When thinking back on Joseph Zobel’s “Black Shack Alley” I am struck by theme of the individual seeking liberation from the limitations placed on them socially. The journey that young José embarks encapsulates the duality that many people, especially marginalized people, experience trying to affirm themselves and establish their own voice within a society whose rules deem it just to shut them out. Initially this plays out through the limitations a young José and his friends contend with at the hands of their parents, grandparents, and elder community members in the shack alley, who impose strict rules for them and harsh punishments if these rules are broken. As José furthers his education, eventually entering into the lifestyle of the affluent white middle-class, he realizes that the limitations that his mother and grandmother expected him to overcome through opportunities his education and subsequent upward socioeconomic opportunity afford him have not vanished but simply been replaced by the racism and classism deeply rooted into all layers of the society that he is now placed in. It is in this white middle-class that José finds himself deeply alienated, not just from the culture shock but in the fact that his existence, and even the existence of his entire culture are treated as though they are invisible, or that if they aren’t invisible they should be. Interactions between individuals and their oppressions, be that classist capitalist exploitation or the narratives of a Eurocentric global order, permeate the narrative in a way that nearly recedes into the background. This is not to say that marginalization is not present, rather that it is omnipresent and it’s effects are constantly felt without our protagonist needing to affirm its existence in every passage. The implication of the pain of poverty, for example, are exemplified in descriptions of the adults’ of the shack alley’s homes having the scent of sweat and being generally more run down then those of the town, as if the entire shack alley is possessed by the specter of oppression. While this interpretation appears a tad dour, Zobel’s narrative is not depressing or grimdark. For all the struggle that those living in the shack alley must face, there is an undeniable sense of community that permeates the harsh economic conditions and even José and his friends can find great joy not only in each others company, but in the simplest aspects of life. The joy of playing with friends, having good food, and even learning in an elementary school (a chore for many modern children) are narrated with a joy that imparts a nostalgia for simpler days and a time when one isn’t weighed by responsibility. However José realizes that because his community is racialized and impoverished, their stories aren’t considered legitimate by the White French community. Despite the rich narratives that abound in the shack alley, they are considered illegitimate at best and non-existent at worst. In this way José, despite realizing that the writing he loves is just as racist and classist as the world he lives in, he decides he will write about the lives of his community and whether or not the white middle-class accept his stories, he will present his narratives regardless as the words deafened by the limitations of society deserve to be spoken.

My question for the class would be how do you think José’s seeming upward social mobility intersects with race and culture? Do you believe he is better off in the more affluent French middle class and if so is it only due to the greater material wealth afforded to him?