At the end of our class discussion on Monday, Beth asked us what we want to figure out as we read the rest of the novel, I Am Not Sidney Poitier, by Percival Everett. She told us to just start writing. So I began and I wrote one thing after the other. There are many different aspects of this novel that stick out to me. For one, who is Not Sidney’s father? Could is really be Sidney Poitier himself? Oh the humor in that. And what about Ted Turner? As of right now, he isn’t really doing anything to be a “father figure” to Not Sidney. And why on earth does Not Sidney continue to say that his name is Not Sidney knowing that the people he’s talking to aren’t going to believe him?
Like I said, I was writing one thing down after another. The point that I made to the class as we shared was that I wanted to know what Percival Everett wants the reader to take from this novel. I want to figure out the possible themes that are brought about throughout I Am Not Sidney Poitier. One possible theme that stands out to me is identity. Who does Sidney Poitier identify himself as? After Not Sidney moved to Atlanta to live with Ted Turner because his mother had passed away, he decided to leave and go back to California. Shortly after he left his new home, he got arrested because “Apparently it’s illegal to be black in Peckerwood County” (Everett 55). The racism down South is something that African Americans have to simply deal with during this time period. Not Sidney has to accept that this is the way that he is going to be treated.
In addition to this, Not Sidney looks a whole lot like Sidney Poitier himself according to his peers. When he was young, he got beat up for telling others that his name was “Not Sidney”. And now that he’s older, instead of getting made fun of, he gets told that he looks just like Sidney Poitier. He even got asked by Gladys Feet if Sidney was his father. Not Sidney says that Sidney Poitier is not his father, but he does not know for sure if he could be. Over the years, Not Sidney learned that this was how it was going to be. His own name caused many conflicts for himself.
Luckily for Not Sidney, he got a different reaction when he met one of his professors, Percival Everett. Instead of confusion and the urge to make fun of the name, Professor Everett said “I like it” (Everett 87) in response to Not Sidney saying that Not Sidney was his name. Not Sidney, out of habit, had to explain that his name really was Not Sidney and it seemed to me that Percival Everett didn’t even care. I mean, why should he? Everett overlooks his name and instead of making irrelevant comments like everyone else, he just brings him out to lunch.
To summarize all of this nonsense about identity, Not Sidney Poitier has a hard time finding himself because maybe he was made to be like Sidney Poitier. He cannot be his own person because too many people are comparing him to someone else because of the way he looks and because of his name. Your identity is made to separate you from everyone else. I am not constantly being compared to some famous actor and I don’t have a name that people make fun of. I am my own person. I play sports and I love to read and drink coffee. It’s what makes me, me. Your identity is what makes you, you.