Lecture Code: PS_L.18 ENGL 559: Postcolonial Studies UNIT 4: Postcolonial African Literature In the Castle of My Skin by George Lamming Min Pun, PhD, Associate Professor Dept of English, PN Campus Pokhara 31 December 2018

The Author: George Lamming Born in 1927, George Lamming is a Barbadian poet, essayist and novelist. He is an important figure in Caribbean literature. Has lectured at Duke University and Brown University in the US as Visiting Professor. He is the author of 6 novels: In the Castle of My Skin (1953), The Emigrants (1954), Of Age and Innocence (1958), Season of Adventure (1960), Water with Berries (1971) and Natives of My Person (1972). He is also the author of 2 non-fictional books (collections of essays): The Pleasures of Exile (1960) and Coming, Coming Home (1995).

About the Novel In the Castle of My Skin, first published in 1953, is the much acclaimed first novel by a Caribbean novelist George Lamming that features an autobiographical character named G. The novel tells the story of the mundane events in a young boy’s life that take place amid dramatic changes in the village and society in which he lives. The novel can be read as both as a coming-of-age story and as the story of the Caribbean in the postcolonial world. The novel is divided into 14 chapters and includes a foreword by Sandra Pouchet Pauet and an introduction by the publisher.

List of Characters in the Novel G. – The character G. is the protagonist and the narrator in the novel who narrates the most of the story of the book. The novel opens with his ninth birthday celebration as he recalls his school days, time with his friends and his growing up in a village of the Barbados Island. At the end of the novel, he receives a scholarship for his high school and then obtains a teaching job in Trinidad. G.'s mother – G.’s mother has no name. She is strict for her son G., often beating him and always motivates her to improve himself.

Contd…. Mr. Creighton (The Landlord) - Mr. Creighton is the white man who owns the village. He is mostly known as the landlord. He is the former plantation owner so the village is named after his name as the Creighton village. He is descended from the English plantation owners who settled the island, set up sugar plantations and imported slaves to the island to work in the plantations. After the end of slavery and the decline of the sugar plantations, many plantations-owning families including the Creightons stayed in the island and lived on the rents paid by the descendents of the slaves.

Contd…. Mr. Slime – In the beginning of the novel, Mr. Slime is a school teacher, but at the end of the novel, he is a politician, a union leader, a financier and a bank owner. In the novel, he is presented as a capitalist who has shifting roles quickly and taking advantage of every situation.

Contd…. Bob - Bob is a friend of G. In the beginning of the novel, he watches G. being bathed by his mother, climbs up the fence, and knocks it over. He is a naughty boy. He becomes a policeman at the end of the novel. Bob's Mother - Bob's mother is G.'s next- door neighbor. She is fed up with Bob's mischief and tries to beat him. She later apologizes to G.’s mother for her son’s mischief.

Contd…. Trumper - Trumper is G.'s another friend in the village. He is an adventurous and daring boy. He immigrates to America from Barbados to seek his fortune. When he was in the US, he was not impressed by the materialism of America, but was impressed by black consciousness and nationalism. Boy Blue - Boy Blue is one of G.'s friends. He takes part in almost all of their activities, and tells the stories. At the end of the book, he becomes a policeman.

Contd…. Miss Foster - Miss Foster is one of G.'s mother's friends from the village. She has six children: "three by a butcher, two by a baker and one whose father had never been mentioned." After the flood, she goes to Mr. Creighton, who gives her tea and half a crown. Mr. Foster - Mr. Foster works at the docks before the strike in the capital city. When Mr. Creighton sells his land and the new owner comes to claim it, Mr. Foster attempts to treat him politely and respectfully but ends up losing his temper.

Contd…. Old Man (Pa) - The Old Man who is also called Pa. He represents history of Africans in the Caribbean. He is G.’s father-figure. Throughout the novel, he is with his wife Ma. Old Woman (Ma) - The Old Woman who is called Ma is the Old Man's wife. Both Ma and Pa represent the whole history of black people in the islands. Mr. Creighton treats her as respectable.

Contd…. The Shoemaker - The Shoemaker is a self-educated villager who does not like the colonial ideology. When the landlord sells his land, he does not like to leave his house.

Plot Summary The novel begins with the ninth birthday celebration of the narrator called G., which is marked by heavy rains that cause great flooding. G.’s mother considers heavy rains as “showers of blessings” for her child. As G. goes to school, he experiences the colonial life in the island such as the school observes the Empire Day, celebrating Queen Victoria’s birthday. Children sing “God Save the King” and learn about Barbados as “Little England” of Big England. The changes in the island occur when Mr. Slime, a schoolteacher, rises to political power. He promises to make positive social change by making the villagers of Barbados as landowners. But his political power corrupts him and becomes a businessman.

