This novel opened my eyes to things I could never imagine. Some of the encounters that Griffin had, I honestly believed only happened on The Jerry Springer Show. I, being too young to have experienced segregation, have never known anyone to cat in such hypocritical ways. This book truly enlightened me on my own personal ignorance of my own ignorant country.
             When Griffin first began his "transformation" into a Negro, I was astonished at how the doctor reacted. I am sure that the doctors intentions were good natured though the way he kept warning Griffin made it sound as though "becoming" a Negro was the worst thing a man could possibly do to himself. By sending this subtle message, he showed me that even a doctor who speaks and acts as though he is definitely not raciest in any way, shape, or form somewhere deep down in his soul he still believes that the Negroes are a lower class.
             As Griffin begins his journey as a Negro he comes across his first encounter of pure racism (on both sides of the spectrum). Griffin merely tries to be polite and offer a white woman a seat next to him on the bus. The other Negro's on the bus showed disapproval. This is the first of many instances where the Negro's show their racism toward the whites. Before the woman had a chance to respond the automatically thought that this simple act of kindness was "going against the race". On the other hand, the woman did turn out to be exactly what the Negro's expected. Her reaction was crude and uncalled for. Both the Negro's and the white woman showed their mutual dislike for one another. Unfortunately, this ridiculous and ignorant behavior happens constantly throughout this book. One of the more distressing displays of ignorance mentioned in this book is on the part of the Negro.
             It is a sad thing to read that the very Negro's who constantly complain about how they are treated by the wh...