43 pages • 1 hour read
Abeng
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Symbols & Motifs
Skin color
The different shades of skin color are a prevalent theme in the novel. Each character is either explicitly described as lighter- or darker-skinned or implicitly relegated to the white or Black social groups, based on their financial situation. The community considers British people the ideal and deems anyone who is slightly darker or has curly hair as lower on the social hierarchy. Consequently, white people can be short on funds, as in the case of Clare’s father, but the community never treats them as poor. Black people are assumed to be poor and, usually, have no way of escaping poverty. If someone who is dark-skinned owns property, it is usually because they come from a mixed family, as in the case of Miss Mattie. In this way, skin color and social status become almost synonymous and one serves to reinforce the other. As a result, everyone attempts to preserve their whiteness or the perception of whiteness. In such a situation, darkness is the worst thing that can happen to a person; it is feared and despised. However, after several centuries, the entire population of Jamaica is mixed to a greater or lesser extent, which means that everyone is afraid of, and hates, a part of themselves and of their heritage. These feelings of fear and hatred externalize through the mistreatment of the people who embody it—the dark-skinned islanders.
Clothing vs Nakedness
Being clothed is a theme related to skin color and social status. Being naked is equated with being primitive, which, under racism, means Blackness. White people always dress properly, which, in the Jamaican context, means they are wearing too many clothes for the local climate, but because they do not need to work outside, they can afford to overdress. Clothes, in this way, become an expression of the social distance between former masters and former slaves which remains despite the Act of Emancipation.
Being clothed is also an expression of moral superiority. Miss Mattie wears long dresses and heavy shoes, and she is considered extremely pious. People going to church always wear their best clothes. In Christianity, the human body is not something that parishioners should admire or display, thus, wearing clothes becomes an expression of religiosity. Always being covered is also a way to differentiate between Christians and pagans, and since white Europeans are at the top of the social hierarchy, it is important to imitate their customs, in order to escape the label “savage.”
Finally, refusing to be naked with her children reveals a mother’s emotional reserve. Neither Miss Mattie, nor Kitty are ever without clothes around their daughters, even when they are bathing in the river. Their covered bodies reflect their shielded emotions and inability to establish an intimate relationship with their children.
Western Literature
Several European books appear in the novel: The Diary of Anne Frank, Ivanhoe, Great Expectations, and Heart of Darkness. The first serves as a tragic alternative to Clare’s own story, which is less violent and does not end with the girl’s death, as in the case of Anne. The second becomes an extended metaphor for the narrow-mindedness of Western Culture (personified by Ivanhoe) which cannot bring itself to embrace another tradition (symbolized by Rebecca) even if it is something positive. The third novel, Great Expectations, is mentioned in relation to Clare’s impressions of her family’s former plantation and illustrates the futility of holding on to failed dreams, such as wealth based on slavery. Finally, Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, considered by most critics to be a work of colonialism, serves to critique the moral failings of Western society, which is often more depraved and savage in its exploitation of others than the purportedly inferior people of color.
These literary references show, on the one hand, that Clare is unable to think about her experiences outside of Western paradigms and that, on the other hand, injustice and tragedy are universal human conditions that transcend race and social status to unite such disparate groups as Jews, Jamaican Africans, and 19th-century Victorians.
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