Barry

Barry, a 20-year-old transfer student, lands in New York City and spends his first night on the streets while trying to contact his expected roommate. The city feels alien, and he struggles with where he belongs in this new world.

Unable to reach his roommate, Barry reaches out to Saleem, who welcomes him into his apartment. That night, he finds shelter and a temporary sense of belonging.

Barry meets his future roommate Will and they start living together in an off-campus apartment on 109th Street. The arrangement marks Barry's tentative integration into New York life outside campus.

In his political science class, Barry participates in debates about philosophy and American society. He often feels detached from those around him, wrestling with how to fit in.

During class, Barry meets Charlotte, who shares an interest in debates and social issues. A connection forms as they begin to spend time together outside class.

While playing basketball, Barry attracts attention and is nicknamed 'The Invisible Man' by PJ, a graduate student from Harlem. The sport becomes a space for him to test his sense of identity.

Barry and Will attend a frat party at Columbia where Charlotte resurfaces, and they later go to a club downtown where their relationship deepens. The night marks one of their earliest intimate moments.

Charlotte and Barry watch a political debate on TV. Charlotte pushes him to care about politics ('civic duty'), while Barry admits his interest lies more in art, highlighting their budding tension about identity and purpose.

Barry and Charlotte enjoy a date in Central Park. Later, he has lunch with PJ, who discusses his finance career and future ambitions, hinting at his own pressures in a city divided by class.

Around Thanksgiving, Charlotte asks Barry to meet her parents. Barry initially resists, but she invites him to her sister's wedding, signaling a turning point in their relationship.

In Harlem, Barry witnesses a vulgar confrontation between a white woman and Black Hebrew Israelites and buys The Souls of Black Folk by W. E. B. Du Bois. The experiences underscore the gap between different Black experiences in the city.

In the park, he tries to write a long overdue letter to his father in Kenya and struggles to find the words. Later, Barry's mother, Ann Dunham, visits Saleem's apartment, offering warmth but also opening old questions about his childhood.

Barry attends a private club and then meets Charlotte's parents for dinner, where he explains his mixed-race upbringing and peripatetic childhood. Charlotte remains cautious, feeling he keeps too much private from her.

On the day of Charlotte's sister's wedding, Barry learns that his father has died in a car accident. He withdraws from Charlotte as civil rights leaders James and Grace Boggs offer comforting, motivational words about his American identity and carrying the baton of hope.

During the wedding celebration, Barry separates from Charlotte and quietly reads the letter he planned to send to his father. A few days later, he plays HORSE with a neighborhood boy and asserts his growing sense of belonging by saying he is from a lot of places, but he lives here now.