The Color of a Lie

“The image had illustrations of happy Black families. The prices in Levittown were ten thousand dollars, while the prices for the designated homes for Black families were at least fourteen thousand. No VA loan guaranteed.”

This quotation informs the themes of Racial and Social Inequality in Midcentury America and Expectations and Reality of the American Dream in the Post-War Period. Communities like Levittown were set up so that veterans and their families could get houses and achieve upward mobility, but Black families had to pay much more than white families. Here, the author juxtaposes “illustrations of happy families”—which depict a false image of happiness and inclusivity—with the oppressive reality of Black families having to pay more for houses than their white counterparts.

“Back in my old school, our books were used copies discarded by white schools. Pages would be ripped out, notes scribbled in the margins, things already underlined. I locked my hands over my new prized possession, then picked up a book I haven’t heard of before: George Orwell’s 1984. I flipped to the back and smirked. This was the kind of book my brother would push me to read. Fill my head with how it’s about the future if we don’t watch out. I found it ironic that the English teacher didn’t recognize that the Big Brother society this very book was talking about probably started in places like Levittown.”

This quote characterizes Lily and informs the theme of racial and social inequality in midcentury America. Lily is bold and brave. She is the first openly Black student to integrate Heritage, and she is not afraid to point out how “separate” educational facilities are not “equal,” evidenced by Black schools having fewer resources and lower-quality materials. Additionally, this quote includes a literary allusion to George Orwell’s 1984, a dystopian novel where individual freedoms are subjected to the conformity of “Big Brother” society; this reference mirrors the oppression that Black individuals, including Calvin and Lily, face in Levittown.

“‘Any guesses who I am?’ Darren nudged me as a crowd began to grow.

I felt my face go hot, ready to disappear. Upon my reaction, Ben gave me a conflicted smile that shriveled up. I noted that he might be a clown, but he was fiercely loyal.

‘Come on. Guess.’ Darren scratched at his armpits and stuck out his lip.”

This quotation characterizes Darren, one of the novel’s antagonists, and Ben, a morally gray character. Darren is openly racist against Black people. He invokes the racist association between Black people and monkeys—scratching his armpits and sticking out his lip to make it appear bigger—which draws on the incorrect and prejudiced belief that Black people are subhuman. The author describes Calvin feeling unwelcome through vivid sensory imagery as his face warms, which depicts the physical sensation of discomfort. Additionally, the phrase “ready to disappear” further conveys Calvin’s wish to escape the encounter. Ben is a follower and often joins Darren to conform. Calvin notices his unwavering allegiance here as his “conflicted smile” shrivels due to his loyalty to Darren.

“‘Not sure why they can’t see you Black, though,’ Eugene said. ‘It’s about as obvious to me as Harry.’

‘They too stuck in a black-and-white world. Unable to see the range of blackness.’”

Eugene points out the artifice of the idea of “passing.” To the white people in Levittown, Calvin’s light skin color automatically makes him white when they see him in contexts in which they don’t expect a Black person to be, like working at Vernon Realty or attending Heritage. Black communities themselves have a more nuanced view of what Blackness entails. Calvin depicts the “black-and-white world” in contrasting terms; Black communities can see the range of “blackness,” while white communities cannot, forcing individuals into an either-or box.

“There I was, hiding behind passing skin, fearful each day that I’d be discovered at Heritage, and Lily was out in the open, eating her sandwich, holding her head high, and ignoring the students who gawked at her with cold, soulless eyes.”

Calvin’s romantic feelings toward Lily are based on admiration. This quotation shows how the psychological toll of passing causes guilt and fear within Calvin. The author juxtaposes his fearfulness and hiding with Lily, who is “out in the open” and “holding her head high.” It heightens his respect for Lily, who faces the prejudice at Heritage boldly, evidenced by white students perceiving her eyes as “cold, soulless,” and less than as a result.

“‘We hired Barbara to handle them so we could focus all our time on Levittown inquiries.’

Sharon pointed toward the back corner, where a Black woman in her thirties sat.

