 Text and Context Text and Context with Dr. Travis Weeks Miss Rachel Yes, Michelle You know what Jackal was trying to tell you? Drink sweet enough Bridget. Yes, Miss Rachel. He asked me to marry him. You tell him yes well, I See things and I like to take a course. I Tell him yes I don't understand you He come by me at late in the morning like he couldn't hold back any longer and he begged me You're gonna stop him me After I not mad child the two of them have the same father in a stubborn like him true good and true bad It's the two you decide nobody going to say nothing. I thought you would be glad You know me a long time miss Rachel When you going to tell something Jackal let him know you have a right to make him know yourself and why is that there's nothing between us miss Rachel Nothing three months back. He was carrying stuff you on the whole village see that and now this Sunny is your son too. You acting like you don't know him enough to see how hard it going to hit him Well, I don't break my promises and I can swear to that Well, it's you but it don't smell good to me. Why are you set against Jackal? Set against him. He is my son But it's not him. You want me to marry it? Answer me this predict You love him. Yes. I'm not talking about sunny who you talking about. How do you mean love? He offered to put a ring on my finger when the other one didn't even mention that No He quiet and kind to me Jackal will settle down and raise him family and your grand children will know where the father is all the time What more you want? I'm not ready to raise no man while old Smith Rachel You take Jackal to your bed yet You is a mother, but it's none of your damn business Excuse me child I'm not a young girl anymore Rachel. It's time for me to close the door on my own house Even if he's a one bedroom in your husband yard I see how the world take and use women and show them back in the cane piece. Look Lali Don't talk about Lali. She is my friend madam granddaughter and she don't do anything worse than the rest of you So that is what I must content myself with Lali is my friend too, but that is not the way I chose Lali will say yes to any man that young and strong and ask Black or white the field worker or the man passing and stopped by the bang side but but I born poor and black and my pride is the only thing that I have and That is what Jackal see even though him quiet and soft talking and If the owner of this estate will come now and say lie don't go you have nothing to lose It's the same thing. I will tell him like I tell all the others. I have nothing, but I have my pride Black people used to work the slag for nothing and they used to treat them like beasts could amount them any time I'm not praying for no man just because of pleasure. I is not an animal I is a human being Good day viewers. Welcome to text and context. I am dr. Travis Weeks your presenter and moderator and We just saw a very interesting scene And this scene was taken from the play an echo in the bone written by the cyst playwright Dennis Scott and this place actually being studied by the literature class of the south of this community college And so we have a panel with us consisting of the lecture Miss gloria savry the lecture of literature at the south list of the college and we have two of the students from that class we have with us miss Karima Lewis student of literature and Darcy noir who played richel in the scene that you just saw but is also part of our channel also a little student and we are very keen and Interested and intelligent in-house audience Me of the literature class who studied echo in the boom and will be sitting they keep exam this coming me so we are going to all focus on that plea and I think it's fitting if we start By getting the context of the scene that we just saw the story of an echo in the bone and I'm gonna ask Karima Karima Lewis to assist us with that So it would be fitting to know the context of the play before the context of the actual scene an Echo in the bone is a modern drama which focuses on the themes of racism oppression issues of identity Ownership and of course as you saw women in society so the main conflict in this play deals with the man a man named crew and a Plantation owner mass charlie They have opposing views and this leads to detrimental Consequences as in they both end up dead The senior both saw you all saw a while ago. It deals with crews wife Rachel and his soon-to-be daughter-in-law Bridget Both crew and Rachel have two sons jackal and son son son son seems to be predisposed to his father's conditions as in his his He seems to deal with issues in Acting in a violent manner and acting out whereas Jack was seems to reason things out so basically what you saw a while ago was Bridget having or taking of that choice and Choosing what she wants as a woman, which doesn't normally happen in Caribbean society in the past society So she takes up the liberty of making a choice of choosing who she wants to be with not just for herself as a person But for her children as in she's thinking of a future West Indian society So by doing that Bridgett things of what is to come what has gone and what is to come so by putting the violence behind this We are looking to it's a future of reasoning and Something that we can build on All right. Thank you very much. That was really good Many I should throw it out to the audience, you know This next question on Bridget I like what you said Karima about Bridget making a choice Which you thought was perhaps different from the Caribbean one of the past She's very decisive in terms of what she wants What how do you feel about Bridget? I mean, can you identify with her? consider bridging the context of the Contemporary Caribbean society as a young woman in Contemporary Caribbean society. How do you relate to Bridget? Can you do so? members of the audience one of you want to Yes Can you pass the mic please stand in my opinion? I could identify with Bridgett because by throughout I've learned I've realized that black people tend to be stereotyped as vulgar as violent as short-tempered But through Bridgett Scott