Not fully understanding, H had assumed she was angry that he cheated on her. She said there was something evil about them building up the things that had brought them to America in the first place, the very things that had tried to drag them under. On the night of prom, Marjorie watched a movie with her parents; when she got up to make popcorn, she heard them whispering about her. Copyright 1999 - 2023 GradeSaver LLC. Graham pulled out a cigarette and a lighter, and he continued playing with the lighter until Marjorie asked him to stop; she was afraid of fire because of the stories she had heard about her family. Seen by other Black girls as acting too white yet unaccepted by the white girls, Marjorie spends her lunch period with her English teacher, Mrs. Pinkston. My mama gave me that name herself. We must rely upon the words of others [] We believe the one who has the power. One that continues to serve them. This choice, and this quote in which Effia encourages him to make the change he desires, both highlights the importance of motherhood in the book and shows how one's family and upbringing do not totally dictate one's potential. This caused Marjorie to fall to the ground crying. He keeps only the one or two fish that he needs to feed himself and puts the rest back in the water, thinking that their lives will go back to normal. Instant PDF downloads. -Graham S. The timeline below shows where the character Marjorie appears in, Mrs. Pinkston is putting on a black cultural event for the school, and asks. Detailed explanations, analysis, and citation info for every important quote on LitCharts. He would never truly know who his people were, and who their people were before them . Like many people born into slavery, Ethe was separated from her mother as a child, so all she has of her birth family is her name. If in the moment of doing you felt clarity, you felt certainty, then why feel regret later?". Esther's advice stems from more equal gender dynamics. They're like having in-class notes for every discussion!, This is absolutely THE best teacher resource I have ever purchased. Marjorie had come back to Cape Coast to visit her grandmother Akua, who had moved away from Edweso to be closer to the sea. Youve successfully purchased a group discount. Akua told Marjorie that she was in the ocean they were walking by; when Marjorie was born, her parents had mailed her umbilical cord to Akua, who had put it in the ocean. In Homegoing, names also reflect how a person is perceived socially. Esther asks if she likes someone, or if someone has asked her to prom. Instead, she chooses a new identity, one not defined by or dependent upon slavery. Akua had a house on the beach that Marjorie's mother and father had come back to Ghana to build. Marcus called home once a week, on Sundays, when he knew his grandma, aunt, and cousins would be around the house. He would not be weak. Even though he sticks up for Marjorie at first, he takes the easy way out by returning to his other white classmates instead of remaining with her. Marjorie returned to Alabama at the end of summer. Now it reflected the ocean water before them, gold waves shimmering in the black stone. Her mother lifted her up. Teacher Editions with classroom activities for all 1699 titles we cover. Again, just like with Robert, the societys implicit racism rears its ugly head when Graham implies that Marjorie is better than other black girls because she is Ghanaian, which also plays into a colonialist narrative. It was her special name, the nickname born with her because of her Asante name, but it had always made Marjorie feel small somehow, young and fragile." He ran and ran down the beach until he came to a big fire; he stopped there and heard Marjorie approach. He does not invent new ways. Homegoing Quotes and Analysis "Weakness is treating someone as though they belong to you. While walking around Pratt City, Marcus tried to explain his feeling that it was only chance that he had been born at a time when he could be alive, free, and out of jail. I think, James, that maybe it is possible to make a new way., There should be no room in your life for regret. When Marcus was growing up, Sonny would do precisely the same routine every morning: drink orange juice, shave, get his methadone, and go to work as a custodian at the hospital. "My students can't get enough of your charts and their results have gone through the roof." Maame teaches her daughter that slaveholders are the weak ones, which is part of what gives Esi strength when she is taken to the Cape Coast Castle by slavers and eventually must work on plantations in the United States. Akosua demonstrates to James that it is possible for one to step outside their heritage, the path chosen for them by their family, and live the life they choose for themselves. Before H was arrested and sent to work in the coal mines, Ethe had left him after he called her by another womans name. One small but meaningful moment in Marjorie's story is when Marjorie's father Yaw calls her Abronoma. [Spoiler] At the end of the book one half of the black stone pendant, possessed by Marjorie is given to Marcus, but what happened to the other half of the stone . While Marjorie is very similar to Marcus in some ways, her experience also has parallels to the chapters on Marcus's ancestors. See, that's what I thought. One day, Graham sat across from her. Akua and Marjorie took a walk on the beach together, as Marjorie loved to do. Free. Graham refused, but then Marjorie told him he should go. Renew your subscription to regain access to all of our exclusive, ad-free study tools. Tonight, you must be like an animal when he comes into the room. Marcus was uncomfortably near to water now. Would not have made it through AP Literature without the printable PDFs. Although heritage can be a large part of someones identity, Akosua shows that sometimes being true to ones identity means disconnecting from ones heritage. Marjories dynamics with the other girls in her class reflect the legacy of colonialism, as the other girls make fun of her accent for sounding almost British because of the influence of the British in Ghana for generations. A top election official in Georgia took aim at Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., for spreading "disproven conspiracies" after she falsely claimed during a House panel on election integrity . The firewoman would carry these two little girls with her all the way to the woods of the Inland and then the babies would vanish, and the firewomans sadness would send orange and red and hints of blue swarming every tree and every bush in sight. Sharecropping, prison labor, Jim Crow Laws, and discrimination kept many black people financially or legally subjugated by white masters for decades after slavery was technically ended in the United States. Sometimes it can end up there. Marjorie finds Grahams friendship valuable, but as it develops it reveals that even in a much more contemporary time period, there is still a stigma surrounding interracial couples. He helped her approach the fire, and then she ran and jumped in the ocean and he followed her. This knowledge, along with her repeated nightmare of the woman on fire holding two children, is what led Akua to set her familys hut on fire in her sleep. Teachers