The White Boy Shuffle by Paul Beatty

In The White Boy Shuffle by Paul Beatty, the main character, Gunnar Kaufman, constantly changes his dialect, in an attempt to blend in with his surroundings. For instance, while living in the predominately white neighborhood of Santa Monica, Gunnar speaks improper English, with a major emphasis on extending words, in order to be accepted by his friends. Yet, when he moves to the "ghetto" community of Hillside, he uses colloquial speech, in a vain and misplaced attempt to fit the black community's perception of him. Despite gaining the black and white communities acceptance through different styles of verbal communication, each time, Gunnar must give up a part of himself to be liked. As a result, Gunnar's attempts at being either an all-American, white boy from the west coast, or a dangerous, black, gang member from the ghetto eventually fail. The reason being, he can't be one with out the other because he's a combination of the two. …