points out to us that we can have a different outcome we can move away from the stereotype of violence and Not thinking and we can move towards a better and a brighter future Thank you very much. Thank you very much very good now Rachel is Bridget's mother-in-law Rachel is the mother of son son and jacu as you mentioned Rachel seemed to have favored son son at least, you know for Bridget as we as we saw in the scene Why is this so why? well Based on the context of the scene Rachel is more Trying to understand why it is she decided to make the switch from son son to jacu Because their brothers and that itself can cause conflict in the household so to go from the elder brother To the younger brother and she's pregnant Remembering that Rachel is not Rachel Bridget is pregnant it will just cause collision now so especially since son son is said to be the more aggressive type act on Impulse and jacu is the more calmer he takes time to take in the situation and understand what's going on She just wants to understand why it is Bridget would just make that certain change knowing well that she was in a relationship with son son not too long ago and That relationship itself has not come to an end right the character. Rachel is a very interesting character There's something in about how Scott created that character a particular predicament that he has put her in That is very significant in the play And that is her relationship with it with a master with mass Charlie Can you can you speak to that? I'm curious as to how we examine a character like Rachel within the contemporary Caribbean society Rachel seemed to have been forced To give in to sexual relations with the with a planter For the survival of the survival of the family But we do it we no longer in the era of plantocracy Do Rachel still exist do there's a Caribbean woman still find herself in that kind of situation? Definitely if you're talking in the context of rape Caribbean women do face that on a daily basis And it's something that should be dealt with in society. However, Rachel is more the matriarch in this play and Her encounter with the planter was more than once so Inserting the play. This is my perception. This is my opinion. I don't think she was forced into anything I think she made that conscious decision because in her having good relation with the planter her husband is safe Because they were living on a plantation that they did not own and they could have been thrown out had she not Turned what she did right I thought just came to mind, you know about the they are the new plantations It was very welcome to refer to the whole hotel sectors and new plantations by the sea Can I just interject? I mean Caribbean societies Caribbean women have had to eke out to live in have had to deal with issues of survival and so Scott is pointing to the issue of Women having to make decisions that are sometimes contrary to their own moral standings that they are They're seeking survivors issues of survival issues of Wanting to cross over into safer ground and and so on so the Caribbean woman has had a diverse Range of issues to deal with not just being mothers or being wives. They have had to be Breadwinners they've had to stand in the shadow of men who are failing to alcoholism to drugs to Failed ambitions So the the cab Scott is showing us a very strong woman a very a woman who is who who is Claire thinking she's making those decisions that will Nurture the family that will keep the family although they may be in contravention of societal Norms and standards. So that's how I see the matriarch as as someone who takes on Diverse roles depending on what the situation is that that is presented to her and a lot of people would condemn Rachel for Sleeping with the planter, but that that in itself Shows what Dara has said that she's she's trying to ensure that her a family unit survives That is that is tantamount to everything else that that for her is is proponent to everything else Thanks. I noticed that in the scene that Rachel was very defensive of Lally Kareemann when Bridget Spoke about Lally as an example of what she would not like to become Rachel is very protective Lally. Can you tell us a little about why this is so what what is it about Lally that Bridget was You know didn't want to be modeled after and Why is Rachel defensive over? Okay, one must understand that a play is a reflection of society and Echo in the bone offers us a reflection of our Caribbean Society as he introduces women. So when he introduces Lally and Bridget and Rachel He does not just introduce women to contrast and compare them, but to show that every woman adds something to society So although Lally is seen as promiscuous to some people She only seeks comfort where she gets it which some women do and although Bridget has a freedom of choice and she seems more liberal Right. She still has a shortcomings So in doing that Dennis Scott is trying to portray that all women add something to the table It's not just one. It's not just one who you think has more moral conduct They all add something whether good or bad and it makes up society as a whole Excellent. I could see that this play was really a play that would strike students You know because of the a lot of the issues close to whom that it would be stimulating So I wonder Miss Everett What is the experience of of teaching that play to a lecture class of at SALCC I think you should ask the students but but let me just preface by saying you know it's a very exciting play to to deal with because It really grapples with the issues of remembering and forgetting as a people as a West Indian society Are we are we going to forget because it's gruesome It's violent or are we going to remember and then from the members and the different parts of the society Are we going to build a new? So to forget is to erase part of ourselves, but to remember is is a very a Process that Scott invites us to do and he's saying that we cannot escape remembering because within the sinews of our bones there are echoes of the past and Not remembering where you came from not remembering your history is