An interrogation-styled conversation is orchestrated in the office of Easy Rawlins. Driven by his fierce determination to end the rash killings birthed by Harold, he callously probed Miss Ostenberg with little to no consideration for her immediate feelings. This was hardly a subtle scene of subjective violence. No physical assault took place but Ostenberg was administered a sense of terror and subjugated with guilt. Its objective was to seek information on the whereabouts of Harold and Ostenberg proved to be stealthier, resilient and more cunning than I had imagined her to be.
“when was the last time you saw him?” asked Easy. “your not doing this over some old tools” Ostenberg stated (Mosley 270). Threatening to call her home and discuss this matter with her husband quickly subdued her resistance and neutralized (or perhaps paralyzed) her own defensiveness. “Its not right for you to do this.” She said (270). The following declaration by Easy reveals to us and Ostenberg alike that he knows that she is a black woman. “I’m not going to argue with you, lady. Either you give up Harold or you give up your white life” (270). A black woman with a skin complexion light enough to pass for a white woman. Her request was plagued with insecurity but genuine intrigue about his insight. “Do I look like a black woman to you? she pleaded.” You look like Bozo’s grandmother” (270) he said referring to her blatantly caked make up. An outright insult with the intent to induce shame and disregard her attempt at guise. He was almost unrecognizable even to himself, this is evident in his statement “ I could hardly believe how brutal I was toward the fragile, elderly woman” (270) Despite his awareness of her frail state he justified his demeanor for a dominant moral code which she indirectly had violated. “...Harold had given rise to all kinds of sorrow and the woman before me had given birth to him. She was responsible and I wouldn’t let up” (270). He goes on to explain his point of view and reason for his aggressive approach. Harold was the cause for the trauma experienced by his victims and the grievances felt by their loved ones. Ostenbergs ill raising and negligence of Harold had produced his psychotic state of mind, ultimately binding her to his dealings.
Rawlins noticed a subtle gesture in Ostenberg as he denounced Harold as a murderer and it is undeniable to his expertise what he witnessed take hold of her. An involuntary twitch. “For me it was her eyes. They opened wide at the accusation I leveled, wide and brown and down-home. She had the colored curse in her veins” (270). The phrase he used...”down-home” relates to the countryside. An accustomed way of life. In other words, he could see a gesture which he implies is familiar to him, because he is black, hence his ability to identify it in her, despite her pasty shade. His use of language is swift and quite colloquial yet subtle details do not escape his words, as they do not escape him.
“when was the last time you saw him?” asked Easy. “your not doing this over some old tools” Ostenberg stated (Mosley 270). Threatening to call her home and discuss this matter with her husband quickly subdued her resistance and neutralized (or perhaps paralyzed) her own defensiveness. “Its not right for you to do this.” She said (270). The following declaration by Easy reveals to us and Ostenberg alike that he knows that she is a black woman. “I’m not going to argue with you, lady. Either you give up Harold or you give up your white life” (270). A black woman with a skin complexion light enough to pass for a white woman. Her request was plagued with insecurity but genuine intrigue about his insight. “Do I look like a black woman to you? she pleaded.” You look like Bozo’s grandmother” (270) he said referring to her blatantly caked make up. An outright insult with the intent to induce shame and disregard her attempt at guise. He was almost unrecognizable even to himself, this is evident in his statement “ I could hardly believe how brutal I was toward the fragile, elderly woman” (270) Despite his awareness of her frail state he justified his demeanor for a dominant moral code which she indirectly had violated. “...Harold had given rise to all kinds of sorrow and the woman before me had given birth to him. She was responsible and I wouldn’t let up” (270). He goes on to explain his point of view and reason for his aggressive approach. Harold was the cause for the trauma experienced by his victims and the grievances felt by their loved ones. Ostenbergs ill raising and negligence of Harold had produced his psychotic state of mind, ultimately binding her to his dealings.
Rawlins noticed a subtle gesture in Ostenberg as he denounced Harold as a murderer and it is undeniable to his expertise what he witnessed take hold of her. An involuntary twitch. “For me it was her eyes. They opened wide at the accusation I leveled, wide and brown and down-home. She had the colored curse in her veins” (270). The phrase he used...”down-home” relates to the countryside. An accustomed way of life. In other words, he could see a gesture which he implies is familiar to him, because he is black, hence his ability to identify it in her, despite her pasty shade. His use of language is swift and quite colloquial yet subtle details do not escape his words, as they do not escape him.
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