John Howard Griffin's memoir Black Like Me attempts to examine one man's exclusively physical transformation from white to black. Griffin tries to gain a deeper understanding of racial issues in the 1950s by altering his skin color and "nothing else." His original white identity enjoys a strong sense of self, demonstrated by consistent personal pronouns, and a clear separation of races, demonstrated by simplification of articles. The moment Griffin looks in the mirror and sees a black man, he not only changes physically, but his very identity experiences shocking confusion. His pronoun usage often becomes depersonalized in the third person as his identity becomes equally depersonalized as he loses his comfortable white identity. However, he eventually becomes at peace with his new black identity and his pronouns begin to become personal once again, as they refer to both his white and black self. While Griffin sets out to change solely his outward experience, he inevitably changes his identity, revealed by an increasing fluency in his use of pronouns, and ultimately invalidating his argument as he changes far more than his physical appearance. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Griffin's original and unchanged self, intentionally employs vagueness and separation from both the black race and his own race through clear use of pronouns, embodies his original and unchanged white identity. Griffin does not further specify the “idea” that inspired the entire project (1). By simplifying and condensing the racial issue, it turns the racial issue into something that can be easily referenced. This is because he is ignorant and detached from the “real issue” due to his all-white identity (2). However, Griffin clearly and succinctly identifies “the Negro question”; an issue that clearly sets its boundaries as exclusively “Negro,” and therefore separate from the white Griffon. The use of articles before these large, abstract ideas demonstrates Griffin's misconceptions. By imagining “one” single problem facing the black community, he remains unaware of the countless social injustices that every black person faces. Continuing this trend of discernment, clarity, and ignorance, Griffin asserts his role as “a white [man] assuming a nonwhite identity” (3). The concise and singular article of the “a” condenses Griffin's surprising transformation into something palatable and depersonalized from his identity. The article allows him to discuss himself without making any reference to himself. He manages to completely disconnect this future self as a black man from his current, white self. A constant and almost exclusive pronominal use of “I” reveals Griffin's strong sense of his white self and identity (5). He successfully establishes himself as separate from both the white and black races. By depersonalizing his discussion of racial issues and his future experiment, Griffin successfully asserts his identity as a white man. After Griffin takes on his black appearance, his strong sense of white self begins to fade with the ambiguous use of pronouns as his black physical appearance begins to diminish. affect his identity. Immediately after assuming his black appearance, Griffin calls himself “a nigger” (10). By removing any personal connection to her reflection, she consciously separates her sense of self from her physical appearance in the mirror. He remains unable to connect with his reflection and refers to himself with the third person “he” (10). This.