Table de matières
Table de matières
This chapter aims at analyzing the most important satirical tones performed throughout Paula fox’s narrative. It looks at how Paula Fox criticizes her society.
Mention that, this satire looks at the clash between two groups: the oppressors and the oppressed people in the author’s society. then this section aims at irony and humor performed by character in the novel.
In The Slave Dancer most of irony are performed through characters, in fact events happen in the opposite ways of what is expected in the narrative.
In this sub chapter we are going to focus on irony through Jessie Bollier, that is the main character and other subsidiary ones such as Cawthorn, Purvis, Garder, and Ben stout.
Verbal irony is that Jessie underwent under Purvis Direction. Purvis was brother of Jessie’s father and his family member. Purvis met Jessie playing his fife and asked him to play abit.
What is irony is that Purvis kidnapped Jessie away, by telling him that he hired him for a while and Bollier’s family knows it. This is verbal irony; since it is not true. Purvis seduced him by saying that they are having a safe journey to Africa. It was to release Jessie from being vigorous; but the journey was not safe. The passage says that,
“I’m your father’s blood, who is going to take you on every fine sea voyage of enjoyment p.15
This voyage was the most hateful event that Bollier faced in his youth. Purvis didn’t protect and even care for Jessie. In the voyage Purvis persecuted Jessie so much than leave him free.
In this kind of irony, the writer creates a character who thinks that reality is what he expects it to be whereas it is something else. In Paula fox’s fiction, Bollier thinks he will do better than his father, who died earlier without leaving the family something.
In fact what sounds attitudinal irony is that the future of Bollier became worse than that of this father. He was taken away to face violent actions in whydah, the cast of Benin and in his returning home he was depressed and distressed and lost the interest of playing the music he used to play. As a result his family continues living in bad condition. This is stated in this passage.
/ I would again open the kitchen door as it was dry a lot our living, but it turned imagination of a hundred thoughts that took me out. I forgot I was in full view as they were. I saw the door closed after the rider; the window reflected nothing there was no sign of life as lizard ran down the column/ pp124
Through this passage Fox shows how a character thinks to change reality while reality is complicate since the future is not well known. Bollier would like to be more the hero, the model of his family as his father left them in misery. Unfortunately he also failed to change the living life conditions.
Comic irony is according to David Biloko an event happening when the sympathetic character who was doomed to fail vanquishes difficulties and get a happy ending.
Comic irony is dramatized by Bollier since he left his home land to Africa for the capture of blanks and getting them pleasure. In the slave ship he was doomed to work hard, he was ill-treated, he was tortured day to night by captain. But for all persecutions and martyrdoms that underwent Bollier, he was seen conqueror. What is comic irony is that Bollier was doomed to death in the slave ship because most of slaves liked him. But at night preceding the day they could get into Cuba shore the ship sunken captain and Purvis died only Bollier survived from wracking and he reached home. Here the irony is that captain would like Bollier to die by ill-treatment but Bollier survived and captain died. This quotation helps us to understand it:
/we were still a live there, but in the sea slaves and rowers falling into silent dark depths, captains and Purvis began to beat the air with their fists….my mother was happy because whom she thought has died has returned home p 105
For Bollier, the story ends in happy as he found himself in his family. His mother has done party of enjoyment of her lost son.
Al though Bollier did not continue with his careers but he is analyzed as a victorious of this story because he vanquished all danger and happened to reach home, those who are viewed as his antagonists died and they were forgotten by their families
Cawthorn performs a number of irony which are expressed though his actions, reactions and behavior. Cawthorn, captain of the ship, after he has captured a great number of slaves he enslaved them in his ship. Mean while he ordered Purvis to put all slaves in latrines together with their food. Slaves ate food and sleep in the latrines. After a while a number of slaves and his mates died of diseases they had caught from the latrines.
