Clean Getaway

“‘You think a police officer will care about you “defending a friend” when they toss you in jail for aggravated assault?’ Dad said on the way home from school to begin Scoob’s three-day suspension. ‘You can’t react violently to someone else’s words. Especially someone like Bryce. When boys like you’—he pointed to the brown back of Scoob’s hand—‘hit boys like him—he opened his own hand and pointed to his pale palm—‘the punishment is harsher and the fallout infinitely worse, William.’”

James is very aware that Scoob’s life is more at risk because he is Black than it would be if he was white, especially since Scoob’s skin is even darker than his. This connects to the theme Racism Towards the Black Community in the United States, since he fears that someone may view Scoob as a dangerous Black man, rather than listening to the full story.

“Though he can totally feel G’ma looking at him, and he knows from the way the hairs on the back of his neck are rising, she’s doing that thing where she tries to see inside his head. If he looks at her now, she’ll see all the other mess—Scoob’s frustration over the fact that Bryce wasn’t punished, his annoyance that all the teachers look at him like he’s a lit stick of dynamite now despite the fact that Bryce is still terrorizing people (though not Drake anymore), his anger over the unfairness of the whole situation—swirling around behind Scoob’s eyes, and she’ll drag it all out of him.”

Scoob knows people might look at him and his grandma oddly since she is white, and he is Black. However, as they drive through states like Mississippi and Alabama, he grows wary as the sneers grow increasingly menacing. It illustrates a lasting racism in the United States and connects to the themes of The Negative Effects of Racial Stereotyping and the Racism Towards the Black Community in the United States.

“And that guy’s not the only one: bouncing his eyes around the room, Scoob realizes a bunch of people are looking at him and G’ma funny. One lady he makes eye contact with openly sneers at him like he’s done something wrong. Like he is something wrong, even.”

Connecting to the theme of The Negative Effects of Racial Stereotyping, this quote illustrates how racism remains present in society and how it has a distinct effect on those affected by it.

“Somethin’ that helped keep a lotta folks like your G’pop—and me, for that matter—alive back in the day.”

This quote describes the Green Book in G’ma’s words. It explicitly references the Racism Towards the Black Community in the United States as explicitly important as they traveled. It wasn’t a question of whether a place was friendly or not; rather, it was a question of life and death.

“She sighs and taps the book against her palm. ‘Hate to tell you this, Scoob-a-doob, but travel around this grand ol’ USA wasn’t always a safe thing for people who look like you. This was a meeeeeean place back when your G’pop and I were young, and that book existed to let Negro travelers know which hotels and such would accept them as customers. There are even some other countries in there. Here.’ She hands Scoob the book. ‘You hold on to it. Might learn ya somethin’.’”

The Green Book is a critical motif in Clean Getaway. It provides a window into the past for Scoob, and it also allows him to compare the racism of the present—in which he and his grandmother still get skeptical looks from passers-by—with that of the past and the experiences his grandparents had as they were making the same journey.

“It’s weird, looking at his grandfather. In almost twelve years, this is the first photo Scoob’s ever seen of the guy. He’d never really even heard G’ma talk about the dude before tonight. Which, now that he thinks about it, probably isn’t normal? He never questioned it before because Dad always said the old man had been a ‘nonentity’ since before Dad was actually born.”

Scoob doesn’t know much about his grandfather, only his dad’s perceptions of Jimmy as a criminal and a “nonentity.” As a result, he’s surprised to hear a different presentation of him from G’ma, who is on her own quest to remedy the mistakes she made regarding her husband so many years ago. This contrast between the G’pop of G’ma’s imagination and the one of James’s is a reminder of The Negative Effects of Racial Stereotyping, as Scoob later learns about how much Jimmy was racially profiled.

“This journey Scoob and G’ma are on now? According to her, ‘It’s my chance at redemption. To finish what your G’pop and I started fifty-one years ago.’ And while she doesn’t go into detail, she does tell Scoob they never made it to Mexico.”

Throughout the novel, Stone foreshadows that there’s more reasons behind G’ma’s spontaneous trip that she lets on. Later in the story, Scoob learns about the guilt she’s been carrying since she let Jimmy take the fall for her own jewelry thefts and that she has cancer. To her, it is a chance to remedy her mistakes of long ago. Scoob eventually begins to realize that something else is going on with his G’ma, especially as she alludes to such a deeper reason, as in this example.