and parents! With as much wealth and power as there is to be gained, James knows that the British will continue oppressing Africans one way or another. Akua talked about how the family was connected to Cape Coast and the Castle; she had put the umbilical cord there so Marjorie would know how and where to come home. Unlike many of her female forbearers, Marjorie is allowed a little more agency in expressing her interest in Graham. March 1, 2023, SNPLUSROCKS20 . LitCharts Teacher Editions. Effia's stone is passed down through the family all the way to Marjorie, the last descendant of Effia in the book. We believe the one who has power. She smiled at him. As though he were the one who had been violated. Find a summary of this and each chapter of Homegoing! Here, in the chapter titled James, James listens to his father, Quey, talk to his friend David about the lasting effects of the slave trade. "Cobbe had lost seven yams, and he felt each loss as a blow to his own family. Your mother had no husband when she came here to me, pregnant, begging for help. More books than SparkNotes. Akua has many names in her life, each showing the way she is seen by others, which in turn influences her self-perception and personality. The idea went underground for years. Marcus didn't like art museums much, and soon after getting there he left Diante to walk around by himself. James finds himself trying to make sense of what has happened to them, wondering what is wrong with them, and Dicey retorts that she does not care. As soon as they got near, the light skinned woman recognized Diante. When the assembly started, Marjorie started to get a bad feeling about what was going to happen. "Homegoing Marjorie and Marcus Summary and Analysis". I am proud to be Asante, as I am sure you are proud to be Fante, but after I lost my brothers, I decided that as for me, Akosua, I will be my own nation. My own response about Africans, both in Africa and in diaspora, has more. However, as highlighted here in the chapter Marjorie, this makes her an outcast among her classmates, who see identity as something that is shaped by much more than ones background or the color of ones skin. Find summaries for every chapter, including a Homegoing Chapter Summary Chart to help you understand the book. Would not have made it through AP Literature without the printable PDFs. PDF downloads of all 1699 LitCharts literature guides, and of every new one we publish. Cite This . Akuas actions then serve as a kind of repentance, as she tries to listen to the spirits of those who had lost their lives. By signing up you agree to our terms and privacy policy. Just a moment while we sign you in to your Goodreads account. Heritage and Identity Quotes in Homegoing Below you will find the important quotes in Homegoing related to the theme of Heritage and Identity. Your subscription will continue automatically once the free trial period is over. When she's taken out of the dungeon she starts screaming to be let back in to find it and the guards physically pick her up to drag her outside. Alive. Effia marries a white man named James and moves to the Castle. When we reach Marjorie's chapter, they story of the stone and her family is told: "It [the stone] had belonged to Old Lady and to Abena before her, and to James, and Quey, and Effia the Beauty before that. chapter, Though these daughters never meet, the stones connect their stories. and instead of stories about family she would tell him stories about nations. It is at Stanford that he meets a girl named Marjorie, first noticing her "lovely face and a beautiful necklace." He learns her focus is on African and African American literature. She invited him to sit at her table. Homegoing Quotes Quotes by Theme Summary Marjorie Marjorie Summary: Marjorie Marjorie arrives in Ghana for her annual summer visit to her grandmother, Akua. resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss thenovel. Waters. "Evil begets evil. Marjorie's research was in African and African American literature. Marjorie showed Marcus her necklace and told him that she hadn't been back to Ghana in fourteen years since it was so painful losing her grandmother. Quey would never go to Cudjo's village. And if he mentioned the Great Migration, he'd have to talk about the cities that took that flock in. It grows. Marjories struggle shows how racism and colonization have made it that much harder for people of African descent to truly embrace their heritage and identity in places controlled by white people. He told her to focus on her studies and left. $24.99 Kojo and Anna worked in the Mathison's home. Diante left the party; he often did because he was looking for a girl he had met at an art museum once. That the fact that he had been born, that he wasn't in a jail cell somewhere, was not by dint of his pulling himself up by the bootstraps, not by hard work or belief in the American Dream, but by mere chance. It transmutes, so that sometimes you cannot see that the evil in the world began as the evil in your own home. After she admitted this, Graham kissed her. Marcus left the party soon after. There will always be blood." Part 1: Kojo Quotes When Marjorie begins high school, she is eager to have more Black classmates than she did in previous grades. Majorie immediately wanted to go to Ghana, and made Akua promise to her over the phone that she wouldn't die before she was able to come. Complete your free account to access notes and highlights. Akua had wanted to be buried on a mountain overlooking the sea. In this scenario, Marcus demonstrates how difficult it is to overcome generational trauma and societal racism, though his anger at the injustices of history is justified. It is not mine. He didnt add that because of their work, he didnt have to work, but instead could live off the family name and power. He and. Later that week, a call came from Ghana saying Akua was getting weaker. "You are not your mothers first daughter. You'll be able to access your notes and highlights, make requests, and get updates on new titles. Creating notes and highlights requires a free LitCharts account. Marjories fear of fire shows that she has inherited its association with destruction, and reinforces its symbolism of her familys early involvement in the slave trade. The first main character introduced in the novel. Alive. One day, a boy talked to her in the library. Alive. Marcus asks if she goes back to Ghana often. Instant downloads of all 1699 LitChart PDFs (including. We will come back and build the country the white man wants us to build. They chatted blandly about the movie, and then Marjorie brought up Mrs. Pinkston's assembly. Marjorie was entering high school now. From the creators of SparkNotes, something better. If in the moment of doing you felt clarity, you felt certainty, then why feel regret later? She, This is the problem of history. And if he slammed the book down, then everyone in the room would stare and all they would see would be his skin and his anger, and they'd think they knew something about him, and it would be the same something that had justified putting his great-grandpa H in prison, only it would be different too, less obvious than it once was., White men get a choice. Refine any search.
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