James Weldon Johnson's The Autobiography Of An Ex-Colored Man

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This report is on the book “The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man” by James Weldon Johnson. It is the story of a young biracial man who is refereed as the “Ex-Colored Man.” The biography starts off with the narrator explaining that he is going to tell the greatest secret of his life that he has kept and guarded more carefully than any of his earthly possessions. He begins telling that he was born in a small town in Georgia (whose name he won’t tell) after the civil war. He remembers little information of where he was born but he does remember a small house. He also mentions that a few people came and went into the house but the two he specifically remembered were his mother and a tall man with a dark mustache (his father). His father only came to the house two or three times a week. Although his visits are infrequent he remembers that his father gave him a small coin with a hole through it that he still wears around his neck till this …show more content…
When in New York, the narrator is not happy with making cigars and he starts to gamble and becomes a master at ragtime. A white millionaire hears him play and offers him a job performing at his dinner parties. The narrator gets into some trouble one night when he begins to flirt with a white widow. Her African American partner becomes incredibly jealous and he shoots the woman. Thinking that it is his fault, the narrator runs away with the millionaire to Europe. In Europe they first go to Paris then London. Then they visit Amsterdam and Berlin. Once they are there the narrator comes to the conclusion that he wants to go back to America to compose again. The millionaire doesn’t agree with the narrator’s decision. The millionaire believes that the narrator should continue living his life as a white man and continue improving every part of his life. Although he believes that the millionaire is right in some points, he still goes back to
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