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

The third life of Grange Copeland What does the third life of Grange Copeland say about the African-American experience? This events described in the book take place at a time when slave trade was still rampant and racial discrimination was at its peak. The events that unfold depict the struggle and life and times of people, especially those of colour, against the backdrop of white privilege and racial discrimination. The titular character in the book, Grange Copeland - a poor sharecropper who lives with his family on a plantation and his struggles, the way he is mistreated by his white boss comprise the major part of the narrative. The struggles of three generations of the Copeland family are filled with self-hatred, abandonment, frustration, promiscuity and economic oppression all due to the financial instability and social oppression of the blacks by the whites in a predominantly white South, where the Copeland family lived. The incidences depicted in the book are indicative of the various stages in the American history including the civil rights movement and the increasing support for abolishment of slavery and racial and gender equality. The country was divided into two widely differing social landscapes whereby the North represented liberty and socio-economic equality for the people of colour, while the South continued to be driven by slavery racial, social and gender inequality. This is depicted early on in the book when Brownfield’s cousins come to visit him in their own car, wearing fancy clothes and sharing fascinating stories of their life up North. Brownfield begins to dream about a similar future, which he ultimately sets out to achieve. The experiences of people of colour are similar as is depicted in the article Looking for work by Gary Soto a Mexican American young boy who grew up on the "industrial side" of a town far, similar to Brownfield, removed from the developed colonies that were symbolic of social, economic and racial equality (Soto, 26). Soto too imagines a life of luxury and grows up with a desire to imitate the life of the regular white families an experience shared by Brownfield who also is often described to visualise a life similar to those of the white families - that to him meant normalcy and greater social acceptance. The book also indicates the strong cultural ties that the members of the minority community were able to maintain despite the widespread social oppression and hatred against them. At a time when the blacks were mostly employed by their white bosses as planation workers and were often traded off, without notice, like some material objects, the fact that the community is able to maintain strong social ties is indicative of the integral bonding among them. This is evident from the various experiences of different characters in the book, who, received support and a show of solidarity from the extended families or the community in general. For instance, Grange Copeland is described to have received support from Louise, the owner of the Dew Drop Inn, when he abandons the family in search of a better life up North. Similarly his son too is described to have received similar support from the wider black community that he encounters on his way to the North, when he sets out to look for his father. He not only receives advice and directions about his destination from the black families but also is fed and clothed by a kind Samaritan, a black woman who understands his plight and supports him in his endeavour, thus indicating solidarity with the character. Also, Brownfield is described to have received support from Louise who offers him a place to live and work and support himself at a time when he had nowhere to go. This is supported by studies carried out in the past aimed at challenging the notion of nuclear families, especially those from the racial minority backgrounds, tend to have weaker family ties and were perceived to be more disintegrated as compared to white families. In the article "The colour of family ties: Race, class, gender, and extended family involvement" by Gerstel and Sarkisian (47) the authors have challenged the cliché and in turn have observed that although social class is more important than ethnicity in building stronger family ties and that despite apparent differences between ethic groups, the racial and ethnic minority communities tend to enjoy greater solidarity and support from their extended families in the form of caregiving and support. This article essentially challenges and ultimately disproves the myth that Blacks and Latino families lack strong family ties. The article goes on to support their claims by indicating statistics about the manner in which individuals from minority communities are more likely to help out their extended families in need, especially their grandparents, ailing relatives, adult children, brothers, sisters, cousins and kin (48). This fact is accurately described in the book through several instances such as when Grange helps out Mem during childbirth and often visits the family who he knows is struggling financially, by bringing food, clothes and toys for the children. He also takes care of Brownfield’s daughter Ruth, when Brownfield kills his wife and Ruth’s mother and is sent to prison for murder. Grange comes a full circle from abandoning his family and leaving Brownfield, who was a young child, behind to look for a better life to taking care of his granddaughter after she is left to fend for herself, when her father is sent to prison for murder. It is highly crucial to note that “The third life of Grange Copeland” is set within a context of the Southern culture - a culture that represented white supremacy and racial discrimination against the blacks. The image of the back women as described in the book, is in stark contrast to the typical image of an ideal white male figure, in a highly patriarchal society. This indicates that the issue of racism was dangerously and unfortunately intertwined with the already pressing issue of white supremacy and patriarchy, which supported male domination. The novel is written at a time when the U.S., was undergoing immense struggle through social movements that opposed the oppressed gender roles in a patriarchal and racial America (Gleason-White, 2001: p. 112). The struggles and experiences of the black women in the book, described through characters such as Margaret (Grange Copelands first wife), Louise (a prostitute and Granges second wife), Mem (Brownfields wife), Ruth (Granges granddaughter and Brownfields daughter) indicate the manner in which oppression of women and especially those of colour, led to a double burden on such women in a highly oppressive and patriarchal power structure. Grange abandons his family leaving his wife and children behind to fend for themselves is particularly indicative of the social and economic struggles faced by the black families down South. The system of hiring black families as sharecroppers pushed them into insurmountable debt, and created a cycle of poverty and illiteracy among the black population preventing them from looking for an alternative to improve their lifestyles and aim for economic stability. The internal struggle that Grange faces while working on the cotton farm, the huge debt that he owes to Mr. Shipley, his white owner, and his eventual decision to flee North, partly in search of a better life and partly in a bid to escape the vicious cycle of oppression and humiliation at the hands of the white men, is indicative of the social and economic status of black families in the U.S. The status of women in the highly patriarchal and racist America is depicted through the lives of the women – especially Louise, Mem and Margaret. Lack of education and existence of equal opportunities women of colour coupled with physical and racial abuse suffered by them by their own kin drives these women to depths of disparity forcing them to take up professions that force them towards a lower social status preventing them from achieving positions of dignity and those that promise social and gender equality. Louise, is described as a character who suffers physical abuse at the hands of her own father and is disowned by her family, resulting in her becoming a prostitute and owning the Dew Drop Inn where she runs her business along with her (illegitimate) daughter. The disparity between the black and white Americans continue to exist despite the widespread movements across the nation to abolish the same and bridge the gap between the two. Racial isolation that continued through centuries kept the black community away from schools and the education system in general. In the article "Still separate, still unequal" by Jonathan Kozol, the author highlights the disparity between in access to education and other issues such as differences in salaries of teachers in black and white communities (45). The racial disparity is further highlighted in the article by Malcolm X where he states that "Four hundred years of black blood and sweat invested here in America, and the white man still has the black man begging for what every immigrant fresh off the ship can take for granted the minute he walks down the gangplank" (p. 6). This book describes the various key phases in the lives of African Americans at very crucial points in time of American history when the country was in the midst of a major upheaval leading to a series of socio-economic changes. These include the slave trade era, which was described in the beginning of the book through the life of Grange Copeland and his family who worked as sharecroppers on a farm. The story eventually moves on to its next narrative, which symbolises and offers little glimpses into the abolition movement, the beginning of a civil war, the great migration of black communities to the North, and the subsequent reconstruction of the American society, as we know it. This is represented through a small section of the black community that aspired to change their lives by migrating north. Both Grange and his son Brownfield attempted to change their lives by moving North and taste the freedom that the North promised, as compared to the restrictive and limited lifestyle choices that the South had to offer. Works Cited: Primary Sources: Walker, A., (1996). The third life of Grange Copeland. London: The Womens Press Secondary Sources: Gerstel, Naomi and Sarkisian, Natalia. The color of family ties: Race, class, gender, and extended family involvement. In. Colombo, G., Cullen, R., and Lisle, B., (2010). Rereading America. Bedford Publishing. Gleason-White, S., (2001). Revisiting the southern grotesque: Mikhail and the case of Carson McCullers. The Southern Literary Journal, vol. 33 (2): p. 108 - 123 Kozol, Jonathan Still separate, still unequal: Americas educational apartheid cited In. Colombo, G., Cullen, R., and Lisle, B., (2010). Rereading America. Bedford Publishing. Malcolm, X. Learning to read. cited In. Colombo, G., Cullen, R., and Lisle, B., (2010). Rereading America. Bedford Publishing. Soto, Gary. Looking for Work cited In. Colombo, G., Cullen, R., and Lisle, B., (2010). Rereading America. Bedford Publishing. Read More