In Amiri Baraka's Dutch, the binary between blacks and whites is integrated into the characters of the metro. Lula, who embodies his image with control and deception through his white skin, represents an important driving force. Clay, who faces manipulation from the oppressive white presence of Lula and the others on the train, must step up and become an opposing force. Throughout these characters' transformation from individuals to powers, they express a combination of double consciousness and self-awareness to reveal their true identities. The majority of the play focuses on the aspect of double consciousness using actions such as staring, stereotyping and seducing. For example, Lula and Clay's first interaction involves looking at each other through the subway window. While the word "look" suggests innocent, even friendly behavior, Lula gives Clay her own interpretation, saying, "But only after I turned around and saw you looking through that window, nearby of my legs and my buttocks. » (Baraka 7; emphasis mine). Lula's use of the word look adds a dimension of judgment to the action, transforming what was a harmless gesture into a more intense and seductive feat. Another perspective on this scene comes from Nita Kumar's essay, "The Logic of Punishment: Amiri Baraka's The Dutchman," in which he interprets Lula's first dialogue as "[he] begins to hint, in a manner very intrusive, at the hiatus between "being" and "looking" and later, "'Looking', both in its active sense of 'seeing' and 'perceiving' and in its passive sense of 'appearing', constitutes a central concern of this play” (Kumar 5). Using his interpretation, another binary between the real individual and the perceived mask appears, while...... middle of paper ......a cyclical pattern was established with the presence of the type reinforced by the second young black. man. Lula, who loses his stature and must regain not only his composure but his entire sense of identity, prepares to replay the stereotypes. His identity is false, ever-changing, and never responsible, while Clay loses his life accepting his identity. By exploiting Clay through double consciousness and using the others on the train as props, self-awareness must take over to form remnants of identities that have long been forgotten by Lula. Through the preservation of culture and the realization of individuality, Clay retains his identity until death. Works Cited Baraka, Amiri. Dutch. New York: Harper Perennial, 1964. Kumar, Nita N. “The Logic of Punishment: Amiri Baraka’s Dutch.” African-American magazine (2003): 9.