CRICK CRACK, MONKEY
Context Essay: Crick, Crack Monkey
Crick, Crack Monkey, a book of Trinidadian influence includes the linguistics of the Island as well as apparent influences from authors like Franz Fanon and Derek Walcott. The book emulates the concepts of identity and the experience of the lived black woman in Fanon’s Black Skin, White Mask through the controversial character of Tee.
Tee as well as Aunt Tantie expresses the dialect of the Trinidadian island. The official language of Trinidad is English. Although English is the official dialect, the main language spoken is Trinidadian Creole English and Tobagonian Creole English. The unfamiliar dialect used throughout the book is a barrier between the audience and the author. The additional use of the French vocabulary emphasizes the importance of language in the Trinidadian culture and develops the essence of the binding force of language through Trinidadian community and family. Words and phrases like “dou-dou” which means “darling, sweetie-pie” and “djablesse” which means “Female devil” are used throughout conversation to display the heavy French influence as well as the cultural atmosphere of Trinidadian society. (Wikipedia.com)
Tee, the main character in the book, faces social adversity in coming to terms with her identity which is an ongoing theme in Fanon’s Black Skin, White Masks. Tee also endures the affects of colonization, not British colonization per say but the colonization of an inferior culture. Fanon says “The black man is unaware of it as long as he lives among his people; but at the first white gaze, he feels the weight of his melanin” (Fanon 128). Auntie Beatrice’s goal was to ultimately “whiten” Tee; she becomes an example of “whitening the race.” Under the guardianship of Auntie Beatrice, Tee is faced with many instances of racial and social construct. Beatrice often makes references to the “coolies” and the “niggers”, she expounds upon the fact that she believes the “coolies” have higher status and position than the “niggers.” When Beatrice refers to the “niggers”, she is referring to Aunt Tantie.
The transition from staying with Auntie Tantie to staying with Auntie Beatrice forces Tee to inherit and essentially assimilate to a culture unknown to what was familiar to her. Auntie Beatrice tries to colonize Tee, attempting to refine the way Tee dressed, talked and ultimately the way she presented herself in front of others. She became the representation of Auntie Beatrice, having to disregard all that she was taught and grew to understand. Tee says “And then she was suppressing the clothes I had brought with me: ‘Do you really like that dress, dear?’ she would suggest to me with a faint turning up of the nose over the broadcast of smiles” (Hodge 85). The reader is able to sense the tension that is built as a result of the transition and opposition toward adapting and assimilating to Auntie Beatrice’s culture, society, and family life. Beatrice’s attempt to assimilate Tee is combined with her attempt to raise a child who will perceive culture and social identification as significant, something her daughter Carol refuses to do.
There is also a distinct difference between light-skinned and dark-skinned represented through the character of Aunt Beatrice. Aunt Beatrice has two daughters by the names of Jessica and Carol. Jessica is darker skinned and Carol lighter-skinned. Tee observes the clear difference between the two, in the fact that Aunt Beatrice plays favorites and gives more attention to Carol. Also, while Tee attends school at St. Anne’s she is faced with the issue of race. There were many different ways in which the girls at St. Anne’s could get involved, whether it was choir of the Drama Society. Each girl’s association with these groups was ultimately determined by their physical appearance as opposed to their potential ability. Tee states “But then Jessica had always been at St. Ann’s, and she was neither in the choir nor anything else but the Second Company of the Guides. I thought perhaps this was why I sometimes saw Auntie Beatrice contemplating her with a kind of anxiety, sizing her up from one angle and then from another, and seeming to shake her head in despair” (Hodge 82). There is eminent reason to believe that Auntie Beatrice held prejudice against her darker-skinned child.
Throughout the chapter “The Lived Experience of the Black Man” Fanon talks about the “white gaze” and how every black man is a representation of his/her race. The black man is also made to feel inferior. Tee’s lived experience is synonymous to the lived experience of the black man. She faces the “white gaze” through the character Carol. Carol is Auntie Beatrice’s daughter who is fearful of the superiority that Tee could ensue as a result of forming a close relationship with Auntie Beatrice and essentially taking her place. Carol has not respect for her mother, and she has a willingness to be the center of attention. She doesn’t want to recognize Tee in any way, and she often refers to her as “she”: “Sitting in state upon the bed Carol referred to me only as she” (Hodge 76). Carol does not want to recognize Tee as a person which ultimately effects her perception of her own identity.
