In “The Comet”, W.E.B. DuBois utilizes genre conventions of science fiction to comment on racial and class inequality in the U.S. Like many sci-fi stories, the conflict unravels once the city has become a post-apocalyptic world and everyone is dead, except for the main character, Jim. Prior to the death that the comet has caused, Jim’s experience as a black man is narrated through his thoughts of bitterness as he feels the subpar treatment he receives from his white colleagues. In fact, the only reason he survived was because he was ordered to do the undesirable and dangerous job of searching an underground vault. With the same luck, the white woman he later meets avoided death by coincidentally being in her darkroom developing photos. While these two characters come from painfully contrasting walks of life, they are both survivors of the comet that could have easily killed them both. Mortality does not discriminate between race or varying degrees of wealth. Their humanity is shared through this daunting experience. As they search the city together, the labels that they carry with them everyday begin to fall. Jim is no longer a black man, he is just a man, who is somewhat timid but still has protective instincts. Ironically, in the absence of humanity, he has become humanized. The weight of Julia’s wealth dwindled in importance as soon as she found herself needing Jim for assistance. Her money gave her the power to never be in need of anything in life, but all of a sudden the only thing she needed was a friend.
Along with the genre conventions of science fiction, DuBois’ narrative decisions contribute to the impact of the story as well. For example, Jim’s name is hardly mentioned throughout the story and Julia’s name is only mentioned once, at the very end. DuBois’ decision to omit their names places a larger focus on the essential facets of their characters: their race, their class, and their position in society as a result. Additionally, DuBois’ style of omniscient narration when conveying Jim and Julia’s thoughts illuminate the way racism has infiltrated their existence so implicitly. Rather than providing dialogue, reading the thoughts of the characters feels more reflective of the slight, subliminal ways white supremacy truly permeates the world. For example, when Jim first looks at Julia he thinks, “Yesterday, he thought with bitterness, she scarcely would have looked at him twice” (56). And as Julia finds her trust for Jim in limbo she thinks, “One moment she was terrified, then she thanked him silently for his delicacy and turned resolutely, with a quick intaking of breath” (58). At this moment, Julia is finding it difficult to erase the thoughts that infiltrate her white, female mind when faced with a black man. But if DuBois were to verbalize these thoughts, they would not be as powerful or hit the reader in the same way. Racism and class inequality are not just ideas that some of us learn about, they inhabit our thoughts and our bodily reflexes. Thus, I think DuBois does a great job in conveying this message through his very specific rhetorical choices throughout “The Comet”.
