Identity: Summary By Jackie Kay

Trumpet by Jackie Kay is a construction of the life and identity of Joss Moody – a jazz musician who was found to be female anatomically subsequent to his death through the narration of surrounding individuals. From there arouses the inevitable clash among opposed perspectives towards the sex/gender system: culture norms against a perplexing fuse of identity. Firmly representing the idea of separated identity categorization is the voice of the adopted son Colman Moody and the doctor. For Colman, the resentment towards his parents’ identities and the legitimacy of their relationship implicitly implies a fixed, socialized perception of the sex/gender system. “My father had tits. My father had a pussy.” (61) Joss is automatically labeled as
Joss, the main symbol of a distinguished individual, has been identified as a man all his life. “I have become Millicent Moody. Mrs. Moody. Mrs. Joss Moody.”(28). Apart form the sexual organs, what defines a man as one relies on a heterosexual relationship with a woman. This explains the aftershock when Joss was discovered to be someone whose identity is absolute vague, almost non-existent. Throughout his days, Joss has a beautiful, dedicated marriage with Mille Millicent, an adopted son, a successful career. “He keeps unwrapping endless roll of bandages.”(21). However, there’s another side of Joss, a soul hidden under those bandages, a woman named Josephine Moore. He remains voiceless about this identity until the last days, when he is assured that his marriage can’t be interfered no longer. The woman came when he is making love, when his bandages are being wrapped up by his own wife, when his genitals are created every morning, when he recalls of the past, when he writes letters for his clueless mother. Although he chooses to represent himself as a man to the world, he still has unbreakable bonds and memory of a woman. This coexistence is referred