Final

Brown Girl in the Ring

Final Blog

Choosing Brown Girl in the Ring as my novel to blog about was an outstanding decision as I did not expect this novel to be viewed through so many aspects. The cultural conflict was a huge part of this novel as the novel is driven by the traditions and cultural beliefs of Caribbean society. Both Ti - Jeanne and he Grandma are witch doctors, her grandma is trying to teach her about the visions that she keeps seeing. This relates to the elderly teaching their next generation about their heritage and helping them understand it better. This was an example of self vs self-conflict that Ti - Jeanne was encountering throughout the novel later on it was resolved in the end as she learned how to use her gift and defeat the villain using her voodoo magic. Also throughout the there was a conflict which regarded the cultural aspect of good vs. evil magic. However a contemporary issue that occurred was that Nalo Hopkinson should’ve focused more on the Caribbean influences on science fiction as this novel falls in the both the Sci- Fi and Magic genre. Also another issue was that since nalo Hopkinson is known as a black queer writer and in this book she hadn’t fulfilled that as she only had very minor characters that were gay and they didn’t enhance the plot. It’s as if she assumed that every gay character must be rich which isn’t the case and especially since the story took place in Toronto, LGBT people can belong to any class system. A social injustice way played by the part of post -colonialism as this book was written 15 years ago so the fact that Nalo Hopkinson predicted that Toronto would become bankrupted and there would be no sort of order because of the conspiracy is totally wrong. Even though today in Toronto there is a lot of corruption the city is still prospering and hasn’t decayed 15 years later. The henchmen were very significant as they represented tax men and the pound of flesh they ask for is the taxes so basically this novel represents taxmen coming around for taxes and if you don’t pay them then Toronto will go bankrupt. The solution here is to always pay your taxes.

Reflecting back to blog post 2, I spoke about how her childhood experiences with Caribbean cultures and tradition clearly affected the approach she used to write her novel as well as the social surroundings of her time. After I read the novel is was clearly evident that my initial assumptions stayed true. Hopkinson wrote about a single mother who is trying to avoid her baby’s father because he is not the best to be around with as he is a drug addict. This is bias towards to single fathers that have children to take care of as not all men are the same. Sometimes the women in the relationship isn’t an appropriate role model for the kids, it goes both ways in parenting. The character Tony was presented throughout the text in such a way that he hadn’t cared about the child but that’s not always the case, in reality there are many fathers that still care for their children provide the best of the best for them. One can see the views Nalo Hopkinson has towards marriage and parenting which is very bias to men’s role. Brown Girl in the Ring was the first novel Nalo Hopkinson published therefore she was heavily bias about the city she grew up in which is also the setting of the novel, Toronto. She had described the city to be heavily ungoverned by law enforcement and the ones that did exist were of ghetto terms. Hopkinson wrote about specifics that she knew or at least what she was grown up around rather than looking through another perspective. This is noticeable in her lack of knowledge about sexuality preferences as she had forgotten what makes Toronto so unique, that is Toronto is known for accepting LGBT people. In her novel only two minor roles were giving to gay characters, some readers say that “Just because you happen to be in the LGBT community does not mean that you were born in a silver spoon in your mouth” as if she had assumed that every person that is gay is born in a rich family, after all the rich and privileged had fled the city in the novel, one can conclude that the gay happen to not exist in lower class societies. As they say there is always two sides to a story and Nalo Hopkinson didn’t neglected the other side and stuck to hers which still lacked a lot of facts.

"Run The World (Girls)"

Girls, we run this motha (yeah!)

GIRLS!

Who run the world? Girls!

Some of them men think they freak this like we do

But no they don't

Make your check come at they neck,

Disrespect us no they won't

Boy don't even try to touch this

Boy this beat is crazy

This is how they made me

Houston Texas baby

This goes out to all my girls

That's in the club rocking the latest

Who will buy it for themselves and get more money later

I think I need a barber

None of these niggas can fade me

I'm so good with this,

I remind you I'm so hood with this

Boy I'm just playing

Come here baby

Hope you still like me

F- you pay me

My persuasion can build a nation

Endless power, with our love we can devour

You'll do anything for me

Who run the world? Girls!

It's hot up in here

DJ don't be scared to run this, run this back

I'm reppin' for the girls who taking over the world

Help me raise a glass for the college grads

41 rollin' to let you know what time it is, check

You can't hold me (you can't hold me)

I work my 9 to 5, better cut my check

This goes out to all the women getting it in,

You're on your grind

To other men that respect what I do

Please accept my shine

Boy I know you love it

How we're smart enough to make these millions

Strong enough to bear the children

Then get back to business

See, you better not play me

Oh, come here baby

Hope you still like me

F- you hate me

My persuasion can build a nation

Endless power

With our love we can devour

You'll do anything for me

Who run the world? Girls!