I forced a smile. When I’d helped with the Green Book, my work had been about expanding safe places for Black families. Now I was ensuring the opposite.”

Sharon is a white employee at Vernon Realty. Her emphasis on “them” stresses how she thinks of Black clients as an outside group, a “them,” and white clients as an inside group, an “us.” This quotation also foreshadows Vernon Realty’s exclusionary housing practices.

“The issue was open to the pictures of the open casket of a fourteen-year-old boy murdered for talking to a white woman. The magazine called him by his formal name, Emmett Till. But I’d known him as Bobo. I was in a daze, like my soul had been pulled from my body and I was watching from above, unable to respond.”

This quotation includes a historical reference to the real-life murder of the teen boy Emmett Till. His mother, Mamie Till, made his open casket public so that people could see the effect of his lynching to raise awareness of racial and social inequality. The simile “like my soul had been pulled from my body and I was watching from above” underscores the detached, out-of-body experience that Calvin has upon seeing the images of Till.

“‘You know there’s a reason why Mr. Vernon trusts me. Why we live in our house.’ I pushed another lie, hoping everyone was scared of Mr. Vernon. By the widening of Darren’s eyes, I could tell it had worked.

‘You gonna keep this between us?’ Darren stepped closer to me, attempting to act tough, but something flickered across his face. Fear.”

This is one of several times when Calvin defends Lily from Darren. Here, Calvin draws on information he doesn’t fully know about—the harassing of the Sampson family and the murder of Mrs. Sampson—to intimidate Darren. He is successful, evidenced by Darren’s widening eyes and fear across his face. In addition to getting him to leave Lily alone, it also confirms for Calvin that Mr. Vernon has committed actions to be feared.

“‘You act like you hate being Black. Hate who we are. Like something’s wrong with us.’

‘Something’s wrong with the world, and I don’t know how to fix it, damn it.’ Dad slammed his hand down. Then he lowered his voice. ‘I love where we came from. But I love us more. Don’t turn this around like I made the rules—I’m just trying to survive.’”

Due to the psychological impact of passing, Calvin confronts his father about how he feels like he is being asked to reject his Blackness. Calvin puts the onus of responsibility onto his father, but his father puts it on the social systems that disenfranchise Black people. The sentences “I love where we came from. But I love us more” demonstrate the compromised position that Calvin’s father is put in “to survive.” Though Calvin and his father agree about the problems that animate the country, they don’t agree on how to respond to them.

“Sometimes the CORE group in Virginia opens up meetings for people to join outside the area. They might have ideas about how to help us with integration here. If you take us, we could make it safely.”

This quotation establishes a major plot point in the novel: Calvin, Eugene, and Harry’s trip to Virginia. In Virginia, a Southern state with segregation laws, Black travelers need to take precautions. Eugene references the motif of the Green Book, a guide to safe traveling for Black drivers. He also wants Calvin to use his passing privilege to help them move safely through the area, something Calvin eventually does multiple times.

“‘You see, my husband won’t let me keep this job if I don’t have dinner ready by six. Can you stay? Get these documents to Mr. Vernon?’

‘Of course,’ I said.

Sharon’s ask was emblematic of Levittown. Around Vernon Realty, these messages were in all the materials highlighting the kind of life you were promised. Illustrations of women dressed in heels, parading around the kitchen and doing laundry, ready to greet their husbands home from work. Erased were the women who’d worked during the war. For Sharon, working was something she wanted to do but needed permission for.”

Calvin notices the strict social rules that people in Levittown must follow, even in white families. A white woman like Sharon can have a job only if she also fulfills all the traditional expectations of domestic work assigned to women, emphasized by the phrase “parading around the kitchen and doing laundry, ready to greet their husbands home from work.” This quote thus informs the theme of expectations and reality of the American dream in the post-war period, which affects people of all races, including white women.

“‘You don’t follow the Levittown prototype.’ I pointed to the fact that she wore pants instead of dresses.