devastating to a society So Scott is evoking that In this play and it's a very exciting play because it allows the students to see the value of slavery and Although it had all its ills that it is still a part of our our consciousness and Do we have develop amnesia or do we? Get up and say let us build a new society from the from the the remnants of slavery And this is what Scott invites us to do so it's it makes for a very broad Dynamic discussion about our society about our past about history about remembering about forgetting About our own identity as her people as a Caribbean people What do we want to be as a Caribbean people do we want to be? remembered as people with with a violent Past that we solve all our problems with a cutlass, you know that sort of thing You have to take a break now, but we will continue with that line when I return we'll go over to the audience Welcome back to text and context and we're looking at an echo in the bone by Dennis Scott And we speaking with the lecturer at the South Alistar College of Lecture and Literature Sabra and her students Now we're going to turn to our audience our literature class and we're going to ask them about the experience of studying this Please so tell us. Yes. What has been your experience of studying an echo in the book? Can you share with us? Studying echo in the bone. I was able to get a understanding of black history We were able to see a revision in of the history because most of it has been taught by the Europeans But in this play we see the writer Taking it and putting it into the black prospect perspective making you see the black people's identity their life what they went through And in so we understand what goes on in our societies and we see the stereotypes being debunked And through that we able to adapt And see the progress of our society as literature students So what you have to take from the play is Who we are as a people Where should we go from here? And how do we deal with the whole slave mentality and what we went through? And where are we going from this point on? Yeah, thank you Thank you Yes, sir The effect this play had on me was the significance and emphasis on remembrance Because in today's day and age you find young people not very interested in the cultural history And not paying attention to or realizing The significance and the issues of slavery and how they carry down From generation to generation affecting us and our behaviors And at some times we don't see that but this play opened my eyes to that and realized How all these teachings from the past are to be carried on and not just forgotten because it is a part of our culture And we should ensure that it's always remembered Thank you Yes Let's go ahead miss Well the effect that the play had on me was that it allowed me to better appreciate my culture And appreciate myself as a black person Because growing up in San Lucia we tend to be stereotyped based on our skin color Based on certain features of our physical attributes But for me learning and remembering what my ancestors went through to get us where we are now It made me even prouder to be a black person Wonderful. Yes Anyone else? All right, perhaps I would like to yes Well, let's switch over to Daru who wants to add something to this I just I just like to say that While studying the play it made it Really difficult to ignore the kind of people that we are in the Caribbean because I mean despite it being a Jamaican play Written by a Jamaican writer a lot of the things that go on in the play happen right here in our society today Even some of this thing some of the things but Like pj said seeing what our ancestors had to go through and What it took for them to get here and the progress that the Caribbean has made it made me even prouder to be Not just a black woman, but a big black woman Very good. Um, what interesting thing that came from the audience was the whole issue of memory and also in addition to that How some of what has happened still affect us with I mean not conscious of it. I think that was very clear in the play Because we saw how son son was able to Almost relive his father's experience Yeah So it seems very pertinent For us to be studying that kind of plea at this moment when we think about Um, Senbushan history ironically, we don't know enough about our own history I'm hoping that perhaps, you know, when literature students study that plea and realize how Um, a writer like Scott makes history such an important part of his own Um writing that we can be motivated to know more about the history so we could understand more about ourselves Um, I'd like to ask, um Karima, can you tell me what scene or what scenes were your favorite in the play? And why? Okay, my favorite scene was the last scene In which Rachel says the germs will keep beating So in that scene, we realize that the title of the play is an echo in the bone and in its own right You would think of an echo Something that resonates a sound that keeps beating on and on and on So through that Scene the last one We can see that everything that we have learned before beats on in this life That everything we have learned beats on everything we went through beats on no matter how much you try to run away from it The past is very much linked to the present and the future Okay, viewers we're in time for another break, but stay put we'll be back shortly Welcome back to text and context and we are looking at the play an echo in the bone and we have a first the lecture in literature at the south of risk committee college miss gloria sembré and her class I hope you did enjoy the scene and you remember it because um I'm going to go over to the young lady who played the character of bridget That is rachel immanuel rachel, um, can you please Share with us the experience of playing bridget. Um, how how did you feel through the process? You know, did it make any difference to you? Do you do a little more about the character? So on Okay Well, my experience with playing bridget Bridget was a character I could identify with since I'm very familiar with all the women empowerment and feminist movements