The Third Life of Grange Copeland - Book Report/Review Example

The third life of Grange Copeland Introduction: This book by Alice Walker, talks about the journey of three generations of a black family and the struggles, trials and tribulations they all go through at a time when slavery was still rampant. It describes the struggles of the black community in general and the Copeland family in particular, as they try to make ends meet and the physical and verbal abuse of the women in the family that dominated most parts of their domestic lives. The book discusses the issues of infidelity, domestic abuse, child abuse and extra marital affairs, as witnessed through the lives of the members of the Copeland family as well as those around them. Journal I - Parts I – IV: These sections of the book cover chapters 1 to 18 and focus on the life of Grange Copeland, his wife Margaret and their son Brownfield along with other key characters. The first few chapters talk about the early life of Brownfield who spent most of his time alone while his parents worked hard to make ends meet. His father Grange, worked on cotton fields and harbored great fear about his ‘boss’ Mr. Shipley, a memory which Brownfield retains the most about his father, during his early years. He grows up alone and uncared for, has distant relationship with his father who rarely acknowledged him or had a word with him throughout his life resulting in Brownfield growing up without proper love and attention from his father. Brownfield holds fond memories of his mother, before she passes away, and was comparatively closer to her than he was with his father. However, after having to take care of his half-brother Star, who was Margaret’s illegitimate child, and the series of events that follow results in strained relationship between his parents. His parents fought more often making it highly uncomfortable for little Brownfield to live peacefully and yearn for a better life. Grange was poor and worked as a slave in the cotton fields and could not do much to help his family live a better life as well as his Uncle Silas. The poverty and hardship of working as slaves in a poor old country side house far removed from the luxuries and comfort that the city life afforded, strongly affected their family. The strained relationship between Grange and Margaret and its impact on Brownfield is described by the author as: “What Brownfield could not forgive was that in the drama of their lives, his father and mother forgot they were not alone”. Brownfield eventually comes to dislike his mother as well. In his early life he never had an opportunity to go to school or get a decent education. However his cousins, from the North, who frequently visited him in their fancy car and talked about all the luxuries of life that the Northern states afforded a regular black family, that a family in South could never imagine, fills him with dreams of visiting North himself when he grows up. These chapters talk about the disrupted family life and the broken home that Brownfield comes from and the image of his father who abandons their family to leave for North, in a bid to escape having to work as a slave for Mr. Shipley his entire life. Brownfield too leaves his hometown after the death of his mother, in search of a better life and more importantly to look for his father. Character analysis: Josie One of the strongest and remarkable characters in the initial chapters is that of the owner of the Dew Drop Inn, Josie. She refers to herself as ‘fat’ Josie. She is often described to be brusque and fearless but harbors a deep emotional wound, which she received as a young girl. She often breaks out into sweat and suffers from repeated nightmares about a ‘witch’. She confides her story to Sister Madeline who encourages her to share her pain and name the witch she often sees in her nightmares. However Josie believes that telling the truth about the witch would not help her relieve her burden but would in fact add to it and she doesn’t seem confident enough to be able to shoulder the huge pain and responsibility that is likely to come after she reveals the truth. However the mystery behind the witch in Josie’s nightmares is finally revealed to be her own father who abused her as a young girl. Her mother was powerless, meek and submissive to stand up to her father and Josie continue to suffer the pain. Her daughter Lorene, who lives with her at the Inn, is the result of the pain and abuse that her own father inflicted on her. This character, in the first few chapters, is strong and stands out because the way she manages to build her life from scratch and despite suffering and being humiliated by her own kin, she doesn’t give up but instead grows even more determined to fight back. She ends up not only creating a life for herself, complete with a roof over their heads but also manages to feed her daughter. The strength of the character is remarkable considering the time during which the events in the novel take place. Men were meek and submissive in front of the white folks, and were at their beck and call, as witnessed in the characters of Grange and his son Brownfield. Hence for a woman, who at that time had little in the name of rights or security, to come this far and own and run a business, is highly remarkable. Journal II: Parts V & VI In these sections, Brownfield continues to abuse his wife Mem, beating her brutally every Saturday like a ritual and ignore his children who are now grown to be scared of him and also despise him for the way he behaves and treats them and their mother. Tired of all the beatings and the rut that they have fallen in which mostly involves Brownfield randomly shifting the entire family from one shabby house to another, with no proper heating or lights or sanitation, Mem finally decides she has had enough and urges him to stop moving them around and settle in a decent town where they could all live a decent life. She requests Brownfield to give up his drunken ways and asks him to get a job at a factory in town where the pay is good and the working environment is much better than having to sweat in the rough cotton fields. Mem tells Brownfield that “We might be poor and black, but we ain’t dumb. At least I ain’t”. To which he replies “I am a man and I don’t intend working in nobody’s damn factory”. Mem’s advise and pleas falls on deaf ears since Brownfield carries distorted views about manhood