Gabriella Sanchez

English 475

Robert Nazar

21 April2016

“WeWeren’t Raised with No Black and WhiteThing”: A RivetingEvaluation ofTwilight: Los

Angeles, 1992

Imagineyour city,your hometown burningdown to pieces.Imaginebeing brutallybeaten forhavingadifferent skin color.Imagineyour ordinarydailylife

completelydestroyed.InAnnaDeavereSmith’s astonishing novel Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992, Smith interviews people of differentraces, backgrounds, and experiences upclose and

personal who were affected bytheLos Angelesriots that took placein theyear 1992 following the beatingof RodneyKing. RodneyKing,an unarmed African Americanman, was viciously beaten byfour policeofficers who werethen sent to trial and wereacquitted. Their acquittal fired the shots and shook thecitizens of LosAngeles.This novel will giveyou an insideperspective

on social issues likepolicebrutality,racism, andeconomicinequality. ChaffeyCollegestudents willburythemselves in the extraordinarynovelTwilight: Los Angeles, 1992byAnnaDeavere Smith becauseof its reflectivesymbolism,its elaborate description, and its diverseperspectives.

Thefirst reason ChaffeyCollegestudents will mesmerizein this novel is becauseof its powerful symbolism. Throughout manyof theinterviews, theintervieweesusesymbols to reflect theirfeelings andactionsvividly. Some ofthesymbolsthat areincluded areGodzilla, ahammer, and agumball machineman. Oneof themosteffective chapters that shows symbolismis “Screw ThroughYourChest”, byHarland W. Braun, the counsel forthe defendantTheodore Briseno,

who was oneof the copsaccused in theRodneyKingbeating.Braun explains how a cop abused his white son who was accompanied with his black friend stating,“…shutup orI’mgonnaput a screw throughyour chest”(Smith 240). This example shows verbal policebrutality. Telling someoneyou aregoingto put a screw through someone else’schest is averyaggressive, torturous, and time-consumingaction. At the time, the cop was fearless becauseheknew that therewerenotgoingto be anyconsequences and so he “screwed”with theseteenaged kids.He used the metaphorinstead of usingsomethingsogenericto portrayhow hewas feeling, which madehisdiscussion forceful. ChaffeyCollegestudents will be alarmedat how aggressive policemen were and howunfair theytreated peopleof color back in thedays.It will set up a strikingimageinyour mind and engrossyou withdeeper meaning. Overall,Smith’s interviewees express their feelings through symbolic images andhelpthe reader with imagery.

Another reason whythis novel will be stimulatingto ChaffeyCollegestudents is because of its vivid description of words and actions used bythe interviewees. AnnaDeavereSmith decided to leave allthe interviewee’s wordsexactlythe same. So all thestuttering, the pauses,

and their actions areincluded, which makes the dialoguevery potent and detailed. Thereis a quotein the chapter “SwallowingtheBitterness” byMrs.Young-SoonHan, a formerKorean liquorstoreowner, that says, “Wearenot

qualified to get, uh, foodstamp (She hits the table once), not GR (Hits the table once),no welfare (Hits thetableonce). Anything”(245). Asyou can see, Hanwas reallyfrustrated andyou can inferencethat through her movement and stuttering. Shewas slammingherhand down on the table and used short sentences toshow her anger.SinceSmithincluded Han’s actions it enhances the writingand itmakesyou imagine it in averythoroughway.It reallypaints apictureinyour

head and throughout thenovelyou willseemore of these appealing expressions. Chaffey Collegestudents will notonlyread the novel, butwilldive init, fullyimagine it, and envision the complete portrait. Therich descriptionwillputyou at thescene.

Thestrongest reason ChaffeyCollegestudents will furtherbeengaged in thenovel is becauseof thevarietyofracial perspectives Smith included. ThroughoutTwilight: Los Angeles,

1992, Smith did notjustinterviewagroupof one raceof people, but sheinterviewedKoreans, whites, and blacks.In thechapter“Don’t Shoot”byRichard Kim,aformerKoreanappliance storeownersays, “Unfortunatelywecan’tget anykind of answerfrom anybody… itwas like goingto war”(87). At thetime, people werevandalizing

Kim’s storeand hewas defendinghimself, his people,

and his storewith guns.Therewas ashooting goingon

and itwas likeKim said, goingto war. Not onlyareyougoingtoget thewhiteor black pointof view, butyouare also goingto obtain theKoreanside. To hear how an actual Koreanwas feelingis profound becausetheywereoften blocked out bythegovernmentand weretreated unfairly. You will engagein thefact that racismback then was not onlyfocused on the whites and blacks, but italso occurred on minoritygroups.

Another varietyof viewpoints that Smith included werevictims with personal experiences likepoliticalleaders, business owners, and victims of policebrutality. An intense perspectivethat she includes isfrom an African American ex-gangmembernamed TwilightBey. Beygrew up in adeprived areaof South CentralLos Angeles andyou willseehow even he,an

ex-gangmember, wasaffected bythe violence.Inthe chapter“Limbo/Twilight #2”, byTwilight himself, he expresses, “I can’t forever dwellin darkness,Ican’t forever dwellin theidea, or just identifyingwith peoplelikeme and understanding me and mine”(255). Heis explaininghow it

is hard to forget all theracism, stereotyping, policebrutality,and violence.It is hard to leaveit

allbehind and tryto be anormal human being. Hehas to forgetthe pastandleavethe“darkness” behind him. ChaffeyCollegestudents will seehowserious the conditions wereinLos Angeles in theyear 1992.You will also seehow evengangmembers and people’s words whoyou less expect haveasay, havemeaning and value too. Prepareyourselves to expect theunexpected.

“As far asI’mconcerned, nobodyis better than me,I’m not betterthananybodyelse. People arepeople”(97).AnnaDeavereSmith’s compellingnovelTwilight: Los Angeles, 1992

deservesa4 out of 5 ratingbecauseof itsvibrantsymbolism, realistic details, and intriguingperspectives. As ChaffeyCollegestudents,you need to understand thatyou areallhuman beingsand that a color is just a color. Just becausethis guyis of adifferent skin color does not make

himanydiscrete. Youare allhumans,youare allthe same, andyou allwant thesame thingin life--equality.

Work Cited

Smith, AnnaDeavere.Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992. New York: AnchorBooks, 1994. Print.