Omeros, an epic poem, also elaborates on the significance of a name which is closely associated to one’s identity. Names define humanity; we all have names that were given to us through some sort of significance. In attempts to change Tee, Aunt Beatrice changes her name. Tee states “Aunt Beatrice called me ‘Cynthia’, as if I were in school. And she always called Toddan ‘Codrington’, and Toddan never knew she meant him. ‘It was your Auntie Beatrice who have you that name, dear,’ she said to him, ‘when you were a little tiny baby. Don’t you think it’s nicer than that silly name they call you?’ Toddan usually nodded hurriedly to whatever Auntie Beatrice said to him, so as to be set free to go about his business again. But I took personal offence to her objection to Toddan’s name” (Hodge 40). In this instance, we are not only shown the power of a name but the power someone gains from initiating a change of name and even creating a name for someone. ‘Cynthia” is the proper name given to Tee and this is the result of Auntie Beatrice’s attempt to colonize.
In conclusion, Tee imitates many of Fanon’s ideas on identity and her struggle is one that all readers can relate too. Crick, Crack Monkey embodies the culture of the Trinidadian islands and represents Caribbean literature, in aspects of finding oneself through the cataclysm of family and the transition from superior to inferior cultural and social status. The conclusion of the book leaves the reader with no satisfaction, as Tee travels back to England to be with her father. She states, “Everything was changing, unrecognizable, pushing me out. This was as it should be, since I had moved up and no longer had any place here” (Hodge 122). After living among both cultures and society, Tee still has not established a form of identity but instead she is even more confused. She travels to England in hope of forming a better bond with her father, a paternal figure whom she can identify with because of blood ties.
1.) Fanon, Frantz. Black Skin, White Masks. New York: Grove, 2007. Print.
2.) Wikipedia. Web. 08 Dec. 2009. <http://www.wikipedia.com>.
Crick, Crack Monkey, a book of Trinidadian influence includes the linguistics of the Island as well as apparent influences from authors like Franz Fanon and Derek Walcott. The book emulates the concepts of identity and the experience of the lived black woman in Fanon’s Black Skin, White Mask through the controversial character of Tee.
Tee as well as Aunt Tantie expresses the dialect of the Trinidadian island. The official language of Trinidad is English. Although English is the official dialect, the main language spoken is Trinidadian Creole English and Tobagonian Creole English. The unfamiliar dialect used throughout the book is a barrier between the audience and the author. The additional use of the French vocabulary emphasizes the importance of language in the Trinidadian culture and develops the essence of the binding force of language through Trinidadian community and family. Words and phrases like “dou-dou” which means “darling, sweetie-pie” and “djablesse” which means “Female devil” are used throughout conversation to display the heavy French influence as well as the cultural atmosphere of Trinidadian society. (Wikipedia.com)
Tee, the main character in the book, faces social adversity in coming to terms with her identity which is an ongoing theme in Fanon’s Black Skin, White Masks. Tee also endures the affects of colonization, not British colonization per say but the colonization of an inferior culture. Fanon says “The black man is unaware of it as long as he lives among his people; but at the first white gaze, he feels the weight of his melanin” (Fanon 128). Auntie Beatrice’s goal was to ultimately “whiten” Tee; she becomes an example of “whitening the race.” Under the guardianship of Auntie Beatrice, Tee is faced with many instances of racial and social construct. Beatrice often makes references to the “coolies” and the “niggers”, she expounds upon the fact that she believes the “coolies” have higher status and position than the “niggers.” When Beatrice refers to the “niggers”, she is referring to Aunt Tantie.
