Individuality vs Ethinc Solidarity in Brown Girl, Brownstones

COMMENTARY A Bildungsroman genre deals with the individuality and the psycho-social development of a particular character, and specifically ‘ Brown girl, Brownstones’ deals with the individuality and psycho-social development of the protagonist, Selina Boyce. However, in order to realize and accept her individuality Selina Boyce has to be challenged by pressures such as societal expectations and parental dreams and aspirations in the form of ethnic solidarity. Hence, it is to a great extent that Selina Boyce reconciles individuality with ethnic solidarity in ‘ Brown girl, Brownstones’ , through the rejection of the embodiment of the American dream and acceptance of personal choices. In the Nature versus Nurture theory, sociologist John Locke has coined in his epistemological theory of ‘Tabula Rasa’ (blank state) that individuals were born with built-in mental capacity that is chiefly shaped by experiences and perception of their environment rather than yielding to the nativity of their hereditary characteristics. This is true to a great extent and has been reinforced in the article, ‘Literary Jewels: A World Through Literature’ which states that a writer’s literary works are usually reflection of his/ her personal experiences, thus making Black-American writer, Paule Marshall no exception to this established fact.

The article, ‘Emory University: Biography on Paule Marshall’ posits that the selections included in her novel, Brown girl, Brownstones is a mature reminiscence and symbolic expansion of her childhood visit to Barbados. In addition to that, Marshall admitted having a painful childhood and used writing as a partial escape from the pressures of growing up. Selina’s ‘coming of age’ was first evident in ‘Book One: A Long Day And A Long Night’, page four, paragraph five which stated “There were not the eyes of a child. Something too old lurked in their centres. She seemed to know the world down there in the dark hall and beyond