“Really, the only time Dad ever brings G’pop up is to say, ‘No son of mine will become a low-life criminal like my father!’ when he’s going off on Scoob about some ‘infraction’ or another. But G’pop doesn’t look like a terrible guy. And after hearing G’ma talk about her ‘beloved Jimmy Senior,’ Scoob wonders if Dad got it all wrong. Dad himself even said he’d never met G’pop.”

Scoob is still struggling with the distance he feels between him and his father. He knows that James can be very critical and wonders if he applied that same criticism to Jimmy without ever having met him. G’ma, on the other hand, is someone that Scoob adores, and so he must reconcile the two images together. Ultimately, he confirms that Jimmy stole money, but he also realizes that there is much more to the story than he ever knew.

“G’ma said they can’t see them from Atlanta because there’s too much light pollution. Tonight, he learned more than he realized there was to know about a guy he’d always been told didn’t matter. What else could Scoob not know about in the sky of his existence? Is there such a thing as life pollution?”

Scoob’s view of G’pop is completely rooted in what his father has told him about Jimmy, but even James doesn’t know the full story. The journey that Scoob and G’ma embark on has one surface goal—to get to Mexico—but along the way, Scoob comes to understand exactly how much he didn’t know about his family. This moment when he begins to think about “life pollution” is one in which he’s starting to understand that there’s more to know than what he has learned in the past.

“’Whoa.’ Scoob knows all about the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He and Dad have gone to Ebenezer Baptist Church and Dr. King’s birth home every MLK Day since Scoob learned how to walk. On their most recent visit, Scoob even got on a replica of a segregated bus and sat behind the ‘Colored’ line. It was…well, to be frank, Scoob still hasn’t figured out how he feels about the whole thing.”

Throughout this novel, Scoob realizes that history is closer than he thought it was, and the moment when he and G’ma stand outside of the 16th Street Baptist Church is no different. He recalls what he knows about Martin Luther King, Jr., and this has a visceral effect on him. He learns how different his life would have been if he had been born earlier, but he also sees how racial prejudice still exists.

“He sighs and pulls the road map G’ma gave him from his backpack. Opens to the Alabama part and circles Birmingham. Draws a little church over it.”

The map is a recurring motif throughout the book, and it helps to trace Scoob and G’ma’s trip, weaving together their adventures with those G’ma took with G’pop on her initial run. Scoob’s annotations symbolically involve himself in the narrative and illustrate the ways in which he is affected by the history that he learns along the way.

“There was one time—your daddy was about five, I think. He and I were a few towns away from home because I’d gone to interview for a teaching position at a new school and couldn’t find a babysitter. Anyway, we go in this grocery store, and Jimmy was upset because I told him he couldn’t have a candy or something. Typical kid stuff.’ She waves her hand like no big deal. ‘He was pulling on my dress and whining a bit, and this store owner comes over with a wooden paddle and says, “This little n-word bothering you, ma’am? I can take care of ‘im…” Except he said the word.’”

This moment shocks Scoob when he hears that a racial slur was used by a white man toward his father, especially since it’s done in such a threatening way as he says he’ll “take care of” little James. It highlights the danger posed toward Black men in the United States even with his white mother, who defended him.

“And it’s not like he never noticed before. It just feels like a bigger big deal than he knew possible. Scoob, after all, is darker-skinned than his dad.”

Scoob’s mentions of how his father is lighter skinned than he is touches on the idea that some people of color are able to pass for white if they are darker skinned. For Scoob, he is not able to because his skin tone is darker than his father.

“One thing’s for sure: no matter how many nice stories G’ma has about James Robert Lamar Sr., Scoob’s not so sure being like him in any way is a good thing.”

Scoob has contrasting visions of Jimmy that he must put into conversation with one another. One is his grandmother’s praise-filled portrait of the man she fell in love with, and the other is the image of a criminal painted by James. He will come to find that it’s more complicated than he could have ever expected and that much of the reason that Jimmy was incarcerated is because of his race rather than the magnitude of his crimes.