The transition from staying with Auntie Tantie to staying with Auntie Beatrice forces Tee to inherit and essentially assimilate to a culture unknown to what was familiar to her. Auntie Beatrice tries to colonize Tee, attempting to refine the way Tee dressed, talked and ultimately the way she presented herself in front of others. She became the representation of Auntie Beatrice, having to disregard all that she was taught and grew to understand. Tee says “And then she was suppressing the clothes I had brought with me: ‘Do you really like that dress, dear?’ she would suggest to me with a faint turning up of the nose over the broadcast of smiles” (Hodge 85). The reader is able to sense the tension that is built as a result of the transition and opposition toward adapting and assimilating to Auntie Beatrice’s culture, society, and family life. Beatrice’s attempt to assimilate Tee is combined with her attempt to raise a child who will perceive culture and social identification as significant, something her daughter Carol refuses to do.
There is also a distinct difference between light-skinned and dark-skinned represented through the character of Aunt Beatrice. Aunt Beatrice has two daughters by the names of Jessica and Carol. Jessica is darker skinned and Carol lighter-skinned. Tee observes the clear difference between the two, in the fact that Aunt Beatrice plays favorites and gives more attention to Carol. Also, while Tee attends school at St. Anne’s she is faced with the issue of race. There were many different ways in which the girls at St. Anne’s could get involved, whether it was choir of the Drama Society. Each girl’s association with these groups was ultimately determined by their physical appearance as opposed to their potential ability. Tee states “But then Jessica had always been at St. Ann’s, and she was neither in the choir nor anything else but the Second Company of the Guides. I thought perhaps this was why I sometimes saw Auntie Beatrice contemplating her with a kind of anxiety, sizing her up from one angle and then from another, and seeming to shake her head in despair” (Hodge 82). There is eminent reason to believe that Auntie Beatrice held prejudice against her darker-skinned child.
Throughout the chapter “The Lived Experience of the Black Man” Fanon talks about the “white gaze” and how every black man is a representation of his/her race. The black man is also made to feel inferior. Tee’s lived experience is synonymous to the lived experience of the black man. She faces the “white gaze” through the character Carol. Carol is Auntie Beatrice’s daughter who is fearful of the superiority that Tee could ensue as a result of forming a close relationship with Auntie Beatrice and essentially taking her place. Carol has not respect for her mother, and she has a willingness to be the center of attention. She doesn’t want to recognize Tee in any way, and she often refers to her as “she”: “Sitting in state upon the bed Carol referred to me only as she” (Hodge 76). Carol does not want to recognize Tee as a person which ultimately effects her perception of her own identity.
Omeros, an epic poem, also elaborates on the significance of a name which is closely associated to one’s identity. Names define humanity; we all have names that were given to us through some sort of significance. In attempts to change Tee, Aunt Beatrice changes her name. Tee states “Aunt Beatrice called me ‘Cynthia’, as if I were in school. And she always called Toddan ‘Codrington’, and Toddan never knew she meant him. ‘It was your Auntie Beatrice who have you that name, dear,’ she said to him, ‘when you were a little tiny baby. Don’t you think it’s nicer than that silly name they call you?’ Toddan usually nodded hurriedly to whatever Auntie Beatrice said to him, so as to be set free to go about his business again. But I took personal offence to her objection to Toddan’s name” (Hodge 40). In this instance, we are not only shown the power of a name but the power someone gains from initiating a change of name and even creating a name for someone. ‘Cynthia” is the proper name given to Tee and this is the result of Auntie Beatrice’s attempt to colonize.
In conclusion, Tee imitates many of Fanon’s ideas on identity and her struggle is one that all readers can relate too. Crick, Crack Monkey embodies the culture of the Trinidadian islands and represents Caribbean literature, in aspects of finding oneself through the cataclysm of family and the transition from superior to inferior cultural and social status. The conclusion of the book leaves the reader with no satisfaction, as Tee travels back to England to be with her father. She states, “Everything was changing, unrecognizable, pushing me out. This was as it should be, since I had moved up and no longer had any place here” (Hodge 122). After living among both cultures and society, Tee still has not established a form of identity but instead she is even more confused. She travels to England in hope of forming a better bond with her father, a paternal figure whom she can identify with because of blood ties.
1.) Fanon, Frantz. Black Skin, White Masks. New York: Grove, 2007. Print.
2.) Wikipedia. Web. 08 Dec. 2009. <http://www.wikipedia.com>.
