Colin Lebzelter ENG3299 Blog

 The Disturbances of the Garden  "But where is the garden and where am I in it?"(P6), this line metaphorically lays out a question that everyone has, what is life and where do I fit into everything? I think the garden can be viewed as an extended metaphor for life itself and the struggles that people face sometimes to figure out how they fit into the world around them. Especially in the Caribbean sometimes being spilt between two cultures or an islands with stark economic and racial contrasts people were forced to ask themselves where exactly they were supposed to be in this world.  "On August 3, 1492—the day that Christopher Columbus set sail from Spain, later having a fatal encounter with the indigenous people he met in the “West Indies”—the world of the garden changed."(P8), this line shows where all this change and cultural confusion began. At the end of the day when we ask ourselves who caused the Caribbean to be the way it is today, the answer is all of the Eu...

Caribbean Verse: The History of Literature by Arturo Cattaneo           "How choose between this Africa and the English tongue that I love? Betray them both? or Give back what they give?"(88), this quote from Derek Walcott sums up the central purpose of the article in that people of the Caribbean often have trouble distinguishing their identity. The Caribbean is unique in it's language and often categorized based upon it. But making the Caribbean homogenize into a language similar to the United States would take a way a piece of their culture. Australian English and British English are a fair amount different from American English and represent a culture and a history central to their nation. I think despite any stereotypes that may come out, it is the Caribbean language that some view as broken English that is deeply ingrained in the people. The language is sort of English sort of from somewhere else and that represents the people there very well. They're ...

 Passport to Paradise      I really liked this story because it shows the power that people have when they stand behind religion, whether it be good or bad intentioned. In the story, a foreign man blows into town claiming to have power and offers tickets to the afterlife. The people of the village allow the existing clergy to be usurped by this man who claims to do the same thing but for a price. The legitimacy of the foreign man is never definitively stated but either way the people of the village seemed to believe him without much question. "Everyone in the market place said he possessed the power to make amulets which were passports to paradise"(275), at this point the actual legitimacy of the magician no longer matters because the people believe that he has power and therefore he does.     "Heaven open to everybody and sin gone out of use....Man's imagination can certainly go to unfathomable depths"(276), this line alone points to many different religio...

 The Inheritance of My Father: A Story For Listening by Astrid Roemer      This story follows a girl as she travels to her father's home country of Surinam, to discover her roots and meet her grandmother.  "After that night I began to think about everything, who my parents were, about my mother, where my father is from"(349), the narrator immediately is revealed to be struggling with who she is as a person and has many questions of where her parents came from and how they come from two very different cultural backgrounds. The narrator speaks about how she would go outside and be call names due to her ethnic background. Her father is of Afro-Caribbean descent and her mother is of white American descent. This causes much confusion for the narrator as she is called "half-breed" by her own grandmother among many other derogatory names and racial slurs. At the beginning of the story the narrator has questions about herself and her ancestry that cab only be answered b...

 My Brother's Keeper by Geoffrey Philp     My brother's keeper follows a cynical young boy as he is forced to adjust his life after his half-brother moves in with him upon the death of his father. "I don't like hating people, but when him step in through the door with him new bag, new shoes, new shirt, and new pants, and me sitting there in the living room with no shoes tear up, tear up, I hate him even more"(434), this line definitely made me empathize for Umpire as he is living in poverty and now has to live with David who is younger but vastly more privileged. It doesn't seem fair that Umpire has all of these responsibilities like "always have to fetch uncle George" (435) and living in a single-parent household with an abusive family and having this kid blow into town seeming to have everything. Coming from a blue-collar and working-class background I definitely understand what it is like to envy those around you, those close to you, and even to f...

 Morris, Bhaiya by Clyde Hosein "Morris was an island in a sea of Indians"(277), the story opens with this line and instantly gives the reader insight into the theme that Morris as an African man feels like a minority. Morris is one of two Africans in his predominantly Indian community along with Miss. Jenny, and has adopted many Indian tendencies as a result. Morris knows their language, will dress in their clothes, works with them, and worships with them, yet he is still not one of them. "All them creole people in Kora renting house and room from Indian"(280), this shows not only are there more Indians but there is inequality that exists between Indians and Africans on the island. With Africans being the minority group their cultural differences lead to them being discriminated against and this is the unfortunate truth in the post-colonial Caribbean. I thought that people could live together harmoniously in the post-colonial world regardless of ethnicity since all...

When Women Love Men  by Rossario Ferr é    "When Women Love Men" provides both an intriguing and shocking perspective on women. The line  "Have always known that a prostitute hides under the skin of every lady"(258), surprised me and caused me to read it twice. I can't get behind this inherent sexualization of women and the idea that they all "get around" or are all sexual deviants. When interpreting the idea that women are prostitutes deep down it could also point to the thought that women all have sexual desires deep down. Which I would agree with only to the point that all women are interested in sex at the right time in their life or at least in their mind, the same way all men are interested in sex and have desires even if they are sworn to celibacy. I feel like this line is partially rebutted with the later line "Because we have always known each prostitute is a potential lady."(258), this goes back to the idea that oftentimes women in ...

 Elza     Elza is an intriguing film on discovering your identity and the place you come from. Elza certainly learns much on what it means to be from the Caribbean and how they lead a different way of life. I think that would foremost stood out to me was the income disparity between rich and poor groups on the island. Elza's father owns a construction company that is built off the profits of extremely impoverished and overworked employees. It seems that Elza's father is the only one doing well on the whole island, with Bernard doing markedly better than most but still didn't appear to be of great wealth. Bernard is also white, and Elza's father is of mixed descent but still whiter than most. This points to the idea that there is not only an extreme income disparity on the island but there is an extreme racial disparity on the island too. Race and income go hand in hand in the Caribbean but also around the world. Often times you'll find that poverty is correlated wit...

    Moko Jumbie is an interesting, at times cryptic and jumbled film. I really enjoyed how it showed life in the Caribbean is different depending on who you are. Asha comes to the Caribbean and immediately finds a much different way of life from London. I think what struck me immediately was the difference between Roger and Asha's household, they essentially live in two different worlds and live merely across the street. This shows that the idea of inequality in the Caribbean isn't built on a single ruling class and a single underclass. The social castes are multi-tiered in the Caribbean and are heavily built on ethnicity at certain points. Asha and her family is of Indian origin and are held socially higher than people of Afro-Caribbean ethnicity. Economic status could factor in this to an extent in that rodger appeared to be impoverished as well, but even with all other factors equal people of Afro-Caribbean descent are held lower than people of Indian-ethnicity. All of thes...

 To Da-Duh, In Memorandum by Paule Marshall     This story covers the narrator meeting her grandmother Da-Duh, in her ancestral home in the Caribbean. The story quickly reveals the stark difference between New York City and the natural beauty of Barbados and the cultural offerings of the area. "Whether she might not be some child the same time she was a woman"(160), the story quickly jumps into meeting Da-Duh who is described as visibly very old. I was intrigued by the comparison that this draws between people in their old age and children both physically and mentally. I had heard of this concept that old age is similar to being a child in that someone needs to care for you. I find the parallels interesting but I don't exactly agree that old age is the same as childhood. Many old people have disabilities but are entirely capable of advanced thought and processing, and many of them need care at different levels some need almost no care at all. Infants all need care to surv...