Contd… In the meantime, Mr. Creighton is the white man who owns the land that the villagers live on. The villagers who were the descendents of slaves pay him rent to live there. The black people work for the landlord and help keep order in the village. The villagers do not consider themselves as being enslaved, rather consider themselves as protected by the English Empire. Mr. Creighton holds the power, but he has also the sense of responsibility towards the villagers. On one hand, Mr. Creighton wants to do what is right for the native people. On the other hand, he remains shackled to an economic system that places monetary value above human worth.

Contd… After Mr. Slime becomes a political leader and is in power, he promises to make the native people landowners of their island. But, greed and power lead to Mr. Slime’s corruption. He succeeds Mr. Creighton as landowner, but does not provide the people of Barbados with their land. Instead of helping the villagers, he greedily keeps all the land, forces some of the natives to leave the village, and raises the tenant’s rent heavily.

Contd… Towards the end of the novel, the character G. attempts to transcend by attending high school and gaining an education. While his education allows him to leave the island, he does not gain the sense of identity necessary for obtaining one’s freedom. The narrator’s friend, Trumper, returns from America at the end of the novel. He explains that, in order to achieve identity, the narrator must break himself from Barbados and seek an understanding of his race.

Contd… The novel ends with the hope that the narrator G. who has turns seventeen years old will leave Barbados and search for his identity, though the villagers will remain in the village within the social boundaries that have shaped their lives.

Themes The Issue of Colonialism: One of the important themes of this novel is the issue of colonialism. For instance, in the novel, the relationship between colonial powers and their colonies, and the effects that this relationship has on the people of the colonies is the major concern of George Lamming. In the Castle of My Skin addresses this issue which is expressed through the nine-year-old character named G.

Contd… Slavery and Racism: European colonists considered black people as primitive, inferior, and dangerous. Slavery was based on racism and by the twentieth century, the Barbados had two very distinct primary social classes: white landowners and black slaves whose ancestors came from Africa. However, the people of Barbados refuse to see themselves as slaves. They have a strong sense of freedom.

Contd… Imposition of language on the colonized people: The colonizers gained power through the imposition of language on the subject people. Fearing the possibility of plotting against them, the colonizers will generally forbid use of any language but their own in public discourse, and in many cases they will punish anyone who uses the unofficial language. Colonial schools will teach the colonizer's language, and students who use it particularly well will be rewarded.

Contd… Education in the transformation of identity: Education separates the narrator from his friends. When he attends the high school, he can no longer relate to his friends because they believe he has risen in social class. However, Trumper reveals that this high school education has changed the narrator little. A worldly education is necessary for a full transformation of identity. Students who follow the rules and show promise are given scholarships to continue their studies, with the eventual prospect of a secure government job.

Analysis of the Novel: From A Postcolonial Approach George Lamming’s In the Castle of My Skin tells the story of the character G. who is a sensitive, unusually intelligent young boy, with a protective mother, who grows up among his friends but takes a different path such as he receives a scholarship for high school and later gets a teaching job. As a postcolonial character, G. is presented as a hopeful character. The novel's main concern, however, is not the individual consciousness of the protagonist. Rather, Lamming uses the growth and education of G. as a device through which to view the legacy of colonialism and slavery in Caribbean village in the middle of the twentieth century, and to document the changes that time brings to this island.

Contd…. The novel's primary concerns are larger than the experience of G. as an individual. Through his eyes, we see the effects of race, feudalism, capitalism, education, the labor movement, violent riots, and emigration on his small town and, by extension, on Caribbean society as a whole. Lamming befits his choice of protagonist, the scope of perception is limited to the personal, domestic, and village spheres. In the novel, Lamming examines the Caribbean experience, as his character Trumper migrates to the US returns to his home in the Caribbean, and helps his village obtain independence. Thus, Lamming seeks to provide evidence of cultural suppression and alienation, with the hope that Barbados would become its own independent state, proud of its original African roots.

Conclusion First, George Lamming’s novel In the Castle of My Skin is a postcolonial novel. Through the character of G., Lamming shows the transformation of colonized people towards something that is hopeful. Secondly, in the novel, we see the effects of race, feudalism, capitalism, education, the labor movement, violent riots and emigration on his small town and on Caribbean society as a whole.

Associate Professor, Dept of English Tribhuvan University Min Pun, PhD Associate Professor, Dept of English Tribhuvan University Prithvi Narayan Campus, Pokhara Email: minpun@pncampus.edu.np Website: www.minpun.com.np