and being in charge of his family. He constantly berates himself, albeit inwardly, for not being able to give the kind of life he hoped for, to his wife and children and also feels inferior to Mem who was educated and sophisticated, when he married her. Ultimately when all her pleas falls on deaf ears she threatens him with a gun and they manage to move to town where he gets a job at a pie factory, the girls get enrolled in a school and they all live happily in the new ‘mansion’ with proper heating, refrigerator, electricity and most of all an indoor commode, a luxury they could never afford before. Despite living a comparatively better and comfortable life Brownfield is seething with revengeful thoughts. He couldn’t bear to see his wife, a woman take charge of running the house and make all the important decisions and feels belittled due to his own insecurities and inability to provide a comfortable life for his family. He devises an evil and elaborate plan which involves making Mem sick and miserable and at his mercy again, just so he could be in charge of making the decisions. Mem falls sick due to a series of pregnancies, as planned, resulting in failure to pay for the bills or the rent. They are soon evicted from their house and are forced to return to their old dreary lives. Brownfield’s abuse continues and worsens, this time extending to his children as well. He was content living in a shabby house with leaking roofs and no fire to keep them warm in the cold weather, only because it helped him keep his pride and let him have “an upper hand”. Journal III: Part VII to IX In these sections, the story takes a drastic turn. Brownfield’s insecurities and hence hatred for Mem, continues to increase. He was so frustrated to have to deal with the fact that she had a job while he didn’t and had to spend all his time lazing around in the house waiting for her to come home and be in charge of the family that he started getting aggressive toward his children as well. His bouts of anger and the accompanying physical abuse now extended to his own daughters who were so afraid of their own father that they had to hide in fear until he calmed down. On the night of Christmas eve, when Mem was out for work Brownfield came home drunk. He was raving mad at something and came out brandishing a gun. Daphne, the oldest daughter was aware of her father’s habits and behavior by now and knew this meant trouble for her mother. She immediately tries to stop her from coming home but it is too late and Brownfield ends up killing his own wife in a fit of range, right in the face. Ruth is now under the guardianship of her grandfather Grange and his second wife Josie. Although Josie is not too fond of Ruth and finds her presence intrusive, Grange on the contrary, dotes on his grand daughter and showers her with love, attention and care. He takes her on a ride on the back of his truck, buys her good food to eat and new clothes to wear. The rapport between the grandfather and his grand daughter improves over time and they become closer than ever to the dismay of Josie. They spend time together and are almost inseparable. Grange however harbors great hatred toward the white and tries to instill the same emotion in Ruth but she ignores his warnings and stories and finds happiness in playing with her white friends. Grange also tries to do the same with Josie and tells her about the time he killed a white person, but contrary to his belief, Josie seemed horrified by the thought / act. However despite the little differences the bond between the grandfather and his grand daughter is the key highlight of these sections since it stands out the most especially when compared to Grange’s role as a father and his drastic change in attitude toward his son’s daughter. Journal IV: Part X & XI In these sections the chapters that follow discuss the soured relationship between the father and the son come alive yet again. Josie now is mostly found in company of Brownfield while the relationship between the Grange and Ruth continue to grow stronger. The triangular relationship between the adults i.e., Grange, Josie and Brownfield baffles Ruth and the readers at times, as well since despite being aware of the fact that Josie is now married to Grange, Brownfield and Josie openly flaunt their close relationship without a care to those around them. The dynamics between them is indicative of the manner in which the rough times they all underwent as children reflected poorly on their lives as adults. Grange seems to be the only character in the story who manages to change for the good, although not completely but he is the only one among the lot who manages to redeem himself if only for the sake of his grand daughter. His love and care for Ruth is highlighted through out the chapters and their strong bond is also indicative how much they depend on one another for support and have become each other’s strength. His turn around is highly remarkable since he stands up for Ruth, the child his own son abandoned and orphaned by killer her mother in front of her eyes, and berates him for holding a grudge against him even after he tried to repent for his misdeeds and make amends. Grange’s speech to Brownfield shows a greater character arc where he elevates himself by making an effort to turn a new leaf and reprimands his son for not being a good father and for not even trying. On being blamed yet again by Brownfield for abandoning him and his mother, Grange finally sets him straight. He agrees and acknowledges his mistake but also points out that what Brownfield did was far worse because despite knowing the pain of growing up without a father, he did the same to his family. He also points out that Brownfield always found fault in others and never took responsibility for his actions. At first he blamed his father for walking away and for his miserable life and then after he married Mem, he shifted the blame of beating and eventually killing her on the ‘white people’. He emphasizes that people are responsible for their own actions and must shoulder the blame if and when they falter. He also admits his own mistake for not being ‘man enough’ for shouldering the blame and the responsibility for being too weak to inform his family and for being weak for not being able to forgive his wife and admit his mistakes. Reference: Walker, A., (2011). The third life of Grange Copeland. Early Bird Books. Read More