Who are we? What we run? The world (who run this motha, yeah)

Who are we? What we run? The world (who run this motha, yeah)

Who are we? What do we run? We run the world! (who run this motha, yeah)

Who are we? What we run? We run the world

Who run the world? Girls

I chose the song “Run the World” by Beyoncé because it talks about the empowerment that women have on society, men and the decisions females take in their lives are all independent decisions. This song relates to Ti - Jeanne as she is a woman of black race and is trying to survive societies and her baby’s father’s decisions that are thrown at her. She is surrounded by the lack of choices, and the people and situations that surround her force her to learn very quickly on what she can do. When Beyoncé says “My persuasion can build a nation” it shows how a women smart enough and has enough will power can do whatever she desires if she puts her mind to it. Ti - Jeanne represents this lyric because she is making a life out of nothing with the city of Toronto under bankruptcy and her relationship problems with Tony, likewise the villain taking control over Toronto with his evil voodoo powers, she takes her revenge to destroy him and ultimately she wins in the end and shows how powerful a woman is. Also when Beyoncé says “Strong enough to bear the children” it refers to all the single mothers out in the world taking care of their kids and Ti - Jeanne is one of them. She isn’t afraid to leave her baby’s father cause she knows she is strong enough to survive without him in her life.

 Works Cited

“Fangs For The Fantasy: Brown Girl in the Ring by Nalo Hopkinson.” Web 24 May. 2016.

http://www.fangsforthefantasy.com/2011/09/brown-girl-in-ring-by-nalo-hopkinson.html

Blog 4 - Future

The setting of the Brown Girl in the Ring has its own fascinating aspects as well. The story takes place in Toronto and fast forward that to the future where the city is more or less abandoned by businesses and traditionally infostructure. There isn't really a city government besides a small amount of law enforcement. The basic needs of the city isn't provided like electricity and municipal water. But of course there is organized crime that mildly controls the population. People of middle and upper class that used to live in the city have flead to the suburbs and the ones that are of lower class meaning Ti -Jeanne and her grandma and bunch of other characters have stayed. The technology is essentially back to being like the 1920s.

The narrative voice in the novel was third person omniscient, although each character had there own version of speaking english. It was amazing how Hopkinsons had effectively shown each character's language use differently and none of the characters would overlap or be present identical to another. Each character can be identified by the way they spoke in situations and the type of broken english they used to explain themselves. " "Come. Bring her inside," Mami said, switching to the more standard English she used when she was speaking to non - Caribbean people." (Hopkinson 63). Demonstrates how characters are multi talents and also shows the division between people racially, and how they behave with someone that isn't of there own kind. As though it isn't acceptable in the society to follow what you truly believe. But still Ti -Jeanne and Mami knows the standard english but choose to use their own flavour.

Nalo Hopkinson is known to be a Black "Queer" Women be authors and readers around the world, and in this book she had  given a very small role too gay characters in the story as though they were just some characters that were passing by, nothing else, no plot enhancement. One was a minor villain and another was a kid that showed up for a spilt minute to sacrifice himself to save Ti - Jeanne. Its surprising cause although the story took place in Toronto it did not show the points that make it Toronto, like the fact that Toronto is one of the three places in Canada that is known for accepting LGBT people.

Since Brown Girl in the Ring was Nalo Hopkinson's first novel she wrote, it lacked the in depth analysis of some aspects in the text considering it is a very short book therefore its very easy to conclude to that thought. It isn't nowhere near what she capable of writing in today's time. After reading this book I would say I was intrigued by the world building, the caribbean magics and the characters but unfortunately they weren't focused on quite as much as I would like them to be. Some say that have read the book that it was more plot driven, Ti - Jeanne confronting the Posi boss who is the organized crime lord, but they were more interested in what the city is like, interactions and dynamics of the characters and the elements from caribbean culture. Others say that the main character Ti - Jeanne was a very passive person, following the events that takes place instead of driving them. They book would have more effective if other things were brought in besides the plot, should have focused more on the caribbean influence on science fiction.

Blog 3 - Brown Girl in the Ring Game

Brown Girl in the Ring is a children's game from the Caribbeans which consists of a group of children that stand in a circle and one person, usually a girl, stands on the inside, they tell the girl to "show me your motion", she then shows them her favourite dance. The girl is then asked to "show me your partner" and she points to a friend and they join her as well. The "brown" girl in the ring traditionally refers to the children's skin tone that is prevelant in the caribbean and it's thought to enhance their self esteem as the song tries to give off a positive vibe. Nalo Hopkinson had chosen the title Brown Girl in the Ring for the novel because as she was writing, she realized that the character Ti - Jeanne that was surrounded by the lack of choices, and the people and situations that surround her ask her to she them what she can do, Ti - Jeanne has to learn very quickly on what she can do.