“He knows all about Emmett Till because Dad gave him a lecture after the academic defraudment scandal: said as a black boy, even if Scoob claims he’s not doing anything wrong, the moment someone white says he is, he’s in trouble. He used Emmett Till as an example, and even though it happened so long ago, the story shook Scoob down to his bones. Especially when Dad told him Emmett really hadn’t done anything wrong, and the men who did the true wrongdoing—his killers—got off scot-free.”

The murder of Emmett Till remains a major moment in Civil Rights—and American—history since he was murdered for supposedly coming on to a white woman, even though he hadn’t done anything. White men pursued Till, violently killing him and throwing his body into a river. It provides just one example of the double standard for the treatment of Black men and white men.

“Well, we were nervous about having a baby—certainly hadn’t planned on one—but it was also exciting. Problem was, we didn’t know if we’d be able to find a doctor who would treat a white woman carrying a black man’s child where we were headed. So we turned our RV around.”

Despite the legalization of interracial marriage via Loving v. Virginia (1967), Scoob’s grandparents faced bigotry every day, and on their trip to Mexico, they became fearful that they wouldn’t find anyone who would treat them or their baby fairly. These fears continue to illustrate the racism towards Black people during the time.

“And now there’s more: mentions of trouble and reasons for not returning to Atlanta. Which reminds him of pickpocketing, petty theft, and poor decisions.”

Stone’s novel uses foreshadowing to build tension between G’ma and Scoob, and the various moments in which Scoob begins to suspect that there is something more going on with G’ma than she’s letting on add to that tension. In this example, he’s noticed that there are enough mentions of theft and trouble that he feels unnerved.

“He can’t even look at her anymore. It’s like the woman he’s spent his whole life looking up to has been replaced with a total stranger.”

Scoob looks up to G’ma more than anyone, but as they journey on, he learns so much more about her—and not all good things. This connects to the theme The Negative Effects of Racial Stereotyping because Scoob later learns about a more difficult side to G’ma, one in which she was a serial thief.

“Well, it was my way of gettin’ back at the world. Just the thought of all the things I’d taken–silly trinkets I knew folks valued more than they did other human beings–it made me feel powerful. Felt good to do bad. And no one suspected the pretty blonde girl with the ‘megawatt smile’ of being a professional jewel thief.”

G’ma points out a specific contrast; the police were unlikely to suspect her because of her race rather than any other information that they had. She would ultimately capitalize on this to start a new life with James. It also connects to the theme of The Negative Effects of Racial Stereotyping because she knew that the police would never suspect her.

“I never said anything. Yeah, he was gonna go to jail no matter what—back then, if you were black and accused of a crime, you were guilty whether you’d done it or not, and he really had stolen the money…”

G’ma is wracked with guilt over her role in Jimmy’s arrest. She tries to convince herself that she was protecting James, but she also loses her husband and didn’t give him a choice in the matter. This provides a poignant example of The Negative Effects of Racial Stereotyping and the Racism Towards the Black Community in the United States because she knew that the police were not as likely to question her about the jewelry thefts since she was a white woman.

“Scoob’s never seen Dad like this. Especially not when it comes to him. ‘I know I can be too hard on you, and I’m gonna try to be better about that. I just—when I couldn’t get in touch with you-all…those were the worst seventy-two hours of my life, son.’”

Knowing the risks of being Black in the United States, James is often hard on Scoob, and this ultimately contributes to his son’s desire to act out. As a result, Scoob believes that his father sees him as a criminal, and he feels the constant pressure of his father’s expectations. At the end of the novel, however, he realizes how much he cares for James, and James realizes how difficult he can be as a father. Together, they reconcile and move forward.

“Scoob looks out the window. “Prolly sounds weird, but…I don’t think I’m ready.” It’s the truest thing he’s said in days.”

Scoob struggles to connect with his father prior to his trip with G’ma. However, the longer that he’s unable to contact James, the more he misses him. Part of this stems from the fact that James has kept things from him about his mother, and in inviting Scoob to see her if he wants to, it shows that James values and appreciates what he wants too. Their ability to communicate clearly in this moment shows how their relationship has changed since the start of the novel.

“He lets Scoob navigate the whole trip from his map, and they make the same stops so Dad can see all Scoob and G’ma got up to on their adventuring.”

Scoob begins to miss his father while traveling with G’ma, a fact that surprises him since they aren’t as close. However, this feeling and James’s own reckoning with the way that he treats his son bring them closer together, and Scoob wants to share more with his father than ever before.