CAUCASIA BOOK analysis

Birdie is a young girl born from interracial parents because her father Deck is black whereas her mother Sandy is white. This dichotomy generates suspense and tension in the novel and as the story proceeds more differences come to the surface like her parents background. This book discussion will provide answers for seventeen questions. Caucasia begins with Birdie’s recollection: “A long time ago I disappeared. One day I was here, the next I was gone. From the novel, people shift and become embroiled in a constant scheme to change their form, color, and patterns to achieve invisibility and eventually assume their roles (Senna 7). This pretend species is what Birdie becomes much later in the novel. The Elemeno language depicts Birdie’s origin despite changes in the external environment that force her to assume roles she had not adapted to from birth.

In what ways is the tension between Sandy and Cole typical of that between any mother and daughter, and in what ways is it specific to an interracial family? Do you agree with Cole’s statement: “Mum doesn’t know anything about raising a black child” (p. 44)? Does Sandy treat her two daughters differently based on their appearances? The relationship between Sandy and Cole is typical of that between mother and daughter because of the manner that Sandy attempts to socialize her daughter and in her process she socializes Cole defensively as a means of protecting her. It is this aspect of failed expectations that causes Deck to move away to Brazil with a new girlfriend. Cole is uninterested in Deck’s theories on the race relations in the US whereas Birdie absorbs his ideologies although they are not meant for her (Senna 71).

Officially, Birdie has no name. Her birth certificate “still reads ‘Baby Lee,’ like the gravestone of some stillborn child” (p. Her sister’s name, meanwhile, was originally Colette after the French novelist, but was later shortened to Cole. The family makes attempts to ignore race but the familial and existing external pressure forces the family to acknowledge the concept of race. The family broke apart owing to both internal and external pressures. The evidence of internal pressure takes place when one of the family members declares that the family situation was an experiment by saying, “I remember thinking your parents were such great and mad scientists, embarking on this marvelous, ambitious experiment with you and your sister (Senna 349). “ By this remark we conclude that the family set up was a brave and courageous move that was unpopular at the time.

Therefore, race and the defiance of racism creates the family and destroys the same family indicating that the pressure from the outside world percolated into the family to the extent that racism came to the surface more than love could withstand. This development weighs positively in Birdies’ development considering that for some time she felt relative peace that propagated a state of introspection on matters relevant to her identity. This was a step towards the notification of aspects of herself previously suppressed or unrecognized. By the end of the novel Birdie does not find the state of completion she anticipated. This nudging urge for completion drives her to run from Sandy to look for her sister. In the end, Birdie Lee is a broken woman in a state of confusion, illusion and broken from reality.

I talked the talk, walked the walk (Senna 233). Redbone lurks in the background of the novel as a sinister figure. Why does he initially take such an interest in Birdie? Why does he take her photograph in the playground? Do you believe he is in part responsible for the troubles that befall the family? Ultimately, who or what do you feel is to blame for Cole and Birdie’s separation? Redbone lurks in the background of the novel as a sinister figure because the author stylistically utilizes the character to depict the subconscious elements that characters do not want face such as racism and identity. Redbone continues to exist and intensifies as the unexplored aspects of the novel remain hidden. Redbone is also partly responsible for the troubles that the family encounter because Sandy Lee proclaims that it was Redbone who turned her in to the FBI and proceeds to call him “That high-yellow Uncle Tom sellout Motherfucker.

She attempts to deny her actual identity and compensates the same by seeking for the deficit in other women. The main potential advantages for being a chameleon is that it enables one to adapt to different conditions and lifestyles and the fact that it provides an effective hiding point for inherent insecurities. The main disadvantage is that while the external self develops, an individual fails to acknowledge an unexperienced self that if untouched would create a split in personality that results in problems that Birdie experienced later in the story. Birdie holds on to a fantasy of helping Deck’s research by spying on white people while “passing. ” How does she fail or succeed in her study? What does she find out? Does she become Jesse Goldman, or is she able to remain Birdie in disguise? Are her fantasies about Deck shattered or fulfilled when she encounters him at the novel’s conclusion? Birdie succeeds in her study in that she passes for a white individual while acknowledging that she was not white.

The artifacts helped Birdie remember Cole and Deck because it signified her roots. The box served as an essential item to Birdie considering that it helped her remain grounded in the knowledge that there was a different half of her family and therefore reminded her of her actual identity. In the woods one night in New Hampshire, Samantha says to Birdie: “‘I’m black. Like you’ ” (p. Do you think Samantha has been aware of Birdie’s racial heritage all along, or is Birdie mishearing her? What or who gives Birdie the courage to finally leave New Hampshire? In one of the incidents in the novel, Samantha mentions to Birdie that “I am black, like you (Senna 242). Secondly, she had inherent inabilities to fit in evident from numerous instances like in her family and school days, Thirdly, after having biracial children and realizing the reality of racism, she sought to make the world as safe as possible for the whole family evident from the desire to home school the children and opposition of the idea presented by Deck that the children should attend black power school.

Sandy sacrificed her marriage and sanity. While there remains a great number of factors that drove the wedge for the separation between Sandy and Cole, one of the main contributing factor was race. While Deck embroiled himself in scholastic approach to racism by conducting extensive research on the same, Sandy took an active role in fighting racism. Sandy’s involvement in the civil rights activities intensified her paranoia that drove her to believe that people were after her and this sense of fear affected Birdie immensely. When one chooses a particular, they are forced into the beliefs and values causing a loose of identity as depicted by the conversion of Birdie into Jesse. On the other hand, if one does not choose, the society does not find a means to classify you and the racial ambiguity may cause discomforts depicted by the incident where girlfriends asked Birdie about her religious beliefs and when she said she was not a practicing Jew, they were happy.