It's evident that Nalo Hopkinson has intended this read for a variety of audiences. People that have grown up around cultural folk tales and urban fantasies can heavily relate to this book as it brings them back to their childhood memories. Memories that consists of their elderly telling them stories about monsters, and fairy tales at bedtime. In the novel Gros - Jeanne also know as Ti - Jeanne's grandmother, helps Ti-Jeanne, the protagonist, to understand the visions that she keeps having and also teaches her more about Obeah, knows as folk magic and sorcery in the West Indies. Throughout the novel both of the women share a strong bond that allows the audience to reflect on their relationships with their parents and children. Brown Girl in the Ring is a novel that is deeply embedded in feminism as it draws the attention of women that go through motherhood. Ti - Jeanne's feelings towards motherhood are conflicted, they are very compelling and honest throughout the story as any mother can relate to them. Moreover she is a single mother and is trying to avoid her baby's father because he is not the best as Tony is a drug addict. This situation is very relatable to single mothers around the world. Having a partner who is your child's father which isn't finally, emotionally, or just up to no good is not the type of support a women needs when she is experiencing motherhood for the first time. Not only does the novel consists of mainly female characters that contribute to feminism but the wisdom, sanity, and hope that lies in the novel is very much connected to the relationships between the women's.

Blog 2 - Text

Nalo Hopkinson is a Jamaican speculative fiction author who currently lives and teaches in Riverside, California. She was born in Jamaica and lived throughout Guyana, Trinidad, and Canada. As a child she was raised in an environment where both of her parents were associated with literature. Her mother was a library technician and her was a Guyanese poet, playwright and actor who also taught Latin and English. You can say that he was her personal William Shakespeare.

Hopkinson grew up around her family and was heavily influenced by her culture and traditions as it is portrayed in her novels that she has written. Her writing in the novel "Brown Girl in the Ring" is influenced by Afro-Caribbean culture and stories, some of which revolve around the theme of folk tales and black magic. These themes that are present in the book which are directly influenced by her personal life experiences. She uses her knowledge from growing up in the Caribbeans in her writing to also showcase major subjects like race, class and sexuality. Which is clearly evident in the text as she draws focus to the theme of feminism if a women of color as she has the power to take control of her fate through mystical powers. Female characters are flooded throughout this novel, as it shows the struggles women face as single mothers who have different cultural beliefs from society.

Hopkinson lived in Toronto for quite sometime of her life (1977-2011) as well as in the novel, the setting takes place in the same city. So the way downtown Toronto is portrayed in this novel is directly impacted by Nalo's experiences in the city.

Nalo's Hopkinson is known to be a queer writer although her novel "Brown Girl in the Ring" didn't have a main character that was queer, so this was a new approach for Hopkinson as she wanted to take a different route and try something new. However there is a a side character who is a self-serving lesbian politicians so the there are queer characters but they just aren't the focus of this story. The fact that she changed the sexuality of her main character comparing to her previous novel captivates the readers attention to the text as he or she will be able to experience something different.

Bibliography 

Casey the Canadian Lesbrarianhttps://caseythecanadianlesbrarian.wordpress.com/2012/06/25/caribbean-canadian-science-fiction-a-review-of-nalo-hopkinsons-brown-girl-in-the-ring/

Wikipediahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nalo_Hopkinson

Anatol, Giselle Liza. "A feminist reading of soucouyants in Nalo Hopkinson's Brown Girl in the Ring and Skin Folk." Mosaic [Winnipeg] 37.3 (2004): 33+. Academic OneFile. Web. 2 May 2016.http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA123408621&v=2.1&u=peel_dsb&it=r&p=AONE&sw=w&asid=99ccdc7540216d882d09e5280d369190

Blog 1 - Views

"Brown Girl in the Ring" by Nalo Hopkinson is a fiction and fantasy story driven by the Afro - Caribbean religious practices which are magical, Voodoo feminist forces. Voodoo is also known as black magic which involves sorcery and spirit possession. Although this Voodoo maybe fictional and fantasy based but this novel does has some truth to hit regarding feminism.  It is introduced by the hands of female characters as voodoo showcases their feminine power offered by their religion. Feminism is an integral part of today's society as everyone woman wants to be in control of her own body and life. She as a person does not want to be suppressed by the traditional ways of how a woman must portray herself. She does not want to be sexualized and objectified by her culture. She wants to have her say and do as she pleases without society or her religion judging her. This novel showcases how powerful a woman is with her religion by her side as she uses that to guide herself and help her to become stronger day by day.

I can strongly relate to this book as I am also a young teenage girl that has grown up around the whole feminist society. My greatest example is my mother as she is an independent woman who strives for success day in day out at her job, at home, and with her family. Expanding on the religious part of this book, it shows how women don't need to have wealth and status to be dominant, even your religion can help you stand up and be powerful. This is something new that is introduced as I wouldn't think on those terms. We are to attached to the society norm that money is everything and it will give you everything when there are other ways of being independent and being treated equally. When reading this book, focusing on the female characters is crucial, analyzing the way they encounter the problems in their daily life is key in helping one to understand how the world views females. The setting of this novel  takes place in the heart of Toronto which is close to where I live, it will help me give an insight on how the actual world is in that area that will influence my thoughts on how I look at the community I live in. Overall after reading this book it will change the way I view feminism and see the different ways a women can face society and the great roles which are portrayed through females that elaborates on how far we can go with our powers which are bestowed so gracefully upon us,