Clay is a seemingly straitlaced, educated young African-American man. However, Clay’s monologue reveals the racial-based rage hiding beneath his suit and well-educated exterior. He describes himself as a “great would-be poet” to hide his rage, saying, “Just let me bleed you, you loud whore, and one poem vanished” (35). Despite his violent rant, Clay does not actually want to be violent, saying, “I’d rather be a fool. Insane. Safe with my words, and no deaths, and clean, hard thoughts, urging me to new conquests” (35).

Clay, an overall passive character, represents assimilation into white American society. The literal definition of “clay” has multiple meanings, as it can refer to a person’s fundamental nature, or most commonly, as a substance that can be molded into a desired form. Lula, symbolic of white American society, attempts to mold Clay to fit her desires. In Lula’s eyes, Clay represents a subset of the African-American population who is more upwardly mobile and intelligent in a way that Lula and those she represents would refer to as “trying to be white,” rather than stay bound by the stereotypes of their race and racial inequality.