The Black Parade as a Bildungsroman

Teenage Angst and Youthful Optimism: The Black Parade as a Bildungsroman

Sebastian Mallory, University of Florida

My Chemical Romance’s acclaimed album The Black Parade explores the existential dread and youthful optimism one experiences at the edge of adulthood through the final two songs on the album, “Disenchanted” and “Famous Last Words.” The concept album begins with the death of the protagonist and his meditations on life before passing on to the next life. These reflections represent the anxieties and psychological growth he experiences through major life events, ultimately culminating with a reflection on late adolescence and early adulthood in the final moments of the record.

“Disenchanted” is the penultimate song on the album and serves as a meditation on the struggle a person in their late teens experiences with the loss of childhood innocence and the pressures of transitioning into adulthood. The protagonist “spent [his] high school career spit on and shoved to agree” (Way, 12) by the educational system. Prisons, as reflected on by Michel Foucault in Discipline and Punish, “with their regular chronologies, forced labour, its authorities of surveillance and registration, its experts in normality” are a modern instrument of penalty, with “factories, barracks, hospitals,” and most notably schools resembling the prison system (Foucault, 161). In terms of structure, classrooms are set up to resemble panopticons, where the teacher can view all of the students but students may not necessarily be able to know if the teacher is viewing them, so they are prompted to fall in line not by actual punishment but by the fear of retribution. Schooling is not just a place of education, but also a way for “subjects to be managed and their contexts regulated,” including “the apportionment of time, the management of sexuality, the manipulation of bodies, and productions and extraction of knowledge” (Deacon, 181). Schools teach children to obey authority figures, cram for standardized testing, and discourages unorthodox methods of learning.

Outside of the school system itself, there also exists a separate hegemony within schools of individual social cliques. Cliques make up “a large part of social life in late childhood” and “serve important social functions, such as instilling values, setting and regulation behavioral expectations, and providing a conduit for romantic relationships,” (Zarbatany, 491) but also may have the adverse effect of “symbolic exclusion through reinforced boundaries” which discourage certain topics of discussion, prompt individuals to stay with people “in a similar socioeconomic condition” (Lueck, 62) as themselves, and potentially even result in bullying in some cases with people along particularly strict clique lines, which is largely what Way is critiquing in the lyrics.

Way is “shoved to agree” not only by the academic institution housing him, but also by the other inhabitants who reinforce hierarchies within the school system and prompt him to either fit in or be an outsider, to conform to a clique or remain clique-less and therefore socially distant. Slavoj Žižek, in The Pervert’s Guide to Ideology, discusses how societal structures often function as a means of social control. Culture reinforces ideology, which Žižek defines as a veil that creates induced wants, a desire to have things that one otherwise wouldn’t desire. This is often contradictory teaching and results in isolation regardless of position. For instance, one might be pressured to abstain from sexual activity by a religious institution, but a more secular culture might encourage this to an excessive degree, so the individual is caught in between and unable to fit into both areas, resulting in isolation from one or the other, or potentially even both. Cultures and cliques push ideology of conformity, and this is acutely felt in teenage years. The hierarchies in this setting are entirely artificial and disappear as quickly as graduation day comes. Not being able to fit in furthers the isolation a person might feel during the uncertain time of the twilight of one’s youth.

Moving from childhood into adulthood also means moving into someone who is a commodity. Way exclaims that he “could watch all [his] heroes sell a car on TV” (Way, 12), a meditation on how heroes are fallible humans who are also pushed to conform. In the American literary canon, vehicles are “used as a symbol of economic freedom and mobility" (Echevarría, 74), particularly in the early- to mid-20th century. Vehicles are typically a bad investment as they depreciate in value almost upon purchase, but remain a fixture in suburban American life to move around the space of society, particularly to and from work.

