Analysis Of Colson Whitehead's 'The Colossus Of New York'

“The Colossus of New York” by Colson Whitehead serves to capture the

essence of New York and all its nuances in the form of terse observations. Whether

he’s writing about walking down Broadway, visiting Central Park, or waiting for

the subway, we get a sense of the way the Whitehead sees the world. He describes

all the details of the city that often fly over the heads of most and recreates

specific experiences around New York that its inhabitants would consider to be

nothing out of the ordinary. These observations function to place us in the heart

of the city as we read, but Whitehead’s ultimate goal is to depict the effect that a

city like New York has on our fantasy. His preoccupation with the way that we

internally formulate individualistic accounts of our experiences, juxtaposed with the

impersonality of a grand city reveals his beliefs that our imagination is not inclusive.

It is a means of satisfaction and mental freedom, but it simultaneously isolates us

from society. He tells us that New York is not only a city of 8 million stories, but

rather 8 million stories that we will never hear.

Some are born in New York, some move there for work or school and most

are there to visit. Everyone is capable of becoming a New Yorker, however, as

Whitehead suggests in “City Limits”. “You are a New Yorker the first time you say,

That used to be Munsey’s, or That used to be the Tic Toc Lounge”, he writes (3). It

is a city that permits everybody; it’s just a matter of time. We are free to take note

of “the dizzying hustle of Eighth Avenue” or the Empire State Building (4). We can

decide our own “favorite newsstands, restaurants, movie theaters subway stations

and barbershops” because it is a city of ...

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...Whitehead’s New York doesn’t contain more than anyone else’s, but it

means something entirely different. In his New York, there are a lot of people, few

of which he knows, but he enjoys it being that way. He doesn’t seek the relational

connection that most people have, and that is because he is relishing the power of

his own imagination. Everything he knows of the city he has learned on his own.

He writes in “Times Square”, “The loneliness is the worst, because this knowledge

is something that cannot be shared”, going on to say “why should anyone else have

it easy. Spoken like a true New Yorker” (154). He is a true New Yorker because he

is unafraid to let his mind of the leash. Some do not even have the audacity to visit

New York, those are the ones Whitehead sees as out of touch with their fantasy. He

has created his own New York and lives in it.