"Mr. Z"

"Mr. Z"
M. Carl Holman

In the poem, a black male is trying to envelop a "white" lifestyle. What is ironic about the poem is in the last line, "'One of the most distinguished members of his race.'" Mr. Z put all of this effort into being successful and fitting in with the whites by being proper and educated, but even though he was a "distinguished member of his class," there was no difference in his outcome. He died like everyone does, and he died with no higher distinction than anyone else.

The structured format of the poem is used in order to portray Mr. Z's character. Mr. Z is an intelligent and proper, which matches the proper format of the poem.

Mr. Z is an unnamed character. Why? I think the author chose to leave Mr. Z as an unnamed character, because the a decently sized group of black males attempted what Mr. Z is attempting: to fit in with the whites. It is also possible that Holman did not give a name to Mr. Z in order to not offend anyone in particular. The name of Mr. Z sounds proper; the title of Mister is a proper title, so it is also possible that the name was to fit the character.