Despite finding “Black Shack Alley” a bit slow-going at first, I appreciate how Zobel depicts the reality of Caribbean society following the abolition of slavery in implicit, but nevertheless, powerful ways. His emphasis on the sense of community throughout the novel goes hand in hand with the idea of resistance. Zobel illustrates his childhood memories, such as his daily interactions with his grandmother, as well as his neighbours. They all originate from the same community, which reminds me of how they hold a shared identity. I also notice how the presence of white people is scarcely mentioned in Chapter 1; Zobel unfolds his memories from the perspective of his community and neighbourhood. In particular, Jos\u00e9’s relationship with Mr. M\u00e9douze adequately exemplifies the idea of collectiveness. Though M\u00e9douze is not kin to Jos\u00e9, he takes up the role of a parental figure, being the first person to enlighten Jos\u00e9 in terms of his political consciousness. M\u00e9douze says, “But when the intoxication of freedom was spent, I was forced to remark that nothing had hanged for me nor my comrades in chains… I remained like all the blacks in this damned country: the bek\u00e9s kept the land, all the land in the country, and we continued working for them…” (45). Zobel highlights the change and continuity of poverty and white supremacy following the abolition of slavery through the perspective of M\u00e9douze, constantly alluding to the idea the Caribbean people remained a tool for white settlers to maximize their economic interests, and that blackness inevitably entails oppression. Zobel rarely condemned colonialism in a militant way in the sense that he would explicitly incite his readers to resist, yet his narrative style makes me reflect on the continuity of injustice in Martinique.<\/p>\n
I love how Zobel depicts the relationship between Jos\u00e9 and M’man Tine, Jos\u00e9’s grandmother. Jos\u00e9 is raised by his strict yet loving grandmother; M’man Tine perceives the harshness of reality, especially with the fact that Jos\u00e9 and her are in a white supremacist society, and therefore seeks the best interests of her grandson. She frequently scolds and punishes him as if she intentionally finds faults in Jos\u00e9, but her unconditional love for Jos\u00e9 is evident by her refusal to let him work. She says, “Well! If I didn’t put your mother in one (petit\u00e9s-bandes), I’m not going to out you!” (56) M’man Tine is determined to break the perpetual and generational cycle of impoverishment, deprivation of education, and bondage. With the frequent absence of Jos\u00e9’s mother during his childhood, M’man Tine’s feminine role as a caregiver features a nurturing and motherly figure to Jos\u00e9.<\/p>\n
Another aspect that I want to explore is the simplicity of language used in the novel. I think language plays a significant role in delivering the theme of nationalism. M\u00e9douze and other neighbours always say “Eh cric” and “Eh crac” before telling stories. Zobel also brings a number of superstitions and cultural beliefs to light. He writes, “And when at night, you smell anything bad, don’t say a word, for your nose will rot like an old banana” (45). These cultural beliefs that he holds onto contrast with the assimilative education system that he is in in which the language of instruction in school is French. I interpret the contrast as a symbol of resistance that shows how Zobel is inclined to preserve his Martinican culture despite the environment that he is in. Again, Zobel retaliates against colonialism in an implicit yet empowering manner.<\/p>\n
My question for this reading is: How does the imagery of the black shacks represent inequality and resistance?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Despite finding “Black Shack Alley” a bit slow-going at first, I appreciate how Zobel depicts the reality of Caribbean society following the abolition of slavery in implicit, but nevertheless, powerful ways. His emphasis on the sense of community throughout the novel goes hand in hand with the idea of resistance. Zobel illustrates his childhood memories, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":100235,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[28,14,20,9,27,26],"class_list":["post-26","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-zobel","tag-autobiography","tag-class","tag-gender","tag-memories","tag-postcolonialism","tag-race"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/janaermst202\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/janaermst202\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/janaermst202\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/janaermst202\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/100235"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/janaermst202\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/janaermst202\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/janaermst202\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26\/revisions\/27"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/janaermst202\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/janaermst202\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/janaermst202\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}