What is situational irony here is that after all those people had died of latrine disease Cawthorn took the bible and went to the villages and quarters preaching people to confess and to repent , God says that the world is ending, he told people that he is a pastor God’s holy spirit revealed it to him. Situational irony is that where is the link between these wrongdoings he was doing and preaching gospel? All these people who died, it is because of the worse he has been doing. He was criminal he should not be called pastor who can help others to repent whereas he did not confess himself. In the fiction we find the passage like
/is it always like this? I asked Purvis “worse” he said I sailed on a ship with 500 slaves in the hold and 30 crew, at the end there was 183 slaves alive and 11crew, the boats wain killed the cook with his own carking knife a foot from a water cask. The rest died of diseases from latrines, the captain took his bible and left that ship and the sea, I have heard tales that he’s walking preacher now goes town and villages and get up on a box tells people the world is going to end, and if there ain’t no people he tells the trees and the stones p89/
Verbal irony is the most common form of irony, it is a statement that says one thing but actually means something different. That is why Rubasha views it as a figure of speech in which words are intended to convey an impression different from neither literal meaning after the opposite.
Therefore Cawthorn performs a number of verbal irony in the narratives. A t the coast Benin, they saw an anti-slavery ship that of British, his crew was afraid of British punishment because British had already abolished the slave trade. The first verbal irony is that Cawthorn told others “not to be afraid of British pirates because God is the coacher of the slave trade, God knows it, it does not harm no body ; we are not going to persecute black people but to rear them enough” the second irony is that he told his friends, slave trade is their inheritance, it is inborn with Cuba generation to generation, British is zealous of their earning wealth that God provided them. The novel itself asserts it
“we are going to Africa, the captain repeated with a lofty gesture of his hands, we would keep us safe not only from the British pirates, but from any other misguided pirates who would try to interfere in the lucrative and God granted safe trade of slaves; p23/
This is verbal irony since God doesn’t have relationship with wrong doers. How can it be said that slave trade is God granted, and lucrative trade? In born? their in heritance? I think this is the way of satirizing black people as waek and dispirited people, and the captors are viewed as victims of these circumstances .
A part from ironical aspect, satire is also expressed in the narrative though humorous tones. That is through fact which are funny and any can laugh
This category of humor is when the sympathetic character performs humorous action and at certain other moments he / she undergoes them.
In Paula Fox’s narrative, Jessie also performs such a humor. When he was amusing slaves in the ship most of slaves and captain’s mates liked him so much. Then captain became jealous of Jessie; after a certain moment captain hid the fife. In the morning captain told him to dance slaves, Jessie missed his fife and he was hit by captain. Captain hit Jessie several times to find out the fife to amuse slaves keeping their muscles strong.
This is paradoxical humor since Jessie undergoes the performance of his actions in bad situation. Here when Jessie did well he was severely punished, and when he did worse he was strongly punished, it is paradoxical since there was no way for him to escape for this challenge. The following sentence demonstrate it
/“………… we are going to bring the black niggers, Jessie he said” where is your music marker? I was dumb, deaf, and near to death with fear as it rushed though me like heat from a fire etc ….. I missed what to say, I was hit tortured as though I was wrong” martyrdom became my gift, I was sorry! p84/
Satirical humor happens when an anti- pathetic character is led to his failure which makes people satisfied. This kind of humor is performed by. In fact Cawthorn faced several conflict with Jessie and died before him. He ill-treated him, since he ordered him to sleep and eat in latrines. Cawthorn desired Jessie to die with slave diseases for not to become the chief of the crew. Now what is satirical irony is that Cawthorn failed, he didn’t reach or achieve his objectives. He died in sinking into the sea to gather with his mates. And the family of Jessie was happy because they think captain and Purvis will not come again to kidnap Jessie.
Then the death occurred when they were near home. Jessiewas happily welcomed by his relatives as he survived every sort of violence he faced in his youth. The narrative says it
“…but near home, in the sea captain, Purvis, slaves and rowers were falling in the silent dark depths of the sea, but at home my mother turns back into the motherhood after a long time of emptnest. p105” the falling of this ship expresses the failure of Cawthorn which turns back a victory of Jessie. And yet, it is seen that Cawthorn’s story ends tragedically whereas Jessie’s ends tragic-comic.
This note has focused on satire in Paula fox’s narrative The Slave Dance. It has tackled some of the criticism that the author has addressed his contemporaries through her characters. Talks and action expressed in the narrative. We have analyzed irony and humor which are the most important element of satire.
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