Racial Alienation in Hamid's The Last White Man: A Fanonian Study

Abstract

Racism is a widespread issue around the globe that creates traumatic stress among people of color. Every black person must confront with a typical racist behavior in daily life. Race is a sort of alienation since it is the process by which the subject's objectification mediates the unity of the universe and the Self. It leads to dehumanization of the indigenous people of color in western societies. Black and indigenous people of color in the U.S. are particularly vulnerable because they are subject to a system of white supremacy. This study investigates how racial experiences affect people of color, how they fall victim to racial prejudice, and how racism leads to trauma and alienation. I have tried to examine how race has been explored in this fictional work and the effects it has for one's identity. This study concentrates on his perceptions of racial prejudice in a different locality. Frantz Fanon perspective of alienation is used to elaborate and explore the issue. Fanon conceives race as a form of alienation. In Black Skin, White Mask (1967), Fanon paints an image of a society in which one must adhere to the criteria of whiteness to be considered as human. He postulates that a black person is a phobogenic object, sparking anxiety in the eyes of white subjects.