Racial Identity, Space and Geography Operating within Girl and On Being Brought From Africa to America - Essay Example

?Racial Identity, Space and Geography Operating within “Girl” and “On Being Brought From Africa to America” INTRODUCTION Race, space and geography are intricately woven within the texts of post-colonial and post modern period. In the insightful short story, “ Girl” and its comparative analysis with the poem , ‘ On Being Brought from Africa to America’, one shall get the glimpses of the issues of gender, race and geography operating intricately within the context an backdrop of the texts upon which the texts have been brewed. This was the social scenario of many first world countries even at the wake of twentieth century and to be frank and precise continues till date. Analyzing the texts, “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid and “On Being Brought from Africa to America” by Phillis Wheatley involves the space for race and cultural identity intricately connected with the geography or the backdrop upon which the plot of the texts were interwoven. The essay shall focus on the thematic analysis of the short story, “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid and the poem, “On Being Brought from Africa to America” by Phillis Wheatley and judge the intricate relations between race, culture, identity, space and geography inherent and operational within the texts. RACE AND CULTURAL IDENTITY IN GIRL BY JAMAICA KINCAID AND ON BEING BROUGHT FROM AFRICA TO AMERICA BY PHILLIS WHEATLEY Girl by Jamaica Kincaid is a story which flows like a poem and enlists a how-to-do list along with a compact what-to-do list. But never ever in the story, the precise ways for doing things have been mentioned. The text can interpret well from the feminist point of view as the inclusion of the agenda of flesh trade is being made quite potent within the text by the repeated mention of the word ‘slut’. Race also plays a very important role in the text. The mother not only teaches the girl to become a prudent and well behaved feminine entity, but also indicates the girl not to assault a ‘blackbird’ like young boys who generally throw stone at the ‘blackbird’. The text includes the lines, “don't throw stones at blackbirds, because it might not be a blackbird at all;” (Kincaid, “Girl”). The lines are symbolic and refer that anything which is black should not be subjugated to any kind of assault. A ‘black’ entity is a taboo. However, people often forget that everything black is not evil. There is a beautiful and vibrant life beneath the black skin which has equal right to survive and make space for its own self in this land of divine entities. A close introspection to the line ending the text also shall launch the readers into a realm which connects gender identity with that of race and culture. The subtle and intricate identity of the girl in the story has been maintained quite prudently throughout the text which finds a very profound and symbolic expression at the closure of the text, “you mean to say that after all you are really going to be the kind of woman who the baker won't let near the bread?” (Kincaid, “Girl”). This line clearly indicates the gender discrimination along with an identity crisis, a sort of discrimination that is going to arise from the racial indiscrimination as well. The power-centre discourse operating within the text, “Girl” hints at the identity crisis inherent within the story. The voice of the girl is being stifled by her mother. She is being repeatedly instructed, chided and made aware of her space and role assigned in the society. The voice of the mother here appears as both mesmerizing and paralyzing. Here the girl is being portrayed as an oppressed and the voice of the mother appears as an oppressor. The escapade from the power of the mother, her overwhelming influence shall only allow the girl, the oppressed to establish her identity within a specific assigned space (Kincaid, “Girl”). On the other hand, the identity, race and geography, the crisis of cultural identity along with a fine tuning of Diasporas operates within the poem of Phillis Wheatley, ‘On Being Brought from Africa to America’. Gender crisis operates strongly within the poetry of Phillis and as a slave poetess of America Phillis was not accredited for a long span of time. ‘On being brought from Africa to America’ is a poem that reminds Phillis her trajectory as a slave. At the outset of the poem, she thanks the system of slavery as she has been introduced to Christianity. Moreover, her escaped from the pagan land is also illuminated. Nevertheless, there are inherent ironies operating within the poem whose symbolic interface indicates a pungent irony with the inception of the word, ‘mercy’. The phrases such as “mercy brought me” and “on being brought” indicate violence inflicted upon her when she was abducted and compelled to be a slave. The paradoxes and the subtle interplay of the words within the poem indicate a stark aversion towards racial discrimination. Wheatley uses the word ‘sable’ in the first line. ‘Sable’ is a valuable item and her intended inclusion of the word, ‘diabolic die’ indicates a conflict and paradox which again hints at the other dimension of the “triangle” trade which precisely includes the slaves. There is also a stark sense of ambiguity that pervades the poem. The penultimate line of the poem is being addressed to the “Christians”. The poet here takes the stand of a preacher or a commander. She might likely include the Christians among those who need a refinement and are subjected to salvation or she even might directly refer to the Christians and use it as a command to give them a verdict. The ending line of the poem is intriguing and places the ambiguity of identity and racial identity crisis to the pinnacle. The poem ends with the following lines, “Remember, Christians, Negros, black as Cain, May be refin'd, and join th' angelic train.” (Wheatley, “On Being Brought from Africa to America”) Here the poet makes her readers inclusive. She is reminiscence of the fact that Negroes might be subjected to slavery but the clever intrusion of the verb, “remember” makes her note that already the readers have come to terms with her point and just need to make a simple agreement with her point of contention. A thorough journey through the poem, “On Being Brought from Africa to America’; shall enable the readers to comprehend a conflict between slave trade and feeling of servitude which is expressed in a latent manner throughout the poem. The cultural identity crisis through which the slaves on being brought to America had to undergo surfaces out abruptly within the poem through the paradoxical ideas and conflicts which the poet places throughout her poem. CONCLUSION Through the analysis and in-depth introspection of the texts, “Girl” and “On Being Brought from Africa to America”, the context of gender, race and cultural identity along with the pang of its crisis owing to the uprooting of races become evident. The discourse of racial identity and crisis intertwined with the gender inequality and identities have been a commonplace subject of the texts discussed in the essay. The discussion not only opens a new dimension towards racial and cultural identity owing to the Diasporas associated with relocation of races involved in slave trade, but also adds a newer perspective to the relation between oppressors and oppressed. The texts are seminal but not contemporary, yet they uphold a pungent tone inherent within their context which indicates a potent conflict and paradoxes operating within the realm of space, race and gender inclusive within the texts ‘ “Girl” and “On Being Brought from Africa to America”. Works Cited Kincaid, Jamaica. Girl. 2013. Web. 11 Oct. 2013. Wheatley, Phillis. On Being Brought from Africa to America. 2013. Web. 11 Oct. 2013. Read More