My post today is commenting from Ashley’s post. I definitely agree that science fiction is a fitting genre for “The Comet.” Like Ashley said, this genre enabled DuBois to present how society has constructed racial issues but through a different reality. If he had set it in a more modern or realistic setting, it would have been frowned upon.
What I really found interesting about the racial differences presented in the short story is how Julia’s perception of Jim changes throughout the story. She realizes that society has distanced white and black people because”of all the sorts of men she had pictured as coming to her rescue she had not dreamed of one like him. Not that he was not human, but he dwelt in a world so far from hers” (259). And she still feels alone even when he is with her as they go through the city (265). However, once she begins to acknowledge that they may be the only two alive and that society ceases to exist for them, she removes the barrier between them. She realizes that “she was neither high nor low, white nor black, rich nor poor” and when she looks at Jim she is able to forget “all else but his manhood” (269). However, DuBois recognizes that his alternate reality isn’t real and that racial issues still need to be addressed. Once Julia and Jim return to society, Julia defends him but seeks refuge with the white men and she “did not look at [Jim] again” (272).