The tone with which the line is sung indicates disappointment and despondency at the notion of his heroes selling cars, representing the selling of an idea of economic mobility. It is sung in such a way that he no longer regards them as heroes, but people who have commodified themselves and traded in their virtue and values for economic gain. The next line states “bring out the old guillotine, we’ll show ‘em what we all mean,” a reference to the usage of guillotines to behead landlords, monarchs, and oppressive wealthy people during the French revolution. He furthers his shame of his heroes with thoughts of violence. Violence is often not as effective as “mass, broad-based participation […] that often relies on nonviolent tactics” (Chenoweth), but is often utilized by people who otherwise do not have a voice. In the face of isolation and feelings of betrayal by individuals one once looked up to, violence against either the self or others may seem like a way to make their voice heard, but ultimately is ineffective. Teenagers hold almost no political capital and may even be looked down upon for their youth, such as the derision with which Greta Thunberg or the Parkland activists were looked upon in some media circles, which often renders them voiceless in critiquing the society they are expected to participate in. Upon graduation, a person is given the choice of going to higher education, performing some act of public service, or finding a job, all of which with the end goal of finding a career. This fashions a person into a body used for economic gain, and adds pressure to a person just graduating high school to make a life changing choice at such a young age.

The line also speaks to the fact that people are not monoliths, but rather imperfect individuals, a fact that one needs to reckon with in order to grow up. The “heroes” talked about in this line are unidentified and could be read as famous individuals, parents or other adults, or even peers the protagonist looks up to. Ultimately, these heroes have disappointed him. Ultimately, contemporary American society is not idealist and individuals are forced to confront tradeoffs in order to make a livelihood, something the protagonist must confront. People are not infallible, but instead make mistakes and have to make compromises in order to live. In the moment it may feel like betrayal, but in reality it is a natural part of adulthood and simply being a human. Upon recognizing this, the protagonist can begin to recognize his own humanity as well.

“Disenchanted” also captures a range of feelings and anxieties experienced by teenagers in uncertain times, often derided as “teenage angst.” The song almost parodies this by saying “you’re just a sad song with nothing to say about a life long wait for a hospital stay” (Way, 12), capturing a fixation on death and the feeling of hopelessness in the face of it. Surveying Time’s “100 Best Young Adult Books” reveals a pattern of books filled with despondent protagonists grappling with confusing times, including The Bell Jar, Catcher in the Rye, and The Stranger. A person may be aware of death at an earlier age, but it is not until adolescence that a person really comes to terms with the implications of mortality, which raises several questions that produce anxieties not previously present, such as whether anything one does in life has meaning or if it is ultimately pointless because every dies in the end anyway. Ultimately these questions don’t lead to anything, it has “nothing to say” (Way, 12).

This song is uncharacteristic of much of the corpus of My Chemical Romance because it offers little redeeming value and instead dwells on the darkness and pains of life. The song captures a range of feelings and anxieties of people entering adulthood, but has no nodes of hope within it. The song directly following it—the final song on the album—is “Famous Last Words,” a song that works as a response to “Disenchanted.” While “Disenchanted” is a time capsule of teenage angst, “Famous Last Words” is a less somber song that advises a person to not give up hope in the midst of feeling lost, a feeling of youthful optimism in the face of pressures of adulthood.

In “Famous Last Words,” Way acknowledges the struggles life carries with it. He talks about “a life that’s so demanding,” “a love that’s so demanding” (Way, 13) and expressing how he feels physically weak in the midst of this anxiety. This forms a direct link to the previous song, where the protagonist is experiencing a claustrophobic feeling because of the demands and pressures of adulthood. This pressure takes the form of having to make lasting life decisions, the expectation to conform to the expectations of adults in his life, and the ultimate loss of innocence experienced. Way again acknowledges the lack of a voice teenagers have by saying “I can’t speak” and “I’m incomplete.” His life is unfinished and in reality just beginning, with much of his identity yet to be written but still in tension with the expectations placed upon him. The protagonist is silenced by the authorities around him, either in parental or educational figures.

