The Blacker the Berry: A Novel of Negro Life

In The Blacker the Berry, Blackness and darkness symbolize perceived “inferiority.” This is not a value judgment about Blackness on the part of the author but rather an indicator of the pervasiveness of racism and colorism within both Black and white communities. Emma Lou spends much of the novel reflecting on race and skin color. The bulk of what she believes to be true about Blackness comes from her family, and early in the first section of the novel, she notes “It was the custom always of those with whom she came into the most frequent contact to ridicule or revile any black person or object. A black cat was a harbinger of bad luck, black crape was the insignia of mourning” (5). In Emma Lou’s world, “black,” in all of its forms, represents “evil,” and white signifies good. Thus, everything “black” is to be reviled, people and objects alike.

Thurman did not invent this phenomenon within this specific novel. Rather, it is an associative practice with deep roots in both American culture and the American literary tradition. Early American literature abounds with symbolic associations between Blackness and evil, dirt and sin, and darkness with death. Adjectives such as “earthy,” which recalls Blackness in its evocation of black dirt, are a signifier for uninhibited sexuality and are often used pejoratively.