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The Opening Chapter Of Joss Moody's Trumpet

1014 Words5 Pages

From the opening chapter of Trumpet by Jackie Kay, the renowned Joss Moody is dead and spoken about in a past tense. From there on out the readers’ impressions of the character come from memories recounted by others, which in many cases seem unreliable. The most direct dialogue from Joss comes at the very end of the text, in which Colman finally reads a letter that was left to him by his father years prior. This ending causes readers to reflect back and wonder what the function of that letter is. Why was there so little of Joss’ voice throughout the story? After witnessing so many different accounts of who Joss was, what is true? In this essay I will explore the impact of that final letter on the overall narrative, specifically the ways in …show more content…

The pattern begins with the death certificate calling Joss’ entire identity into question with just a quick stroke of ink. The nonchalant way in which the doctor crosses out “male” in large, red letters foreshadows the intrusive and abrasive way in which the public handles such information. It enforces a gender binary in which an individual is one of two options with no middle ground, and those that deviate are swept back into a category via a swiftly checked box. With the addition of news articles and Sophie Stone’s writing process, the life of Joss Moody becomes a story of speculation in the hands of the public. Despite a lifetime of achievements and interactions, the written word following his death is ultimately what seems to define Joss. It would appear that the final letter from Joss himself seeks to dismantle such inaccuracies, perhaps for the public but most importantly for his son. He writes to him “I’m leaving myself to you. Everything I have got… I’ve discovered that the future is something else entirely. That our worries are too wee. It is quite simple: all of this is my past, this is the sum of my parts; you are my future (Kay 277).” With this, he disregards what the public may have to say, instead reminding Colman that it is now his story to tell should he so choose. After chapter upon chapter of outside opinion, this letter restores Joss’ voice and authority as a

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