Devil In A Blue Dress

Throughout the novel, Mosley probes questions related to the formation and perception of human identity, especially Black American identities. His investigation extends beyond typical markers of identity such as race and gender to include personality and decision-making processes as well.

Some characters embody and accept a view of identity as something that is inherited and accepted rather than selected or deliberately sculpted. Mouse, for instance, advises Easy to “accept what he is” (209), implying that Easy has forgotten or willfully ignored certain aspects of his identity, presumably referring to his birth into a poor Black family. Mouse, by contrast, lives in the moment: He translates his received identity, including physical impulses, into action with little or no forethought or reflection. Albright subscribes to a similar philosophy: Not only does he remind Easy of Mouse, he revealingly asks Easy whether Frank Green hesitated “for even a second” before killing a man (61). To Mouse, Albright, and perhaps Frank, identity is something to be experienced, not questioned, shaped, or resisted.

Daphne presents an alternate view of identity as a social construct, subject to manipulation and even willful distortion. Born as Ruby Hanks, Daphne attempts to put her troubled childhood behind her by becoming the white Daphne Monet. In creating a new identity for herself, Daphne substitutes imagination for the unthinking immediacy of Mouse and Albright’s approach, even putting on an accent and fabricating a story about visiting the zoo. More than a tactical decision, her choice to reinvent herself carries elements of wish fulfillment. The problem arises when, after deceiving others, Daphne finds that she has deceived herself.

Easy falls somewhere in the middle of these two approaches. On the one hand, Mouse accuses him of “thinkin’ like white men be thinkin’” (209), suggesting that he is out of touch with his own identity. Daphne, on the other hand, calls off her relationship with Easy after he learns the truth about her identity, telling him, “You know what’s wrong. You know who I am; what I am” (207), implying that he is too literal in his interpretation of her identity. For his own part, Easy seems to recognize identity formation as an ongoing, give-and-take process between an individual and the environment. Instead of rushing into decisions, he deliberates with the voice in his head and second-guesses himself. Instead of seeking to escape through the assumption of a fantasy identity, he slowly but consistently moves toward the real identities he desires, including homeowner and detective.

Much of Devil in a Blue Dress comprises Easy’s attempt, as narrator, to explain how he became who he is: “It was those two days more than any other time that made me a detective” (131), he recalls of his search for Frank. Mosley portrays Easy’s efforts at self-determination as complicated by the injustices of racial and class prejudice, and interrogates the intersection of individual and collective identity markers. Easy struggles to reconcile who he believes himself to be with the expectations and assumptions of those around him, especially in light of the racist and classist attitudes of the powerful white men Carter and Teran. Teran’s malevolence and Carter’s obliviousness represent threats not only to Easy’s individual identity, but the widespread harm of both latent and overt white supremacy. However, Easy is not deterred by either man in his quest for self-determination, ultimately locating his sense of self in his own motivations and actions rather than in how he is perceived by others. Given that Easy seems to relish and excel in his work as a detective, the implication is that, for all the difficulty and complexity of Easy’s approach to identity formation relative to Daphne and Mouse’s approaches, the result is worth the effort.