Tag Archives: race

The “Love” across Age and Race– Marguerite Duras

Posted on by under Introduction

“Everyone says you were beautiful when you were young, but I want to tell you I think you’re more beautiful now than then (p. 3). “

This is the classic beginning of The Lover by Marguerite Duras, where the aged narrator when her looks are devastated, longs for a lover who expresses the love that transcends above time.

In this novel, the narrator looks back on her first love and offers her personal reflections on past regrets, sorrow, and joy. Unfolding in the first-person narrative, the novel explores the deep and hopeless love between a poor French teenage girl and a rich Chinese man in his mid-twenties.  For me what makes this story so influential is that it takes the life of the French colonists in Vietnam as the background, where there was a rise of nationalism among Vietnamese people and the idea of racial discriminatory views among French colonists. Under this concept,  this forbidden love between a French girl and a Chinese man highly reflects that love can transcend the prejudice of race, colour, and wealth. 

“I say that’s how I desire him, with his money, that when I first saw him he was already in his car, in his money. ( p. 40)” In the first part of the novel, the narrator emphasizes that she’s with this Chinese man for the money. Similarly, the rich Chinese man desires her young body and sex. At this point, this seems to be a fair trade. However, I feel great sympathy for the narrator. Her family looms over her like a shadow, the source of all her suffering comes from poverty and her mother. In such a family, her mother always sees her daughter in a patriarchal view and sees her as a commodity, caring about her daughter’s value in the marriage market. Her mother never provided the love a teenager needs, and so she is thirsting for the love she never had.  This accumulated desire for love was satisfied by the sex and love with this man, who cares for her. With the love of sexes, she was able to detach herself from the suffocating coldness that surrounded her. Reversively, this young girl seems to fulfill the desire for freedom of this rich young man under this nationalist context. However, despite such true love, their class and race differences hindered their possibility. 

As the narrator is looking back, without wondering how she faces this sorrow in her heart, she has already admitted from the bottom of her heart that he has loved, she has loved, and money, and interests and it has nothing to do with it. 

“ He told her that it was as before, that he still loved her, he could never stop loving her, that he’d love her until death.” (p.129)

In the end, the Chinese man manages to express his love years later, and my question for everyone is, how do you interpret this ending? Do you view this as a tragedy full of regrets or a completion of their complex love story?

Week 5 What about rest of youth in “Black Shack Alley?” –JOSEPH ZOBEL

Posted on by under JOSEPH ZOBEL

This week’s novel Black Shack Alley by Joseph Zobel talks about the life of the main narrator José who lives with M’man Tine. This novel uses a linear narrative to tell the story of his experiences in Black Shack Alley and pursuing education to address the problem of colonialism, racialization and class inequality. I wanted to spread into two parts to discuss this story. 

Part 1.

In the first part of this story, Jose is still as an innocent boy who likes to fool around and play with his friends, despite the dire circumstances. M’man Tine worked day and night in the sugar cane field, but still never seemed to be able to escape poverty. 

From Zobel’s narration, Jose lives in very harsh conditions, where they have no opportunity to eat eggs. Despite this circumstance, M’man Tine still tried to give Jose a better childhood experience. To the best ability, she would add sugar to his coffee to express her love. She would punish Jose after he made trouble in the hope of him becoming a better man.

What also was a highlight was that when Jose was in the church with M’man Tine, he saw the statue of Jesus dying on the cross. He thinks Jesus is in a tragic position, but interestingly. he is not black. (p. 80). At this stage, Jose is still very young and he doesn’t understand the concepts of racialization, but he truely did witness the tragic experiences of black people.

Part 2 and Part 3

Over here, Jose was able to go to school with the support of M’man Tine. 

It seems that over here, his future and fate had become different from the other kids who joined the gang, and this is where the theme of education that Zobel is trying to put forward. As you can see from the narrative, Jose is somewhat gifted, and he enjoys reading. 

With effort, he was successfully admitted by lycée, and this is where his mother unconditionally supported his education, despite of high costs.  “Tell me! How will it all end if the blasted fathers place their sons in those things, in the same misfortune?” (74) His mother recognizes that this may be the only chance to change her child’s destiny, so he tries to remove this misfortune by betting on her own life.

When Jose enters lycée, he further enters a world dominated by high-status and white people, which is seen to expose him more to inequality. From his description of this boy he meets, Serge. We can imagine his comparison with self and life. 

However, with time, Jose is gradually becoming mature and internally powerful. M’man Tine’s illness and death greatly awakened Jose. By seeing her black swollen, crakced hand, he realizes exhaustion from working in the fields. As he learns more, the more he feels bitter and injustice. All he could do was show the world with such reality of Black people. 

 It seems that the story is telling Jose’s story, but in reality, Zobel is reflecting on the hardships and injustices experienced by millions of black people. Jose, as a special case, has the opportunity to receive an education, but can this eliminate inequality, what about the rest of the youth in Black Shack Alley, and what about the rest of the youth in Black Shack Alley?

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