Small Island

read this for class and was genuinely taken aback at how much i loved this. and how much i learned!

you can argue that small island is trying to do too much...lots of POVs and lessons to learn here. but each one was given its proper time in my opinion.

i found bernards sexual issues to be particularly interesting. We've seen bullies and racists written but we seldom hear about their sexual and romantic repression brought on by the very same racism they keep close.

and queenie is a scarily accurate illustration of white allyship, specifically in an individual who is truly convinced there is very little learning involved in it (and that being an ally for selfish reasons is good enough). i respect queenie so much for being able to break some barriers and ruffle feathers. at the same time, i think she enjoys ruffling them and does not consider the danger of it, especially for her tenants who will ACTUALLY be affected by that danger. which i think is such a frustrating part of white allyship...you don't get to stir shit up and say “hey look what i just did!”. she can't keep her tenants safe from these people shes angering and bernard's reappearance (and the theatre scene) are great examples of that. lots of allyship comes from resistance to the people who brought us up. and once that rebellion is no longer fun, it's only about what you can get from it (ie, being a white knight to feel better about yourself or fucking the men you're meant to be advocating for.) i did all that talking to say that queenies character felt so real to me. and i also don't hate her! i think she's doing her best and that's obvious to me in her selfless act at the end. maybe it's not selfless to you but let's consider the alternatives! no black child should live in a world that will grow to hate or resent it for literally no reason. you can argue that sheltering them from it (aka bernard) will only make them unprepared for it (aka racism) but our parents and our childhoods are some of the most formative tools we have. why make a kid suffer for the sake of preparation? some of us were simply ignored and talked to harshly as a kid and it still affects our ability to communicate and love. so i think it's pretty selfless to give him the opportunity to not live in a household with a man, however caring he is now, that will resent his skin, his face, his heritage. and let's also be honest. bernard is only soft towards micheal because he's a literal newborn. the minute he made a mistake, perhaps fulfilling a stereotype, michael would be just like the rest of them. can you tell i feel strongly about this? this anger is good. it means bernard is real too, which is terrifying! frightening even.

anyways. i thought hortense and gilbert's slow love story was one of most impressive aspects of the story. but i think the whole micheal situation coming full circle was expected and at the same time, did not feel believable. things happen i guess! ultimately though all my lil negative tidbits did not actually affect my reading as a whole and i thoroughly enjoyed it.