CRICK CRACK, MONKEY
Analysis of “More than ‘Girl Talk’: Language as Marker in Two Novels by Women of African Descent” By Wendy Walters
Wendy Walters presents several different arguments throughout her analysis of Crick, Crack Monkey. Walters makes a great connection of the juxtaposition of language with social class and status. Her argument focuses on the way speech is acquired through encounters with influential figures as well as the culture, language, and social status that surrounds the individual. Walters believes that language and social class are interconnected and therefore used as an identity among society.
In support of her argument, Walters refers to textual evidence. There is an evident change in Tee’s vocabulary as she shifts from one culture to another. Tee develops a self-awareness of her language and speech when she is introduced to British culture. Walters makes the point that Tee’s speech develops in response to the two most influential figures in her life, her Aunt Tantie and her grandmother whom she calls “Ma”. She goes into detail and explains how Tee acquired her sense of toughness and verbal capability to arouse emotions and provoke thoughts, not necessarily positive, from her Aunt Tantie. Walters also describes this as a relationship and connection with elements within the African descent.
Walters also quotes Franz Fanon in support of her arguments. Fanon once wrote that “to speak a language it to take on a world, a culture.” Throughout her argument, Walters also focuses on British colonization and its effects on the individual. The textual evidence that she uses in support of this argument describe Tee’s encounter with school and church. These two institutions essentially have the ability to gain power and control over Tee’s speech and the way Tee begins to think, altering her perceived self according to the way she was raised by Aunt Tantie and Ma.
Walters’s opinion on the power of culture on speech proved to be very convincing. Textual evidence and support from experienced authors like Franz Fanon not only strengthened her argument but proved to display how concepts from Fanon are closely related to Crick, Crack Monkey and the experience of the main character. Walters refers to another one of Fanon concepts within her argument which talks about the inferiority complex. Fanon elaborates on the colonized people and how the individual creates an inferiority complex within him/ her by accepting the superior culture as opposed to the inferior. The result of this inferiority complex is “becoming whiter and renouncing your blackness” (Fanon 30). This convinces the reader that there is psychological proof that the acquisition of speech is a result of the culture that you inhabit.
This article could be used in my essay to support the argument that culture or social class proves to be an influence on speech. Observing people on a day to day basis, it could probably be easily proven that the way that you talk and the dialect that you inherit is a result of the culture that you adopt as well as influential figures in your life and the people that you are around. The interconnection of language and social class also essentially prove to be a part of identity which could become another connection with Fanon’s concepts.
Analysis of “Toward a Diaspora Literature: Black Women Writers from Africa, the Caribbean, and the United States” By: Gay Wilentz
Gay Wilentz takes a much different approach in his argument concerning the book Crick, Crack Monkey. Wilentz makes an effort to put great emphasis on the cultural aspect of the book as well as the background of African Diaspora culture and tradition. This article argues about the presence of the maternal nature as well as the importance of the role of women in African culture. In reference to the role of women in the African culture, Wilentz proves his argument with the assistance of textual evidence as well as his own background information about African tradition and culture. Crick, Crack Monkey displays the essence and importance of female relationships as well as the influence of women figures in Tee’s life.
While arguing the existence of relational ties throughout the book, Wilentz refers to “Ma”. Ma is described as being the connection to ancestral lines as well as the storyteller and the ultimate maternal nurturer to Tee. He goes into detail and states that Ma’s role as the storyteller preserves the African traditions from generation to generation and also serves as a binding force against the powers of the British colonization in terms of the character Tee. Wilentz emphasizes the importance of generational ties and the ability to transport stories and traditions from generation to generation. He states “Ma, the grandmother, whose Anancy stories conjure up a culture carried to the Americas by their African ancestors.”(Wilentz, 397).
Wilentz reliance on the history of the maternal figure in the African culture demonstrates his ability to accurately research as well as challenging the audience to reference outside sources. His argument as well as his evidential proof from text and historical evidence gives the reader assurance of the link between cultural and historical ties to the book itself.
After thoroughly reading the article, I found that Wilentz’s argument was not only convincing but had the ability to illustrate many necessary contextual elements that the reader could tend to look over. There are many elements that Wilentz presents that could easily form a connection to the recurrent theme of identity throughout the book. African Diaspora, traditions, values, etc. are social ties and essentially a way to indentify an individual. Wilentz’s argument could perhaps be used to form a solution to Tee’s identity crisis.
This argument could highlight the importance of the role women and contrast the role of women in American society as opposed to women in African culture. I could use this argument within in essay challenging the ideals and duties of women in an Caribbean society verses the African society and ultimately question if there is a difference between the maternal natures of African American verses Caucasian or African verses the British colonized. How Tee’s maternal influences change over cultural formation.
Analysis of “Revising Our Kumblas: Transforming Feminist and Nationalist Agendas in Three Caribbean Women’s Text By: Rhonda Cobham
One of the most prominent themes within the book Crick, Crack Monkey is the on going comparison between the “fantasy middle-class” and the “reality of the lower-class.” Rhonda Cobham critically analyzes this comparison through textual evidence and even goes as far as saying “Crick, Crack resembles the novels of many male Caribbean writers in that it offers us no way of resolving this contradiction between the sterile middle- class fantasy and sordid lower-class reality.” Cobham’s comparison to male writers is an interesting concept.. She makes another statement referring to the masculinity of the character of “Ma” arguing that Ma played a “masculine role” in Tee’s life. Cobham makes an interesting point and also justifies her argument with textual evidence elaborating on Ma’s dress as well as Ma’s occupation as a farmer, which is closely associated with masculinity.
Cobham’s argument produces a different and interesting approach. She successfully challenges Wilentz’s view of Ma being the maternal figure within Tee’s life. Therefore, Ma becomes a controversial character throughout Crick, Crack who indefinitely provides somewhat of a paternal feeling for Tee whether it was masculine or feminine. Cobham also establishes a valid claim when she elaborates on the clear difference between the reality of the lower-class and the fantasy middle-class. This is a continuous issue throughout the book that proves to be another connection to identity and how one’s environment essentially leads to a change of self. Tee being brought up in the reality of the lower-class experiences a reality check when she comes into contact with the fantasy of the middle-class.
The controversial figure of “Ma” seems to be one of great interest among author’s critiques. Ma’s character interconnects with the ideas of the role of women in the African culture as well as the importance of influential women in Tee’s life. These factors essentially contribute to the theme of identity which is recurrent in Caribbean literature. I could also use this article to argue that these maternal figures are influential in Tee’s life.
1.) Cobham, Rhonda "Revisioning Our Kumblas: Transforming Feminist and Nationalist Agendas in Three Caribbean Women's Texts." Callaloo: A Journal of African American and African Arts and Letters 16.1 (1993): 44-64. MLA International Bibliography. EBSCO. Web. 3 Dec. 2009.
2.) Walters, Wendy W. "More Than 'Girl Talk': Language as Marker in Two Novels by Women of African Descent." Pacific Coast Philology 27.1-2 (1992): 159-165. MLA International Bibliography. EBSCO. Web. 3 Dec. 2009.
3.) Wilentz, Gay "Toward a Diaspora Literature: Black Women Writers from Africa, the Caribbean, and the United States." College English 54.4 (1992): 385-405. MLA International Bibliography. EBSCO. Web. 3 Dec. 2009.
