Allusions - 3

After the narrator begins work in the Liberty Paints plant, he it introduced to the process they use to make the "purist" white paint available. The process, which requires adding a few drops of a black chemical to a murky brown vat of paint, surprises the narrator with an incredible transformation to pure white. Additionally, the factory produces only white paint, referencing to the inescapable theme that whites control society. The paint's impressive color and unique ability to cover up stains alludes to the belief that black's presence in American society is a burden; an undesired consequence of previous generational choices. This event in the novel helped to reiterate the narrators supposed place in society by emphasizing the influence of the white man.