He would rather die than be subservient and treated like an animal. Josh's strong convictions are the direct result of seeing his father taken from his home and shot to death by Captain McBane, and his mother's subsequent deterioration after his father's death. Josh's statements and actions make him appear to be a leader fighting for the rights of the African-American race. Josh is actually driven more by the hatred and revenge that has taken over his life than because he wants to make a difference for the African-American race as a whole. Eventually Josh ends up committing the same cold-blooded murder and savagery that he has come to abhor. Instead of attempting to civilly find a way to abolish these barbaric crimes, he has chosen to lower himself to the same moral level as Captain McBane, essentially doing nothing to better himself or any other African-American.
On the other end of the spectrum is Dr. Miller. He has adapted to living among the shadows of the whites. He has become educated and wealthy and even respected by some, but he still is relegated to riding in the "colored- car of the train and only being allowed to operate on African-American patients. Overall, he is happy with his place in society, yet he still longs to be considered an equal among his fellow man, both white and black. After Dr. Miller tends to Josh's injured arm and hears of Josh's plan to kill Captain McBane, he reflects on Josh's motives:.
McBane was probably deserving of an evil fate which might befall him; but such a revenge would do no good, would right no wrong; while every such crime which was already staggering under a load of obloquy because, in the eyes of a prejudiced and undiscriminating public, it must answer as a whole of the offenses of each separate individual. To die in defense of the right was heroic. To kill another for revenge was pitifully human and weak (Chesnutt, Marrow 115) .
Dr. Miller knows that killing Captain McBane would not help the cause of the African-Americans and would in actuality prevent African-Americans from reaching their goals as equals in society.
