“Perhaps she was both, child and woman, darkness and light, past and present life and death – all the opposites contained and reconciled in her.”
This quote captures the complex duality of Da-duh’s character, which reflects her position as an individual and a symbol within the story. The narrator observes Da-duh as a multifaceted figure whose very existence embodies a synthesis of contradictions. She represents the rural past of Barbados while also standing as a person who confronts modernity's changes and uncertainties. This duality symbolizes the complexity of Caribbean identity shaped by its colonial past and the ongoing processes of modernization. Her character personifies the resilience of people who have endured colonization, slavery, and the challenges of independence. Additionally, the reconciliation of opposites in Da-duh also highlights the ambiguity and fluidity of identity in the post-colonial Caribbean context. She is a living paradox, a person who has lived through significant historical transformations, from colonial rule to independence.
“It was as if she saw not only me, a thin intractable child who it was said took after no one but myself, but something in me that for some reason she found disturbing, threatening.”
The statement reveals the initial tension between the narrator and her grandmother. Da-duh’s reaction to the narrator suggests that she sees something unfamiliar and unsettling in her granddaughter. The narrator is perceived as a force of change. She represents a new generation shaped by a different environment—New York—and influenced by a world that Da-duh does not fully understand. The grandmother's discomfort shows the awareness that her values and authority are being challenged by the very existence of her granddaughter. Moreover, the narrator, who does not fit neatly into any predefined category or familial resemblance, exemplifies an unknown future that Da-duh fears. As such, this encounter foreshadows the subtle conflict between the two. The grandmother attempts to assert the value of her world while the granddaughter, knowingly or unknowingly, challenges it. Furthermore, this quote reveals the underlying anxieties tied to the diaspora experience. The granddaughter's arrival from New York introduces elements of Western culture, modernization, and a sense of detachment from traditional values.
“Da-duh sat on a trunk in our midst, a monarch amid her court. She still held my hand, but it was different now. I had suddenly become her anchor, for I felt her fear of the lorry with its asthmatic motor (a fear and distrust, I later learned, she held of all machines) beating like a pulse in her rough palm.”
This quotation captures a moment of role reversal between Da-duh and the narrator. Initially, Da-duh is depicted as a commanding presence—“a monarch amid her court”—with a firm grip on her surroundings and her family. However, as they journey in the lorry through Bridgetown, the narrator senses her grandmother’s fear. Her distrust of the “asthmatic motor” symbolizes her discomfort with modernity and technological advancement. The need to hold the narrator's hand at this moment shows a shift in power dynamics. This moment further humanizes Da-duh by showing that her resistance is a genuine fear of losing her way of life to forces beyond her control. It reflects a broader theme of cultural displacement and the struggle to maintain one’s roots in a rapidly changing world.
