Black Shack Alley by Joseph Zobel was a touching read that had so many unique perspectives on growing up. At the core of this novel, we are taken through Jose’s journey of growing up, which is what we have seen in quite a few of the books we have read so far. However, Jose’s experiences of maturation are highly influenced by many outside factors that make his story gripping, upsetting and powerful. Most importantly, Jose is born and raised in a small area called Petit Mourne in Martinique, where he lives with only his grandmother. When reading his childhood recollections of how he would sometimes watch M’man Tine with her hoe, working all day tiring herself out, this made me think about my own personal experiences with watching my parents work. I think watching your parents or caregivers exhaust themselves at an age where you cannot really grasp what labour is or how strenuous it can be, it warps your perspective into being hyper-aware of this struggle you cannot experience yourself. Jose’s coming of age vastly differs from Agostino’s in many aspects, especially the emotional maturity. Agostino was very confused by these new feelings and thoughts about sexuality and appropriateness and this was further heightened by the boys he met. Jose however, from a very young age, showed that he cared deeply about others. For example, when he was going on child-like adventures in Black Shack Alley and then returned to his grandmother’s house where his friends made a mess, he instantly thought of his grandmother. He did also think about the punishment he would recieve, but from a very young age he was able to balance his selfish wants of not getting punished and the weight of the mistake he had made. I think M’man Tine did not mean to force Jose to grow up at a rapid pace, but regardless, her honest messages of how the world worked and forcing Jose to focus on his education quickly made him in touch with the notion of his race positioning himself at an automatically disadvantaged spot in society.

This book obviously discusses race and the inequalities that exist because of it. However, another lens to race that Zobel includes is the internalized hate many Black and other people of color may have about themselves. For example, when Jose’s godmother gives him a chicken as a parting gift because she has not seen him in years and then he goes on to lose it, M’man Tine becomes distraught. This is not because the chicken is gone, but instead it is because she thinks her grandson is doomed to an eternal fate of “being an unlucky black boy”. There are multiple occurences of this self hatred manifesting and it points to a larger message of the novel. While Jose focused on his education and took to it naturally, he had to go to France for schooling in order for his intelligence to be actually recognized and valued in society. Everyone back in Martinique is aware of this, so by this being the standard, it is affirming the racial hierarchy that is ingrained in everyone’s minds, ensuring it will continue onto the next generation.

Overall, I enjoyed this book thoroughly and thought it spoke to power relations and structures in society and critiqued what intelligence can mean by including Jose’s friends Carmen and Jojo, who demonstrated emotional intelligence and what many call “street smart”.

Discussion Questions:

1. Do we think that Jose feels any resentment to his mother for not being with him for so long?

2. Why did Jose’s mother not come straight away when M’man Tine was about to die?