Month: October 2013

Review of Claire by the Sea Light

Posted on by Deirdre M. DeLoatch

Claire by the Sea Light, by Edwidge Danticat is a lyrically  descriptive novel that intricately weaves seemingly unrelated characters and stories with each other.  Danticat is a Haitian American writer who sets her novels in Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemiphere that has seen its share of atrocities and disastrous natural events.  The story begins with Claire of the Sea Light, a seven year old girl whose mother passed during the childbirth of Claire.  Her father has raised her in spite of the difficulties because of the loss of maternal care.  He often tries to have maternal influence and connections with the mother’s family; however, Claire realizes that these visits are insufficient.  Her father decides that he needs to have someone “adopt” her so that she can have a better life.  At the point of transfer, Claire mysteriously disappears at first thought into the sea.  The next vignettes weave connections of different characters and their relation to each other. Most of the vignettes are macabre like, bordering on the French genre, danse macabre, which horrifically weaves stories of death with a central theme between each story. Beautifully, yet tragically told, the novel ends with a hint of optimism and ends with courage that the characters can face life’s disappointments and its challenges.

After the disappearance of Claire, the narrator details the connection of Madame Gaelle Lavaud, the woman who was to adopt Claire, with both Claire and her father Nozias. Madame Gaelle is pregnant with a baby that is not expected to live.  Her doctor tells her that her baby is going to be still born. As the chapter progresses, one believes that the baby will die; but, with tragic irony, Gaelle’s husband, Laurent Lavaud, is shot and killed.  According to the narrator, “The shots had rung out as Laurent was leaving the station, and he was struck by three bullets to the heart and died on the spot.” Madame Gaelle’s connection to Claire ‘s story is that at the point of Claire’s mother’s death, Madame Gaelle became the wet nurse for Claire.  Madame knew Claire’s mother briefly, not intimately.  In spite of their lack of closeness, Madame is responsible for Claire’s viability.  Gaelle gives Claire life in spite of  the enormity of the constant grief that she suffers as a result of the death of her husband.  To connect the relation of the characters,  the novel opens in the first few vignettes with a recantation of Claire’s mother’s death, with both the disappearance and assumed death of Claire, and with the brutal death of  Laurent Lavaud, Gaelle’s husband.

Similarly, we encounter in the next vignette, Bernard Dorien who is tragically killed in a gang assault. The narrator tells us that “Bernard Dorien was found dead in the bed of his bedroom.  He is murdered in the same way that Laurent Lavaud, the owner of the fabric shop had, with three bullets expertly, and, in Bernard’s case, silently, administered to the heart.” Gangs have invaded Ville Rose, the community in which this novel is set.  Dorien, has a friend, Max Ardin Jr, who moves away before Dorien’s death.  Danticat surreptitiously and creatively exposes the connection of these characters with others in the novel.   Much later in the novel, Danticat intricately connects Claire with Max Ardin Jr, and explains the relation of Ardin with Bernard and the reason for his sudden departure.

Throughout the next series of vignettes, Danticat exposes the foibles and vices of other characters.  We see that husbands are having covert affairs and some affairs that appear to be less covert.  We see that Max Ardin Jr, has raped a worker in his parent’s home.  His rape is exposed in a dramatic radio program as the woman in which Ardin is covertly seeing seeks revenge for an indignity that she believes she has suffered. Both Ardin Senior and Junior suffer a public humiliation as a result of their stealth actions that have now been exposed.  Max Jr fathers a child as a result of rape.  The narrator also touches upon the gay relationship that Ardin had with Bernard Dorien.  His father tries to cover the rape.  He is distraught because he is prohibited from becoming a father to his child.  He cannot face the public humiliation and he desires to commit suicide.  He goes out to sea and nearly drowns.  He is rescued by Madame Gaelle and by Nozias who have spent time looking for Claire, who has disappeared possibly into the sea.

Lastly, Claire goes to a place, ” Inutile” defined in English as useless ; however, it becomes useful to Claire because she retreats to the top of Inutile where she is able to process the burgeoning new life that she can have with Madame Gaelle.  If she takes her life, she wonders whether she will be missed.  She realizes that her sorrow can be turned into hope.  She sings a song with the lyrics, “She has to go home/To see the man/ Who’d crawled half dead/Out of the sea.”  Through CPR, life is pumped back into Max Ardin Jr.  Concurrently, life is pumped back into Claire of the Sea Light.  At that point she grows into her name and just may possibly be the person who becomes the light to others through the offer of hope.

Through this beautifully crafted story one can see the interconnectedness of life.  One event impacts the other just as we impact the lives, positively and negatively, of each other.  Although this novel first appears to be about death, it is about how the characters are given a new chance at life in place of sorrow.  One cannot help but hope that that same hope can be transferred to Haiti in spite of its gang violence and its random deaths.

Review of Twelve Years a Slave

Posted on by Deirdre M. DeLoatch

Most of us are familiar with the story of Joseph in the Bible who was sold into slavery by his brothers who were jealous of him because he shared a dream with them that one day they would bow down to him and because his father loved him more than his other brothers.  He suffered greatly at the hands of the slave owners and was ultimately imprisoned for a wrong that he did not commit.  In spite of the challenges he faced during his imprisonment, he did not despair; he remained hopeful that one day he would be rescued.  Upon his rescue, he was reunited with his family, while holding no grudge against his brothers for their previous actions.  At this point that is where the parallels end with “Twelve Years a Slave” , the authentic narrative written by and about Solomon Northup, and the story of Joseph end.  Coincidently, Northup has the wisdom of “Solomon” who desires to go up North back to Saratoga to prove his free status.  He uses wisdom to maneuver through daunting situations.

