Genesis Begins Again

Genesis’s list of things that she hates about herself is a recurring symbol in the novel that represents Genesis’s journey from self-loathing to self-acceptance. Most items on the list touch on one or more aspects of her racial identity that she hates, such as “she let them call her Charcoal, Eggplant, and Blackie” (7) and “She can’t stand being this black” (361).

At the end of the novel, Genesis finally rips up the list with a newfound goal to “begin again” (363). She says, “Everybody’s in pain…and for me, it was trapped between the lines of this paper. I don’t even know why I kept it. It’s nothing but a reminder that I was one of the bad ones. And I added to it. Me” (361). Genesis realizes that all of her efforts to make herself more “beautiful” were not just to win her dad or her peers’ approval, but to win her own. Her decision to tear up the list with a promise to begin anew symbolizes the beginning of her journey to self-acceptance.

Hair is a recurring symbol throughout the novel that reflects the cultural standards of beauty that Genesis longs to achieve. Genesis has internalized that to be light skinned with “good” hair, like her mother’s, is the pinnacle of beauty.