Crossing the River
A desperate foolishness. The crops failed. I sold my children. This is how Caryl Phillips begins his novel of suffering and slavery that spans whole continents and centuries. The author uses several narrative voices throughout his novel, covering a two hundred and fifty year time period of a father waiting patiently for his three children, Nash, Martha and Travis to return home, however they wont make it. We as readers are never told who the father is, but from narrative voices we can concur the father is the continent of Africa speaking about its lost children that were sold into slavery. Phillips uses these three children as his main characters for each section of the book to create a many tongued chorus which brings together the history and reality of the African Diaspora (Phillips 1). The author uses narrative points of view so the readers can relate indirectly to the characters about issues humans have struggled with throughout their entire existence; issues such as race, sex, identity, and stereotyping. Each sections character has suffered different types of human cruelty, and Phillips does an excellent job of linking the characters together to show that many types of people were oppressed. The last section of the book, Somewhere in England, is about the character Joyce, who is a white woman who falls in love with a black soldier during World War II. From this section, we are exposed to the suffering Joyce endured, and her voice adds to the many-tongued chorus of suffering and struggle (Phillips 1).
Phillips writes the section Somewhere in England in first person with Joyces voice narrating. We know everything that goes on but are only allowed to hear Joyces thoughts and feelings. This section is also not written in a correct time sequence, which makes it a little hard to follow. But by doing this, Phillips keeps the readers attention and lets them make their own opinion about Joyce before he reveals her past. At first Joyce was not a likable character, she seemed very cold and distant to everybody around her; especially her mother, husband and only friend, Sandra. She was shamed upon by other people in the village because she is different. Joyce did things that women were not supposed to do, such as drink at the bar, manage a shop, or speak her mind. She was oppressed the same way Edward was oppressed in the first section. He was a white male slave owner in the south who educated and freed his slaves, but was also considered and outsider and not accepted into society because of his homosexuality. Both Edward and Joyce were looked down upon because of their chosen lifestyles. We as people should have the right to choose whatever kind of life we want to live, thats what it means to be free. We should be able to create our own individual identity and not have to change for anyone, yet our history proves otherwise.
Our identity is all we have that separates one person from the next. Out identity is our name, its something that is passed down from generation to generation and without it we all blend in together; which is exactly what happened to Joyce and other characters in the book. Joyce was raised by her mother, who had no respect for her. In order for Joyce to get away from her mother, she marries Len and changes her name. Joyce was not in love with Len nor was Len in love with Joyce. By changing her name, it was like Joyce lost who she was. If we all are created equally why do only women have to change their last name to their husbands? I agree with Joyce and her response to the letter Len has sent her from prison. She says, I knew it was him before I opened it. Mean handwriting and addressed to a Mrs. Len somebody. My name isnt bloody Len anybody! (Phillips 148).
Joyce isnt the only one who loses her identity. Martha, the main character of the section, The West, kept repeating over and over how she will never be named again. What she meant was she would never be sold as a slave again. For each time a slave was traded, the last name of their owner became their name. Martha and all slaves were treated this way, they were traded like property instead of the people they were. Martha and Joyce were also linked together for they both lost a child because of race. Martha lost Eliza Mae because she was sold to another slave plantation, and because she lost her name Martha had no way of ever finding her lost child. Joyce and Travis, the black GI she married had a son together, but Joyce was forced to give him up to social services because they convinced her it was his best chance at living. That brings me to the topic of life. What kind of life could be lived when other people control your every move and thought, and if you disobey them, you are punished or even killed.
Many people born into slavery were and had no choice but to do as they were told. For example, Madison was Edwards first African American slave, however because Madison had to choice, he was forced to have sex with Edward whether or not he wanted to. Then after Edward educates and freed Madison, he learned he had choices. He went to Africa and started a family. Then out of pity for Edward, Madison tries to help him find his new lover Nash, who we later find out to be dead. While they were looking for Nash, Edward makes many attempts to sleep with Madison but instead of obeying Edwards wishes, Madison keeps repeating the word, No. (Phillips 68) Phillips does not tell us what Madison is saying no to, but the reader can pick up on it pretty easily. Madison is using his freedom of choice and refusing to obey his ex-masters wishes. We as people all deserve to make our own choices, whether they be wrong or right, who are we to judge someone else?
In conclusion, I feel that Phillips has used multiple narrative points of view to tie together the very different, yet similar stories of Joyce and Travis, Martha and Eliza Mae, Edward, Nash and Madison. Through their narrative voices we are told of their suffering and struggles they endured because of our cruel past. The reader is exposed to the racial and malicious ways of our human race. This novel lets the readers understand the long and fearless history of the African Diaspora: two strong man-boys and a proud girl, they are sold across the ocean, down the river, through two hundred and fifty years of suffering, yet still looking for their home which they will never find. Together these characters all add to the many tongued chorus of oppression our country has faced. Phillips ends his book with an epilogue that expands the chorus to all the people who have faced any kind of oppression, black or white, male or female, old and young; we are all created equally and shall be treated equally. Phillips ends his novel with open-endedness and doesnt provide many answers to problems that his characters have suffered, but this is what connects it to real life situations. One of the last famous voices Phillips used was that of Martin Luther King Jr. I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons and former slaves and the sons of former slave-owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. (Phillips 237).
Works Cited
Phillips, Caryl. Crossing the River. New York, New York. Vintage Books. First Vintage International Edition, January 1993.
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