Brown Girl Broownstone by Paule Marshall Essay

Paule Marshall writes about the social issues, the aspects and standards of lack persons living in America. Novels written in 1959 and it explores the black immigrants search for identity in American society. The novel wrote against the stereotypes of the black race and it was a milestone for African-American Fiction. Race and gender be discussed simultaneously as she speaks out against racism and presents her womanish character as being different form the stereotype The novel centres on Selina who suffers a traumatic childhood through to womanhood and has her psyche damaged by comparing herself to the white ideology of what makes a teenage girl beautiful. She feels inadequate because she does not math up to the definition of white elegance She too faces an internal struggle due to the fact that both her parents have differing ideologies. The title Brownstones refers to the milieu in which the telephone exchange characters live.The novel begins in 1939 and it opens with the las t white residence leaving the brownstones and selling/renting to the Barbadian lodge . The house, the acquiring of such and the attitude towards the house defined the characters. The house therefore becomes a central symbolic representation in the novel. The title of the novel signal the life of Selina the brown juxtaposes the girl is synonymous to the racial and gender issues at work in the novel. Placing the brownstones next to the girl browngirl emphasises the importance of personal development and individuality. The marshalls description of the brownstones is real telling and suggested under the thick ivy each house had something distinctively its own these brownstones appear as if they were one house even though individuality is there. But the novel also suggests that theses brownstones all character the same tragic fate. They are all draped in ivy as though grief The novel is divided into four books.Book 1 entitled A Long Day and A long Night it sets up the basic tension b etween n Selinas parents Silla and Deighton (dispute over land). The secondly book is titled Pastoral, Selina who is on the verge of adolescence. Selina who goes to Beryl to realize a sense of freedom here we find . The third book title war corresponds with the world war 2 but is also substantial as a symbol of the Barbadian communitys war against racism as well(p) as the conflict between Silla and Deighton The last book title Selina concludes the novel, rev eals the attempts to come to terms with her baffle as well as a discovery of her true self. The final aspects of her growth are minute in this section. Itis through the relationship with Clive that Selina realizes the numerous similarities between herself and her mother. In the novel the protagonists realizes that the mother is a gent victim of racism rather than her enemy.Major themes in Brown Girl Broownstone1. The Search for Identity2. The racial issues and relationships3. Femininity and Gender4. The Effects of Migratio n/ Capitalism on the individual5. The Relationship between the private and the Public, the individual(prenominal) and the Communal, the Individual vs the Community 6. The Impact of the Environment/ Personal Setting on Personal Development7. familiar Awareness and Exploration8. Nostalgia and the West Indian Condition9. Male/ Female Relationships and FamilyStructural and Technical Devices employ by the Writer1. Form- Bildungsroman, it is written predominantly in 3rd pov. , divided into four books, the use of quotations from the Barbadian community as preludes2. Symbolism- The title brownstone houses, Deightons land, Barbados, the presence and absence of light is symbolic of awareness, knowledge and due date3. Some characters who are symbols are Suggie, Miss Thompson, Miss Mary, Beryl, the Homeowners Association4. Structural Elements- use of West Indian Vernacular (used to show a sense of identity with their West Indian counterparts)5. Characterization (in this novel characters are developed through relationships with other characters along with the setting and the authors description )6. Plot social organization (the plot is linear and chronological allowing for the adequate development of Selina7. Setting New York vs. Barbados and the tension of place