‘That’s different. Women have been waiting a long time for this—half this town is women. We’ll push our rights here, make changes. Let them see that women are just as good as men. One day people will also be ready for integration.’

‘Lily’s a woman. Half the town going to support her equal rights?’ I knew the answer. I just wanted her to say it. For her to realize what she was saying.”

Calvin is talking to Miss Brower, someone he thinks is an ally to the cause of integration. Miss Brower thinks that she is being reasonable, but Calvin realizes that she is being hypocritical. He tries to get her to see her hypocrisy, particularly how she supports women’s rights—evidenced by her wearing pants instead of dresses, a social transgression in midcentury America—but isn’t willing to support Lily’s because she is Black.

“The deception was so blatantly obvious that it didn’t matter what legal policies were accepted at the federal level, because the developers, real estate agents, and bankers were plotting at the local level. Housing discrimination. Education discrimination. Levittown was a white utopia disguised as an American Dream.”

Calvin begins to unravel one of the novel’s central mysteries, which is about how Vernon Realty is manipulating the housing market to perpetuate segregation in housing and education. This quotation also informs the theme of expectations and reality of the American dream in the post-war period, where “utopia” is only achievable by some at the expense of others. Calvin contrasts the deception, which is “blatantly obvious,” with policies that are accepted federally because of deliberate, anti-Black, local-level plots.

“The song had already been copied by white artists like Bill Haley and His Comets and Elvis Presley. This divide in music was too clear a reminder of race. Our churches were segregated. Our music, even when eerily sung in the same way, was segregated.”

Calvin thinks about how widespread racial and social inequality is. It affects not only housing and education but also popular culture, like music. Here, he alludes to artists like Bill Haley and His Comets and Elvis Presley. Both were renowned for copying the musical and dance styles of Black artists, receiving greater mainstream success due to their race.

“As I got closer to Sojourner, the music bounced off the trees. The distinct jump in rhythm called me. I’d felt undone at Heritage, fighting off expectations of being with Mary. I was so far from myself. But as I drew closer to Sojourner, I could feel myself pulling back into place.”

In this quote, the author uses personification with the phrase “the music bounced off the trees” to describe how affirming physical proximity to Sojourner makes Calvin feel. For Calvin, identity is linked to place. At Heritage, he feels the psychological toll of passing. At Sojourner, he feels like he is allowed to be himself. This quotation also introduces the symbol of music, which is related to identity.

“I wanted to look away, but I knew that if I spoke confidently, I’d stand a chance. And right then, I needed every ounce of confidence I could muster. Any second they could call my bluff. Mr. Marshall had risked his life so many times to fight for justice. I had to be brave. Had to make meaning of all this privilege I’d been parading around with.”

This quotation characterizes Calvin’s growing confidence, evidenced by his acknowledgment that he needs to use “every ounce” he can manage. He decides to use his passing to benefit other people more vulnerable to racial violence than him. Calvin convinces three white men to leave the building where they intend to harm the civil rights activist and NAACP lawyer Thurgood Marshall, whose sense of justice he channels to complete the dangerous task.

“My body ached from the run, and my mind reeled in worry at what would happen if Eugene and Harry were found, distinctly hearing my father’s words that towns that made an effort to put up a sign were often Klan towns. Police would enforce a sundown law. It also meant that anyone Black caught after sunset…anything could happen to them. Being arrested was the least concerning.”

Calvin is worried about what can happen to Black travelers after sunset in “sundown towns,” towns where Black people are not allowed after sunset. Calvin’s use of the word “anything” conveys the severity of their situation. There was not one designated punishment for violating these laws, but punishment could be carried out judicially and extrajudicially to varying degrees. Describing being arrested as “the least concerning” aspect, Calvin describes the pervasive threat of violence to follow if caught after sunset.

“Even my injuries were easy to explain—I floated a lie about flag football and Ben playing too hard. The way my father looked at me, I could tell he’d be willing to believe anything I said. Because believing it meant that I was still safe. That the choice he’d made to move us was the right one. Bruises and all.

I let him believe that lie too.”

