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Summary Of Small Island By Andrea Levy

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Small Island by Andrea Levy is narrated by two couples that deal with changes brought by and after World War II. The British couple, Queenie and Bernard, house the Jamaican couple, Hortense and Gilbert. Levy does not fail to show the character’s ignorance and flaws, allowing the readers to relate even more. The four of them all struggle within, trying to make sense of it all. Race and gender impacts both of the couples the most, shaping their opinions and lives. This book introduces how it felt to be British, but more importantly Black and British. Jamaicans were expected to be welcomed in with open arms by the ‘Mother Country.’ Gilbert and Hortense both had very high hopes for Britain. As they grew up, they were told wonderful things about …show more content…

Gilbert believed that once he put that blue RAF uniform on he would be considered an honorable man in Britain. However, that was not the case. He was still looked down upon because he was Black, forced to sit in the back of the movie theater, and unable to converse with white women in public. Gilbert even thought that he would be able to find work, being that he was a former RAF Airman. But yet again the color of his skin stood in his way, “In five, no, six places, the job I had gone for vanish with one look upon my face”(258). Nonetheless, Levy does not construct racism to be black and white. She includes Bernard perspective on why he is so prejudiced. It was evident that he still held many grudges against the foreigners he encountered throughout the war. Rather than becoming mute like his father, he became more racist because of the war. He developed the mentality of a majority of the English: The war was fought so people might live amongst their own kind. Quite simple. Everyone had a place. England for the English and the West Indies for these coloured people… I’ve got nothing against them in their place. But their place isn’t

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This difference is a prime example of the prejudice and unfair treatment that Caribbean immigrants endured, which undermined their sense of identity and exacerbated their relocation. Levy also examines the historical background of British colonialism, emphasizing the economic importance of the sugar business, which was highly dependent on the horrific exploitation of black Africans held as slaves. “Sugar was the main crop, as important to Britain then as oil is today. It was planted, harvested, and processed by the slave labor of black Africans” (Levy 696). By calling attention to this exploitation, Levy highlights the tremendous effect that England's colonial policies had on the Caribbean and the long-lasting effects they had on Caribbean immigrants' conceptions of

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Stuart gave well historical accounts of how the much mixing of people from different cultural background and race conglomerate to form cultural setting currently present in the Caribbean islands. The literature from this novel can be successfully applied in learning institution teach race and ethnic relation courses to assist students in gaining a significant understanding the Barbados inhabitants history. Though the author of the book speaks of the assimilation race in a very compassionate way, she efficaciously demonstrates the how the spectrum of color originated in this Island. According to her, this societal predicament connects to colonialism; the slave trade from Africa to American as well as the oppressive injustices came with the expansion of sugar plantations to meet the booming market demand during the period. The slaves worked under a harsh environmental condition where their masters denied them fundamental rights of human being.

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In Small Island, Hortense is ridiculed in London by the host society for her aspirations despite being a Black woman. Hortense trained as a teacher in Jamaica and ‘was the talk of the college for several weeks.’ Hortense’s privileged upbringing is a reflection of her high hopes for England and the educational advantages she feels she will be entitled to in Britain. Although, Hortense is well-respected feelings of superiority often interject Hortense’s outlook on the opportunities available to her in Britain. Thus, she is alienated in the British educational system due to institutionalised racism and nowhere will hire her because she is black.

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