servants, Sam and Willie. Sam and Harold have an
equal footing—a long relationship that goes back
to Harold’s childhood, in which Sam often stood
in for Harold’s own father. The two are so familiar
with one another that Sam calls Harold by the
nickname “Hally.” However, the relationship sours
over the course of the play, until Harold insults Sam
and tells him to only address him as Master Harold
from then on. The heretofore amicable relationship
crumbles in the face of authority, represented by
the return of Harold’s father, and the racial schism
created through apartheid is reestablished—even
though the characters had earlier proven it to be a
false schism.
Literary considerations of race continue to chal-
lenge, inform, and surprise, even as the Internet age
continues to decrease the separation among people
of all racial backgrounds. Race, whether as a source
of pride, strength, pain, or sadness, will remain a
dynamic element in literature. The debates over race
as social construct versus race as biological feature
may never be settled, but literary explorations can
help readers understand their own place in the
debate as well as others’ positions. Indeed, literature
will undoubtedly provide entirely new perspectives
as time goes on—perspectives that may change
everything we understand about race today.
See also Angelou, Maya: i know why the
caGed bird sinGs; Chestnutt, Charles W.:
“Goophered Grapevine, The”; Coetzee, J. M.:
waitinG For the barbarians; Conrad, Joseph:
heart oF darkness; Douglass, Frederick: nar-
rative oF the LiFe oF Frederick douGLass, an
aMerican sLave; DuBois: W. E. B.: souLs oF
bLack FoLk, the; Ellison, Ralph: invisibLe Man;
Faulkner, William: LiGht in auGust; Gaines,
Ernest J.: Lesson beFore dyinG, a; Gordimer,
Nadine: burGer’s dauGhter; Hansberry, Lor-
raine: raisin in the sun, a; Hughes, Langston:
poems; Jacobs, Harriet: incidents in the LiFe
oF a sLave GirL, written by herseLF; Jeffer-
son, Thomas: notes on the state oF virGinia;
Kingston, Maxine Hong: tripMaster Monkey:
his Fake book; Lee, Harper: to kiLL a Mock-
inGbird; Melville, Herman: Moby-dick; Mor-
rison, Toni: bLuest eye, the; sonG oF soLoMon;
suLa; tar baby; Marshall, Paule: brown GirL,
brownstones; Paton, Alan: cry, the beLoved
country; Shakespeare, William: Merchant oF
venice, the; otheLLo; teMpest, the; Toomer,
Jean: cane; Wright, Richard: bLack boy.
FURTHER READING
Carby, Hazel. Race Men. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard
University Press, 1998.
Hooks, Bell. Killing Rage: Ending Racism. New York:
H. Holt and Co., 1995.
Kipling, Rudyard. “The White Man’s Burden.”
McClure’s Magazine 12 (February 1899).
Solomos, John, and Les Black, eds. Theories of Race and
Racism. New York: Routledge, 2000.
Sharyn Emeryregret
“I have no regrets.” Surely we have all heard this
announcement made at one time or another, how-
ever implausible it might be. We may have even
made it ourselves. Living a life with no regrets,
however, seems impossible. Since regret is a feeling
generated by looking back on our mistakes, omis-
sions, lost opportunities, and bad behavior, and since
one may feel regret over something as trivial as the
purchase of a sweater, the person with no regrets is
either flawless in every regard or has no conscience.
Regret is a complicated emotion capable of lead-
ing to various consequences, both good and bad.
Sometimes it can make us grow by helping us learn
from our mistakes. For instance, in John Knowles’s
a separate peace, Gene’s lifelong regret at having
hurt his friend plagues him, keeping him from liv-
ing his life freely. When the truth finally comes to
the surface, Gene takes responsibility. Thus, when
Finny tragically dies in surgery, Gene is at peace,
knowing he did the right thing by being honest.
On the other hand, regret can lead us to paralysis,
when we are consumed by it, but can do nothing to
rectify the past. In William Shakespeare’s kinG
Lear, Lear regrets his ill-treatment of Cordelia, his
only truly loyal child. However, he cannot reverse
the events his bad decisions set in motion, and mad-
ness destroys him in the end.
While there is some disagreement over the
nature of “true regret,” most psychologists and
philosophers agree that, first and foremost, it is86 regret