their history.

Related Characters: The Narrator (speaker), Topsy / Butterfly Davis (speaker)

Page Number and Citation: 246

Explanation and Analysis:

At the LA Festival of Forbidden Cinema and Unabashedly Racist Animation, Hominy performs to an adoring crowd. Some of the audience members are black sorority girls dressed in blackface. One of them, Butterfly, comes home with the narrator and Hominy, sitting on Hominy’s lap on the drive back. Here the narrator describes the photos she shows him and Hominy of her in various other blackface costumes. He humorously proposes the idea that stereotypes themselves are not inherently offensive, but what is problematic about them is their limited nature, which does not reflect the full range of “types” that exist in Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem acc

That's what I liked about the man, although I didn’t agree with him when he said, "Get out. This is our thing." I respected that he didn’t give a fuck. But I wish I hadn't been so scared, that I had had the nerve to stand in protest. Not to castigate him for what he did or to stick up for the aggrieved white people. After all, they could've stood up for themselves, called in the authorities or their God, and smote everybody in the place, but I wish I'd stood up to the man and asked him a question: "So what exactly is our thing?”

Related Characters: The Narrator (speaker)

Page Number and Citation: 287-289

Explanation and Analysis:

The narrator and Marpessa are at the open-mic night at Dum Dum Donuts. A black comic onstage has chastised a white couple for laughing at his jokes, telling them to leave because this is “our thing.” After this incident, the narrator reflects that he wished he’d asked the comic: “What exactly is our thing?” This is yet another example of the narrator wanting to say something but stopping himself. Indeed, the very question he wanted to ask conveys his fundamental uncertainty and jealousy of those who have more certainty. He has spent the whole novel trying to preserve his own Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occa

“Why are you waving the flag?” I asked him. “Why now? I’ve never seen you wave it before.” He said that he felt like the country, the United States of America, had finally paid off its debts. “And what about the Native Americans? What about the Chinese, the Japanese, the Mexicans, the poor, the forests, the water, the air, the fucking California condor? When do they collect?” I asked him.

He just shook his head at me. Said something to the effect that my father would be ashamed of me and that I'd never understand. And he's right. I never will.

Related Characters: The Narrator (speaker), Foy Cheshire (speaker), The Narrator’s Father

Page Number and Citation: 289

Explanation and Analysis:

In the short, final section of the novel, entitled “Closure,” the narrator jumps back in time, recalling the day when Obama was inaugurated. Foy Cheshire was driving around in his car, waving the American flag. In this passage, the narrator recalls the conversation he had with Foy. This conversation reveals the narrator’s skepticism not only about the extent to which Obama’s election truly was a moment of racial triumph, but also about the idea of celebrating black progress while forgetting about other oppressed groups. Foy’s reply is typically condescending, but the narrator admits that there is some truth in it. Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accu

Progress vs. Regress Theme Analysis

Progress vs. Regress ThemeTracker

Progress vs. Regress Quotes in The Sellout

Prologue Quotes

Chapter 4 Quotes

Chapter 7 Quotes

Chapter 11 Quotes

Chapter 19 Quotes

Chapter 22 Quotes

Chapter 26 Quotes

Closure Quotes