Introduction
To compare the principal characters in the two books written by Jamaica Kincaid and Athol Fugard is akin to doing a study on socio-ethnic issues that inevitably crop up in places that are dominated by racial discrimination and resulting in political and economic change. When one begins reading one book, there are quite a few situations that force a reader to pause and recollect similar passages in the other one. Probably it is the similarity in a location that causes a reader to stop and ruminate on the comparisons and contrasts. There is also a situational similarity in both the books – the issue of growing up. Adolescence is a very difficult age, fraught with personal tussles of all hues. Both Kincaid and Fugard have gone into great detail to describe this difficult period in the lives of their protagonists, with differing results, of course.
Annie John – the pains of growing up
The transition from child to adult can, in no way, be an easy one. Annie John’s life is no exception to this universal rule. As a child who adulated her mother with an almost unnatural intensity, to an adult who is repelled by what her mother is really like, Annie’s journey goes through a series of events. Initially, she is devoted to her mother mainly because she is the central figure in her life; her father barely exists, as far as she is concerned. In her opinion, her mother can do no wrong. Her relationships with those outside her family are governed by the level of approval that her mother shows. However, this is the first situation where Annie realizes that her mother and she are not on the same wavelength anymore.
She realizes that if she needs to gain a friend, she will have to do it at the cost of losing her mother’s confidence. This does not seem to deter her in any way. Also, it is difficult for her to come to terms with the fact that her mother spends a lot of time with people on their deathbeds. Her disillusionment with her mother reaches its peak when she finds her mother engaged in a sexual act with her father. More than the act of sex, what repels her more is the fact that the image of her mother’s hand on her father’s back is reminiscent of a corpse.
In the heat of an argument, her mother calls her a slut, sealing whatever door to reconciliation, there might be between them. She retorts, “like mother like daughter” (Kincaid, 1997) – a statement that exhibits righteous indignation. Towards the end, Annie decides to leave her hometown and move away from all that she has held dear to her, just as her own mother did, several years earlier. Moving to a new life, that she believes will be a lot less tumultuous than the one she has led till now.
Harold – from friend to master
Harold or ‘Hally’ as he is affectionately called by his ‘friends’ Sam and Willie (his servants) is a pleasant companion, quite comfortable in their colored company, who, with child-like innocence joins them in their games of flying kites and traipsing around the countryside. Their idyllic life is jolted by the news of the impending arrival of Harold’s father from jail who is a bully of a man, spouting racial abuses. Sam and Willie are pained to see that the ubiquitous racist attitudes lie hidden in Harold’s psyche as well. Initially, he spits in Sam’s face, in a bid to assert himself. He then follows it up, by asking Sam to call him ‘Master Harold’, instead of Hally. Though Sam is pained by his behavior, he makes a valiant effort at explaining the ill effects of becoming a racist, but to no avail.
Points of similarity – Annie and Harold
Both these characters go through the upheavals of adolescence but emerge with different results. Annie’s is one of realization and an attempt to reconstruct a future that she will be proud of, while Harold is inexorably drawn into a vortex of hate and racial discrimination that turns him against the two people who wanted to make a difference in his life. They make a fervent attempt to warn him of the consequences of racism because they realize that it will make him a hateful and despicable person, but their pleas are in vain. “… you’re going to be sitting up there by yourself for a long time to come, and there won’t be a kite in the sky.” (Fugard, 1984). The story ends with Harold metamorphosing into the quintessential South African white male who has the utmost contempt for his colored compatriots.
Conclusion and contrasts
Though there are quite a few points where the stories of Annie and Harold meet, it is in the final outcome that their lives differ. After all the trauma of growing up, both these characters choose to carry on with their lives in two distinct ways. One could safely say that Annie has learned from her mistakes and has decided to take a path of positive reconstruction, while Harold has, despite all efforts, become mired in the general morass of racial prejudice. Both Kincaid and Fugard have endeavored to portray with maximum lucidity the reality that exists in their respective locations, the British West Indies and South Africa. As both stories unfold, the reader, like the protagonists, is torn apart trying to make the right choices in the face of great adversity. (Word count: 919)
References
Kincaid, J. Annie John. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. 1997. p: 102.
Fugard, A. Master Harold…and the Boys. Penguin (Non-Classics). 1984. pp: 58-59.