Despite the initial bleakness expressed within the song, it takes a sharp turn on a hopeful note. Immediately following the statement of incompleteness and the demands of life, Way expresses he is “not afraid to keep on living, not afraid to walk this world alone” (Way, 13). Despite the uncertainty and anxiety he is experiencing, he chooses not to dwell on the feelings of hopelessness and instead continues moving forward instead of being paralyzed by it. He is content with walking the world “alone” or “incomplete” by rejecting predetermined paths by others and instead following his own way of living. This search for individuality is “indicative of youth culture in the United States” (Beitelspacher, 33) and breeds different micro-subcultures, such as hipster culture in the contemporary United States. Marketers use this to target niche markets rather than larger conglomerate groups. The struggle against parental expectations and against societal expectations is a hallmark of any bildungsroman. Way does not see this as a simple exercise of going against the flow of society, but expresses the pain involved, likening to “bright lights” the blind him (Way, 13). In an almost defiant statement, Way states “nothing you can say can stop me from going home” (Way, 13), a declaration of youthful insistence of changing the path he is on and making an authentic change in his life. The protagonist is not doomed to be unsure of himself for the rest of his life, it only pertains to the present state of crisis and he is reassured that he is able to make it through, he is prompted to remember to not give up but instead pursue his life and goals with everything he has. This shift is the other half of the teenage experience, where a person not only experiences an existential dread but also a healthy optimism for the future. In spite of disillusionment, one can actively make a change in their life and the world at large.

The song fits in the tradition of existentialism. Sarah Bakewell, in At the Existentialist Cafe, writes that “existentialism is a human-centered ideology that recognizes absolute freedom of the individual,” refined by Albert Camus in the Absurdist tradition of recognizing that life and society is absurd, but one should continue living and creating purpose in their life despite these impairments. Way expresses creating purpose in light of the pressures surrounding him and seeking freedom in spite of everything holding him down. Instead of giving up and giving in to the conformity, he stands up to it and creates his own path, centering his own individuality ahead of any expectations placed on him.

Ultimately, The Black Parade operates as a bildungsroman made up of several vignettes from a person’s life, designed to inspire audiences in spite of their present situation to continue moving forward and creating a meaningful existence. “Disenchanted” represents the darkest parts of the album, a sense of dread and meaningless in the face of adulthood and pressures of growing up. “Famous Last Words” represents the most hopeful aspects of the album, with Way taking on an absurdist viewpoint that one should create meaning and art in the face of pressure raining down on them because that is how a person manages the tension of individuality and living in a society. The two songs function as mirror images of each other, mirror images of the end of childhood. It is both a terrifying time, but also one full of promise and hope; finding a path outside of this uncertainty is essential to growing up and becoming a full person.

Works Cited

Way, Gerard. The Black Parade. Reprise. 2006. Album.

Foucault, Michel. Discipline and Punish. Pantheon Books. 1977. Print.

Bakewell, Sarah. At the Existentialist Cafe. Other Press. 2016. Print.

Fiennes, Sophie. Zizek, Slavoj. The Pervert’s Guide to Ideology. Zeitgeist Films. 2012. Film.

Beitelspacher, Lauren. Principles of Marketing. McGraw-Hill Press. 2019. Print.

Lueck, Kerstin. Steffen, Hayley. “White Kids: Identity Construction, Critical Mass, and Symbolic Exclusion in High School Cliques and Other Groups.” Berkeley Review of Education. 2011. http://eds.b.ebscohost.com/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=8&sid=cf4de7e5-e7ec-4bd5-9690-e8710c7a08cd%40pdc-v-sessmgr02

Deacon, Roger. “Michel Foucault on education: a preliminary theoretical overview.” South African Journal of Education. 2006. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1150418.pdf

Zarbatany, Lynne. Tremblay, Paul. “Peer Clique Participation of Victimized Children.” Merrill-Palmer Quarterly. 2012. http://eds.b.ebscohost.com/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=8&sid=cf4de7e5-e7ec-4bd5-9690-e8710c7a08cd%40pdc-v-sessmgr02

Echevarria, Luis Giron. “The Automobile as a Central Symbol in F. Scott Fitzgerald.” Universidad de Extremadura. 1993. https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/1d04/ab5d04ec059c163c60d2910e8369c4c9df63.pdf

Chenoweth, Erica. Stephan, Maria. “Violence is a Dangerous Route for Protestors.” Foreign Policy. 2019. https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/12/18/violent-resistance-protests-nonviolence/

“The 100 Best Young Adult Books.” Time. 2017. https://time.com/100-best-young-adult-books/

Download the paper here

Sebastian Mallory is secretary of The English Society.