Hello everyone, I hope you are doing well, todays blog is going to be about “Black Shack Alley” which is a novel written by Joseph Zobel in 1950. My general opinion is that I found this book interesting and thought it was a good reading, it didn’t feel to me like it was written in an extremely complex manner but it had a lot of descriptions which could make it seem a bit slow but I thought it was just enough to make it a detailed novel that talks about important topics.
The book starts with the character of José who begins his journey in this book as an innocent child, still unaware of the injustice that exists in the world, as the book goes on we get to read about his experience growing up in a racially segregated society where people of Color are marginalized and oppressed by those in powerful positions. Something that really stood out to me from this reading was José’s relationship with his grandmother, despite all the obstacles that he has t overcome due to poverty and discrimination, it seemed to me that he found a lot of comfort in his grandmother who throughout his life had constantly been a resilient figure that inspired him. Despite facing so many obstacles put there by society, the grandmother is very determined to give José as many opportunities as she can, one of them being a good education. Education was seen as the way to break the loop or cycle of poverty and oppression that had accompanied their family their whole life, however, unsurprisingly, he faces constant discrimination at school which made it extremely hard for him to connect or relate to his classmates, which ultimately meant he was even more alienated.
As he grows older he looses that innocence he had as a kid and becomes aware of all the social, political and economical injustice that not only happens around him but in the world in general, being a witness to exploitation and systemic racism that is deeply embedded in society and has been since he can remember. Still despite now being aware of all of these things they do not stop him, and like his grandmother he is determined to succeed and break free from the harmful cycles in his environment.
I found the comparison in points of view to be really interesting, going from how he perceived life and society at the begging of the book versus when he realized how the world truly worked and the struggles that it came with just by being who you are.
My question to everyone is do you agree that his grandmothers influenced played a big role in his development or what would you say helped shape his view of the world?
Hi Ximena! Thanks for your post. I completely agree with your perspective on the significant influence of Jose’s grandmother in his development. Her unwavering emphasis on the importance of education and her countless sacrifices played a pivotal role in enabling Jose to break the cycle of poverty and pursue his education. Through her guidance, Jose not only realized the importance of education for himself but also became an advocate for it, aspiring for others to follow suit. I felt that his grandmother’s influence changed the trajectory of his life and shaped his worldview.
Hi Ximena,
I found your blog post to be quite interesting and agree that Jose’s grandmother played a very vital role in his life. Her dedication to education ensured a future for Jose and she made sure he was able to pursue opportunities that would better his life. I think she deserves credit for the way his life panned out in adulthood.
Ximena, I loved that you brought up the resilience inn M’man Tine’s character and how it inspired Jose. You did a great job of reflecting onthe ways that innocence slowly errodes from his character as well.
Thanks for your comment!
Tesi
Hi, thanks for sharing. Joel’s grandmother played a huge role in his life. Specifically, her hard work farming demonstrated to him what it means to be a minority in the world and how you can still find fufillment. Despite the fact that she did not display affection to Joel often, I think it is undeniable that M’man Tine was truly fufilled by Joel and used this to motivate herself as well.
*Jose