A Space For Expression and Introspection
A Space To Be Determined.
A Space To Be Determined.
Another Brooklyn, the novel by Jacqueline Woodson, mentions early on this idea of jazz being this force that wasn’t available to August and her friends during their childhoods in Brooklyn. An interesting preposition given Jazz’s unique importance to the African-American experience as a whole. A bit further in the novel, August describes herself and her friends as a sort of jazz improv group. Jazz is a form of music that I very much enjoy myself, mainly because of how broad it can be. Woodson seems to be painting August, Gigi, Sylvia, and Angela with brush strokes laced in jazz flare. Their quartet features a myriad of varying personalities that combine to form a shared experience of “growing up girl in Brooklyn” (pg. 3). Jazz provides its practitioners the opportunity to convey emotions through the music, through the beat of your drum, through the notes of your saxophone, etc. Jazz is very cathartic, as this novel could’ve been for Woodson, even if its not autobiographical. The chaotic nature of jazz is mirrored by the even more chaotic lives of the four girls mentioned here. Angela is repressing knowledge of her mother’s existence from her friends, August is grappling with not having a mother around to love her, Gigi is trying to keep the four together, and Sylvia is under the iron fist of an abusive father. Chaos surrounds these girls on a daily basis, same as the people who frequeted jazz bars back in the ‘20s. However, when these girls are together against their individual pain they create a force not known by many around them. This unity creates a shared bond that strengthens them in their plight, they each give the other something to root for amongst the chaos. The same as jazz does to this very day. Their bond is a jazz improv group, and that bond was a force to be reckoned with. Which is why it was sad that that bond was shattered under the micro-pressures of society at large. Together they were unstoppable because they had each other.
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Sandra Cisneros is an inspiration of mine. A new one admittedly but an inspiration nonetheless. In the 25th anniversary edition of her novel, The House on Mango Street, Cisneros uses text and form to confront the rules of the society around her, and around all of us still. And although awareness is rising, the themes raised in this book are still relevant today. When comparing this book (which I’m not) to Another Brooklyn by Jacqueline Woodson, I find that while both books explore themes of friendship, yearning for a better life, girlhood/sexuality, etc. each novel explores these themes in varying ways. Cisneros in particular seems to be looking back with a child-like innocence. Having listened to the audiobook of this novel, I can attest to this even further. Woodson on the other hand seems to be writing from a reflective perspective and seems to have a darker outlook on the past. While I’m in no position to critique either’s reasoning for respective povs, I do think it’s interesting that Cisneros chooses to write in the way she does. As I said before, there seems to be an innocence rising from these words even though Esperanza herself is a teenager during the events of the novel. Children are very dream oriented and they seem to operate around the world being this big place revolving around them. Esperanza is a young girl who dreams of a house all her own, she wishes to escape from the clutches of poverty. Cisneros seems to be commenting on Esperanza’s hopes as child-like dreams in the face of reality around her. That reality being that young women can be swallowed up trying to advance themselves. Esperanza mentions her grandmother early on who is forced to reside behind the window of her home as she is now burdened with being wed to an inconsiderate spouse who forbids her from working out of the home. Esperanza mentions that she wants the home but not the seat behind a window, essentially waiting to die. Her grandmother’s story is a very sad one even through the eyes of a child and this story resonates throughout the entirety of the novel. In The House on Mango Street, Cisneros writes a young woman attempting to turn her dreams into a reality among a cesspool of darkness. The un-blurring of her potential greatness. Imagine if you lived at Disney World everyday of your life. Imagine being able to wake up, open the curtains and see a beautiful sun rise on a new glorious day. No worries, just bliss like this picture here, a fairy tale. Now I think I may have oversold the idea of fairy tale living when considering Boy, Snow, Bird regardless, lets stick with the fairy tale motif for at least a few more sentences. To be honest I'm not really into fairy tales, I never have been either. So when reading Boy, Snow, Bird by Helen Oyeyemi, it was a struggle for me keeping up with the references to fairy tale dynamics and toying with them alike. That said, I believe that Boy, Snow, Bird handles the weight of "happy ever after" well. Oyeyemi also weaves in many tropes of the genre into the narrative and for the most part they land. The novel also juggles a myriad of themes including race and class. Bouncing off of that point-- it's fair to say that Snow was a more privileged character than either Bird or Boy, story-wise. Her looks are worshipped and her skin is light enough to escape the same struggles as a darker toned Bird. Snow is treated like a princess (didn't catch this until class discussion). At the same time, Snow is a product of her environment, if no one treats her differently from Bird or anyone else who's darker-skinned then I assume that Snow would act less "princessy" (Not a word I know, repetitive I know). So I'd say that Snow isn't innocent but she is still a victim, a victim of the system around her. Compounded with being sent away by her mother doesn't help matters either. I could imagine quite the surge of anger and resentment towards Boy as a result. I believe that Boy and Snow's relationship isn't healed by the end of the novel but it seems to be on the right path. Sending away a child is a move that only has consequences, no such thing as a re-do after something like that. With that in mind, Boy knows that sending Snow away against her will was a monumental decision and thus the guilt would most likely be high. Boy may not regret her decision but she had to feel some level of guilt for it. Oyeyemi handles conflicts like these well and as a result her novel isn't just a book about race, it's also a book about motherhood and love. |
Trey BrownA creative-writing major at Wright State with a particular interest in motion pictures. Archives
April 2019
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