As Calvin works through the psychological toll of passing, he finds it easier to lie to the people around him. Here, he lies to his parents about how he got injured. In reality, a policeman beat him in the face, which is a serious act of racist violence that his parents would be concerned about. Calvin thinks his parents are willfully believing his lying to keep up their hopes that they can stay safe in their new life. This willful belief shows the toll that passing also takes on his parents.

“‘I’m not going to tell anyone,’ Ben said.

A small, desperate smile of relief hit me, until I noticed Ben’s lips curled.

‘What do you think they’d do to us if they knew we were friends? Stay away from us, you hear? We’re no longer friends.’ Ben shoved me back.

‘Ben,’ Alex said. ‘Let’s take a moment to figure this out.’

‘Does your family need this, Alex?’ Ben said. ‘’Cause my family sure don’t. Do you realize what could happen to us if they thought we knew all this time?’”

This quotation characterizes Ben and Alex. In a moment of rising action and tension, Calvin tells Ben and Alex that he is Black and, realizing his mistake, asks them to swear they won’t tell. Ben is not concerned about Calvin’s safety but his image. One of Ben’s outstanding character traits is his desire to assimilate with Levittown’s forced aesthetic of the American dream.

“My mother had a glazed look in her eye, like she was seeing a ghost. Then she shook it off when she realized we were real.

I felt hairs prickle on the back of my neck. When I turned around, Mary stood outside, mouth gaping open. I placed my finger to my lips, begging her for silence. Mary didn’t speak; her cold eyes said enough.”

Calvin’s mother feels the psychological impact of passing along with him. She went from an extreme tragedy, the death of her daughter, to the rejection of their old life. When she sees Lily’s mother fleeing racial violence, it’s like she is seeing into her past, evidenced by the simile “like she was seeing a ghost.” This quotation also shows how people in Levittown—Mary, in this case—are always watching and policing their neighbors’ behavior.

“I couldn’t believe it was true. That an Underground Railroad tunnel lay below this area. I realized that must’ve been what Lily had meant when she’d shared that she wasn’t scared of the Capewoods. Maybe the sounds people heard in the woods were only wind running through the tunnels. The woods had been a place to hide when slave catchers were searching up North on this land. And anyone who was hurt then—they were ancestors. They wouldn’t harm us.”

This quotation discusses the motif of the Capewoods. This geographical area has a history of sheltering Black people facing racial and social inequality. The Capewoods exist as a mysterious and vaguely threatening presence throughout the novel. However, here, Calvin realizes that the ghosts haunting the Capewoods will be benevolent to him, who is experiencing the legacies of the violence they faced.

“‘I’ve thought about it. You’re just like me. Just as white as me. That drop-of-blood rule is dumb. You’re white, Calvin. You can be white.’

I nodded. Tears welled in my eyes, and I blinked them away, faking my agreement so he’d leave.”

This quotation adds complexity to ideas about “passing.” Initially, Ben was furious about Calvin hiding his Blackness. Here, Ben decides that Calvin is not Black, based just on the color of his skin. Ben has a limited understanding of how race works that is purely dependent on pigment. Calvin’s racial identity is much deeper and more complex than his skin color. This exchange upsets him, but he blinks away his tears to project “agreement.”

“Darren saw him with my bike…his bike. He wanted to get it back. I just thought he’d play around. But then he chased Harry here through the woods and into the church. Harry ran into the closet; Darren said he disappeared. I thought he was joking, until I looked and he was gone. I thought it was all the haunting people talked about. But then I heard he was still missing. That’s when Darren finally told me there was a tunnel and that he’d locked Harry in. I wanted to go back to free him.”

Ben’s words during the climax of the novel answer one of the novel’s main mysteries: What happened to Harry? This story makes it clear that Darren and Ben stole Harry’s bike before the action of the novel. They take the same actions during the novel, but this time, Darren escalates his behavior by leaving Harry to die in the church’s hidden basement. This quotation also marks a turn in Ben’s character, where he stops trying to assimilate and stands up for what is right.