My original character description of Cloyd was professional and masculine, but at the same time rude, selfish, racist, and controlling over Sonny. I think the only characteristic that has changed here is that no longer a professional, hard working man that is a good step-father to Sonny. At first he pretended to like him and be nice to him only to impress his mom, but now that she is not home as much he drinks more and takes his anger out on Sonny mainly because he is a racist. After reading this part of the book, I noticed that the one thing that obviously has not changed is that Cloyd is a racist. When Silvia asked him why it would be such a bad thing for a black man to live at the Los Flores apartment complex he said, ‘“Damn it, Silvia. You know there’d be hell to pay! You know it! What are you saying? You see one up there?’” (180). Cloyd obviously has a problem with black people living at his apartment complex. By his tone of voice he demonstrates that he is a coward and is scared of black people. I think one of the reasons that Cloyd is a racist and does not want any blacks living at his apartment complex because he has a bad history filled with hurtful, unforgettable memories with them. I would not be surprised that he built up hate for them when he was a child. He could have been bullied by them as a kid and got so fed up with them that he would hate them forever. I believe that this side of Cloyd hating blacks is coming out more and is becoming more clear.
In the beginning Cloyd definitly put up a facade of care and respect for his new stepson, but as the story progressed we can see that that's obviously not the case. It's interesting that you think maybe Cloyd had a bad history with black people, I didn't even consider why he's was so racist, I just acknowledged it. I'm not done reading the book but maybe there will be something further on that.
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