These two novels are divergent in terms of time frame, family relationship, and class. The female leads are young African-Americans, but their lives are complete opposites. Before reading these texts, the only African-American literature she had read and studied were slave narratives, such as those by Frederick Douglass and Celia, a slave. These texts showed me that even after emancipation, African Americans were still oppressed, first with segregation and then with poverty.
family baby It is a story of assimilation. Lena’s family, though living in a segregated society, is embracing white culture as much as possible. They are definitely middle class. Despite being forced to live in the black part of the city, which is the poorest section, Lena’s family owns a very nice house and has many luxury items, such as two sewing machines, appliances, and a piano. They are working hard and striving to achieve the “Dream” of the mainstream culture. Lena and her family have created their own world that exists separate from the white world. In the novel, whites are almost non-existent and there is little confrontation with racism. The style of the novel is very soft; it practically lulls the reader to sleep. One gets the feeling that assimilation is good and that the message to African Americans is not to “break the system.” The only example of resistance in Baby it comes from the slave Raquel, who talks about her suicide to escape oppression. Before this, Lena didn’t know much about slave life; this lack of knowledge indicates her parents’ desire to let the past be the past.
lost black girl it is a novel of resistance to the dominant culture. The literary style of this novel is very fast-paced, full of action and full of animal violence. This represents the world of the African American ghetto. The style also gives the feel of a jungle, filled with images of animals (such as Chink being called a monkey or a tiger). The reader also sees people as predators, financially and sexually. Chink makes a living by taking advantage of other people’s addictions and Sandra is sexually harassed by two black men. One also gets an image of the jungle in Sandra’s relationship with her mother. Sandra has to fight against her mother in order to survive. An example of this is when Sandra receives food from Sammy after working at her store. Sandra was eating the food when her mother came home. She quickly ate the rest of the sandwiches, but the cake and soda were still there when her mother walked into the kitchen. Her mother snatches the cake and eats it, then demands that Sandra give her the bottle of soda. Sandra runs around the table to stay away from her mother while she drinks her soda. This fight for food between Sandra and her mother reminds the reader how animals in the jungle fight for a new prey.
Reading these two texts together, the picture that emerges from African-American literature is of the various ways in which African-Americans have been and continue to be oppressed. Lena is oppressed by segregation; Sandra for poverty. In both novels, women are subjugated to men. This is shown in Sandra’s rape and her deference to Chink and also in Nellie’s submission to her husband and her numerous affairs.
References
Ansa, Tina McElroy. family baby. Harcourt, 1991.
Goins, Donald. lost black girl. Editorial Lushena, 2006.