“Twelve Years a Slave”, a film told partly through flashback, chronicles the tragic abduction and sale of Northup, a free “Negro” from Saratoga, New York , into slavery.  A pre- civil war film, initially  it portrays Northup freely moving about in his community and associating with Caucasians.  By 1824, slavery in New York was illegal and most blacks were free decades before the abduction of Northup in 1841. By 1802 many enslaved were beginning to gain free status in New York. The film, directed by Steve McQueen stars Chiwetal Ejiofor , Benedict Cumberbatch, Alfre Woodard, and Brad Pitt.  Northup, played by Ejiofor, was an erudite, a musician, and an engineer able to engage in esoteric conversations .  He was sold into slavery by two white men with whom he engaged in business. Using the words of Clarence Thomas during his confirmation hearings, this film is about a “high tech lynching for an uppity Negro.”

This film is about the survival, the resilience, and the ultimate triumph of an enslaved man despite ill-treatment.  The brutality by slave masters, by plantation overseers, and by the wives of the slave masters is depicted in horrid scenes.  This film is not for the weak stomached, but for those who have the wherewithal to sit through over two hours of a harrowing account of one of the most tragic eras in our nation’s history.  While viewing the film, the tension was palpable and the emotion unrestrained as many people shed tears and gasped at scenes.  One woman behind me walked out with about one half hour left in the film.  She said “I can’t take any more.”  Northup encounters severe beatings interspersed with little good treatment, while not fearing in his attempts to reach his family who has no knowledge of either his whereabouts or his current condition. He is courageous, in the face if fear, while exhorting his fellow enslaved to be strong.  This film also juxtaposes two modes of survival against the brutality of slavery.  Alfre Woodard plays the enchanted mistress of the slave master.  She has no qualms about what she is doing because she is served instead of  serving.  She has secured many of the benefits of white women because she willingly succumbed to the sexual demands of the slave master so that all ill- treatment that she heretofore suffered would cease.

The acting, the costume design, and the direction were all of a superb caliber.  Through the costumes, one can see how the free dressed compared with the enslaved.  During slavery, the enslaved often wore shirts made out of flax, a material through which linen is made.  In the film, the material that was used for the clothing of the enslaved was flax.  In Booker T. Washington’s slave narrative, he mentions the uncomfortability of flax. The viewer is also able to see and reflect on the many elements of slavery’s era and it’s impact on the human spirit.  For example, the travail of the enslaved was well captured.  The work in the fields was long and arduous.  Moreover, the acting is exceptional especially concerning the scenes of rampant and perpetual brutality (Including rape). The use of the “N” word was dispersed throughout the film showing the pejoration of the slave masters and the overseers toward the enslaved.  The acting was delivered superbly while remaining authentic to the time period especially concerning the brutal beatings delivered by the slave masters and by the forced delivery of the beatings by the enslaved toward each other. Lastly, the film shows how the faith of the enslaved was used as a means of survival.  They sang Negro spirituals to help ease the pain.  The acting, the costume designing, and the directing were all made possible through the narrative, “Twelve Years a Slave”, beautifully retold through the direction of McQueen Via Northup who was ultimately rescued from slavery through the efforts of a white man, played by Pitt, who became his confidant.

I wholeheartedly recommend this film.  It may not be appropriate for young children under the age of ten, unless they are precocious  and are able to stomach the horrors of extreme brutality and the harrowing effects so slavery.

Review of “American Promise”

Posted on by Deirdre M. DeLoatch

On October 15, 2013, I had the privilege of seeing “American Promise” filmed by Brewster and Stephenson, two parents who chronicled the education of their son, Idris, and their son’s friend and schoolmate, Seun, at the Dalton School, one of the most prestigious private schools in the country.

Dalton had begun a campaign to increase diversity at the school.  As a result of the school’s desire to diversify, the parents enrolled their children there and began the documentation of their children’s education.  As the filmmakers began documenting the children’s education, they also decided to turn the camera on themselves and film their part in the process of their child’s education as well as the participation of the parents of the other child, Seun.  The film opens with a discussion of public school education versus private school education and with a discussion about the boys testing well on the admissions test for the school.  There is also a scene from the Kindergarten class at Dalton that is both engaging and experiential.  I immediately referenced my time in Kindergarten.  I wondered whether I would have been a science teacher if I had a class that was that engaging.

The film focuses on identity, on educational expectations, on parenting challenges, and on impediments to success. The parents soon realize that diversity is not enough and realized that there were many hindrances to success.  The filmmakers filmed over 800 hours of the education and of the life experiences of these two children which showed how daunting the challenges were.  The children enjoyed their time spent at the school in spite of its rigor.  The parents soon learned that their children would be recommended for tutoring because of the level of difficulty they were having with their academics.  Apparently the other parents at the school were spending over $35,000 for tutoring for their children.  The cost for Kindergarten in 1999 at the Dalton school was about $29,000. The film highlights the parenting challenges both academically and personaly.  The film documents the trajectory of the children’s education to the point of high school graduation. It also looks at the resilience of the children and its impact on their development.

One  purpose of the documentary is to initiate a conversation about the impact of race, parenting, expectations, and life experience on the education of African American boys in the United States.  As an educator, I have witnessed both students and teachers who have low expectations.  Moreover, I have also witnessed the low amount of effort that some of our children have toward their academics.  Although our children are resilient, we cannot discount the impact of significant life events on their academic and personal success.  The children who are most successful are the ones who work the hardest and who are the most resilient.

This film is not about the Dalton School; the events documented in this film happen throughout our country.  The purpose of this film is to initiate a conversation about how we can best serve our children, specifically black boys in America. I highly recommend this film.  Please go to Americanpromise.org for further information and for film locations.  It will be shown on PBS stations across America on February 3, 2014.  Please mark your calendar.  If anyone wants to have a discourse on this topic, feel free to contact me.