The Jacket

The first half of the book introduces the main characters and conflicts (both internal and external). Chapter 1 contains the inciting incident—Phil accuses Daniel of stealing the jacket—as well as the first part of the main external conflict—the argument between Daniel and Phil. This argument persists throughout the novel. Despite Phil’s action initially starting it, both boys are responsible for keeping it going, showing how some conflicts are fueled by all involved. Chapter 1 also sees Phil beginning to grapple with how he views himself and others, the book’s main internal conflict. Learning the truth of how Daniel got the jacket forces Phil to question the beliefs he’s held about how he views others, particularly Black people. These questions set the stage for the exploration of the novel’s major themes: The Danger of Making Assumptions, The Harmful Effects of Racism, and Blackness as “Other.”

In Chapter 2, Phil considers how race plays a part in the dynamics between him and Daniel. Phil wonders if he would have accused Daniel of stealing the jacket if Daniel were white, showing The Harmful Effects of Racism. Though Phil has never disliked anyone based on the color of their skin, he has subconsciously learned to believe that Black people can’t be trusted. This training is the result of institutionalized racism, a type of discrimination where different races are treated differently based on political, economic, and legal systems that are built into a society. Though a Black person is no more or less trustworthy than a member of any other race, the institutionalized racism of the society in which Phil and Daniel live is built around a system where Black people have been disproportionately accused of crimes that they did not commit, which makes it appear to Phil that Black people are more likely to commit crimes. Thus, when he sees Daniel wearing his jacket, Phil’s internalized understanding of race in society makes him jump to the conclusion that Daniel stole the jacket. In this way, The Harmful Effects of Racism informs The Danger of Making Assumptions.

In Chapter 1, Daniel rips off the jacket, angry at the idea that Phil’s mom gave it to his grandmother out of kindness, which he interprets as pity. Later in Chapter 2, Phil questions if being kind is wrong, later realizing that kindness itself is not bad—rather, the emotions behind it are the problem. The relationship between Phil’s mom and Daniel’s grandmother has a power dynamic built into it—Phil’s mom is an employer and Daniel’s grandmother is an employee. While Phil’s mom later claims that Daniel’s grandmother is her friend, their friendship is informed by the power dynamic between them. Even if the jacket wasn’t given out of pity, it can seem that way because Daniel’s grandmother is in a subservient position to Phil’s mom. Later, Phil learns that Daniel’s family lives just as comfortably, perhaps more so, than his own, which shows the Danger of Making Assumptions and how experiences change how we view a situation. Before Phil sees Daniel’s house, he believes the jacket was a gift to people who are struggling. Once he sees where Daniel lives, Phil understands that the jacket isn’t a symbol of pity—just an article of clothing that was given away because it was still perfectly good to wear.

In Chapter 2, Phil starts to think differently, and in Chapter 3, those thoughts translate to him seeing the world around him in a new light. His realization that his neighborhood is all white people makes him realize how much race separates people. He begins to understand The Harmful Effects of Racism because of the social structures in society that causes people to live near others who look like them, whether white or Black. Phil hearing his own thoughts in Chapter 3 illustrates the importance of examining our biases. He notices that the Black kids ride the bus to school, but he and his friends don’t. Because his school is in his neighborhood, Phil learns to think of Blackness as “Other,” an attitude he also projects on the Black women he sees on his walk home. His initial thought that “[t]hey just don’t looks like they belong here” (35) shows how deeply engrained societal messages affect our thinking. Only after the incident with Daniel does Phil understand how his thoughts don’t match the image he’s had of who he is. Phil thinks he’s always treated everyone the same, but his own biases show how he thinks about and treats people differently based on how they look and how they fit into the world he knows.

The conversation Phil has with his mother toward the end of Chapter 3 exemplifies how people rationalize thoughts so they don’t have to deal with them. Phil’s mom dismisses Phil’s concerns about being prejudiced because they force her to see her own biases, and those biases make her uncomfortable. She claims she didn’t give the jacket to Daniel’s grandmother out of pity and that she and Daniel’s grandmother are friends. Phil points out that it isn’t the same kind of relationship his mom has with her white friends; she and Lucy do not socialize. Phil’s observation offers important context to the meaning of race in society. While it is important to be aware of how society divides people by race, not all interactions must work toward narrowing that gap. There is nothing wrong with Phil’s mom spending time with other white women, nor with Phil having white friends or Daniel having Black friends. As with problematic and nonproblematic kindness, relationships depend on the emotions that inform them, such as Phil and Daniel deciding to be friends because they like each other, not because they feel obligated to cross a racial divide.