A Study Of Paul Beatty's The Sellout From The Perspective Of Functional Conflict Theory

Paul Beatty is the first American who won the Man Booker Prize as a black writer for his latest novel The Sellout.With the ironic tone and ingenious plots,Beatty,in The Sellout,discloses the so-called racial equality that has been propagated in the “post-racial era” and unveils the conflicts over material,culture and identity between different ethnics in the multicultural America.This thesis focuses on those different types of conflicts in The Sellout based on Coser's functional conflict theory,and explores the regulation of the safety-valve institutions and the functions of the conflicts.Besides this introduction and a conclusion,the thesis consists of three chapters.The first chapter gives a general introduction to social conflict theory,and Lewis Coser's functional conflict theory in particular.Chapter Two explores the in-group realistic conflicts and nonrealistic conflicts between individuals.Due to reputation and the power over the Wheaton Academy,conflicts between the main characters,Bonbon and Foy are analyzed.The realistic conflicts between Bonbon and Foy reveal the different opinions among black people on how to achieve racial equality.The nonrealistic conflicts between Bonbon and Hominy over behavior and ideology expose the confusion of the reality of African Americans in the “post-racial era”.And it is the safety-valve institutions,such as the reimagined books and the segregated bus that serve to release their hostility,eliminating the intensity of their conflicts.Chapter Three exposes the out-group conflicts concerning the white group,the black group and other ethnics.Due to geographical space and mental space,black people and white people conflict with each other understandably.Owing to the complexity of the living condition,nonrealistic conflicts happen between the blacks and other ethnic minorities.Their conflicts over a weird neighborhood “Dickens”,personal identity and collective identity uncover respectively the marginalization of vulnerable groups and the confusion of American minorities in their identity construction under the multicultural environment.And the Supreme Court and the electoral system serve as safety-valve institutions that regulate the intensity of the conflicts between these groups,making the conflicts fulfil positive functions.The multiple social conflicts involved in The Sellout expose specifically the contradictions between individuals and between ethnics.And proper safety-valve institutions turn out to be able to regulate the intensity of the conflicts,lighten the conflicts and hopefully maintain the stability of the society.