Johnson's Tendencies

As the novel progresses, and Johnson begins to deal more openly with the so-called "Negro Question," he has a distinct tendency:  he introduces characters as plot devices, characters who exist only to give some series of monologues enunciating their position.  It's similar, in a way, to Philip Roth, whose characters often do the same thing.  I find it a little more ham-handed in Johnson's case, though, because the characters themselves often have no real role to play in the story; they exist only as a vessel from which their particular position on the "Negro Question" is espoused.  On the one hand, I can't blame Johnson; his way is decidedly more eloquent and concise, in terms of language, than it would if he made more of an effort to integrate the sentiments he wishes to bring to life into the story of the narrator's life.  But the technique seems to violate one of those immutable laws of writing: show, don't tell.