and all of that um, I was raised around You could say 10 women So I really know all about the challenges women face on a day-to-day basis I know about the domestic issues we encounter day-to-day And I find that bridget's character brings out what we want as women in the modern society All right. Thanks. Thanks. Thanks very much. Um, right and um, thinking about bridget and rachel I'm son son jaco who are very interesting characters But the the style and form of the play As cotter's devised it Um allows us to to view other characters That these main characters plea to the ritual And we we meet some very interesting characters in the plea So also throughout the audience and the panel generally can you share for some of those Some of the interesting characters that we meet in the plea perhaps your favorite character and why Yes, maybe we'll come back to the panel I think for me it's a deaf mute he's Really enigmatic of what our society is we have a lot of people in our society who do not speak Who do not hear The echoes they are there are people who who exists without Any kind of tenor from the past and they just They're totally deaf But what is interesting about this character? Scott gives him the drum as his voice and and so he's not a lost character We we get from him um The reverberations of africa and the drum becomes the emblem of his of his expression So Yes, he may be deaf mute but he is africa and For those of us who want to hear africa we can hear it through the drum And scott says that very clearly our culture african culture we must Listen Yes, very well said good um, your favorite character dara karima my favorite character would have to be the maroon The mixed maroon particularly because he Is a mix of both black and white. He's neither He's neither of them and Because of that he is unable to hate Black or white because he's both and they make up the blood that runs through his vein and one of this that was one of the scenes that Came off as one of the characters doubled as the maroon and that character Was faced with the challenge of killing a white man And he refrained from doing so because You know He was divided divided to the boat. He was divided to the bone as miss evan just said And that for me is very interesting because we do have a lot of mixed people in our society Who face these issues so much so that they will Extricated and made into the colors Which to me They should be the people who are accepted Okay, let me stop. Yeah. Yes. Identity is certainly a very important issue. Um in kaibyan literature kaibyan drama And also in kaibyan society in the real society Kaibyan people are still grappling with the issue of identity. I mean, you know, who is a kaibyan person Who is a sen lushan is a sen lushan a black skin person is a kaibyan person a black skin person Can you be white and and be sen lushan and kaibyan? We have many people shabin or Indian partly indian etc These are issues that kaibyan people still grapple with and which the writers kaibyan writers and dramatists Still always exploring because it's it's such a dynamic issue it's such it still involves some serious predicaments That that seems not to have any kind of resolution So it's it's a very very futile territory For art and literature. So it's it's not surprising. That's caught, you know, even although he is focusing on the the black experience Still finds it necessary to explore these issues for the character That you are speaking of I perhaps we can also think of the what happened to rachel and what would have happened to other kaibyan women Who would have given birth to To children who are mixed and often was who mixed So that we have a society now that is is a very complex society But other characters are interesting characters and karima perhaps you can tell us Well, I don't have a favorite character, but the character I found interesting was that of dream boat Where his name basically describes his personality He's a young man with a lot of potential who has no way to go And I found that he was interesting to me because that depicts that of young people right now today We are full of potential but with nowhere to go. So it begs the question Can we not go because of our own hindrances or because of society? So now we have to look at ourselves and evaluate how can we get further as young people And not become a ship of dreams that never sail Wonderfully put. Yeah, I'm thinking of crew the name crew Suggestive of the entire crew Of crews of us that came to the caribbean, you know, I'm a makeup caribbean society But crew who found himself with that dilemma who became a criminal and became lost and Who was without his family? You know, it's sad what happened to crew But there the play does end with some hope You know, perhaps Bridget is the hope Of the play and her child They provide a hope for a caribbean society a new caribbean society Where there will be A way in which we we contend with with our past we contend with our history the tribulations of our history But we do this in such a way that we can create a meaningful society Where we can all exist And find Not that we forget the past but we are able to relate and find meaning With our current situation where we have dealt with issues of the past I I you know I became I just became very antsy when you call crew a criminal I just I think crew is acting on behalf of the race and he takes up this burden of of the past and Criminality doesn't come to mind when I think of crew. I think of crew as Being heroic Standing up for the entirety. So I got a little uncomfortable. Yes, you're right criminal as society would see but Not in terms of the literary mind the literary mind would would stand not stand in judgment but would Would provide some sort of Balance, yes, we have to leave it here because we are the time it's every. Thank you very much. Thank you very much panel Dara Sidwan the career merlis miss glorious every Thank you very much literature class for me of our audience and our technical crew Thanks very much. Um for this edition of text and context and dr. Travis week signing out. See you next time