Mimesis, Irony and their Oppressive Representations.

Julia McGrath

EL 6530-GBL: Multicultural Literature

Professor Camarasana

19 March 2021

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Society not only condemns race but makes sure that people's identities revolve around racial stereotypes. Michelle Cliff's novel No Telephone to Heaven shows how the protagonist becomes connected to their identity --- Clare Savage separates her race and personality, finding wholeness. Cliff's last chapter invokes irony as racial stereotypes are used when filming a movie, and Clare's revolutionary group had a traitor. The irony represents how Clare is the only character that finds her identity as others find one through other people or betray others because of their racial oppression.

Cliff's book title shows some irony but also indicates a metaphor. The metaphor is that some of the main characters mimic racial oppressions while others metamorphosis and develop an identity. Clare Savage, the protagonist, is a prime example as she decolonizes herself and is not a colonized subject like her father, Bobby, and other Jamaican Americans. The phrase "No Telephone to Heaven" is repeated throughout the book because its repetitive use evokes the irony in which racial stereotypes are considered mimesis.

The mimesis becomes broadcasted in the book's last chapter as a British man and an American man film a movie in Jamaica. The two filmmakers are waiting for De Watchman, and the American tells De Watchman, "You look pretty good to me, can you howl for us?" (Cliff 205). The last chapter shows this irony as these filmmakers are filming a movie based on racial stereotypes. The irony then unfolds because De Watchman does not acknowledge the issue and has no problem howling. Cliff states, "just sit in a tree and howl. That's all. You can do that, can't you?" (205). De Watchman sees no issue and agrees, then filming the movie. The problem is that the filmmakers are privileged white men who see no issue using racial stereotypes for a film while the Jamaican, the oppressed, does what is expected. The conversation depicts a master vs. slave relationship as the white men tell the non-white what they must do, and the Jamaican adheres, never questioning what is wrong.

When De Watchman and the white male filmmakers begin filming the movie, De Watchman, playing Sasabonsam, a Forest God, sits in the tree. He is playing a monster and is told that he must howl. Cliff states, "Howl! Howl! I want you to bellow as loud as you can [...] remember, you're not human [....]" (207). Cliff's quote is bone-chilling as it shows how people's identities become formed based on racial stereotypes. De Watchman keeps saying "sah," as he seems to respect these white foreigners that are filming a movie that shows racial misconstruction. The irony is that these white filmmakers fly to Jamaica and have a non-white man play some monster when they could have filmed the movie somewhere else and had a white man play the "monster" (207). The irony distinguishes the inequities that racism portrays and how the oppressed seem unaware that the privileged are racially profiling them. Since Africans and Jamaicans are perceived as violent, the white filmmakers have a Jamaican play the monster. The white filmmakers prove that the mimesis is a mere imitation of how Africans and Jamaicans must be, and nothing else.

Clare Savage finds her identity and separates it from her Jamaican-American one. Then, she joins a revolutionary group (the same group that she travels with in the first chapter) because Jamaica is suffering hardships. Clare's group watches the movie take place, try and attack the crew, but the ending shows that Clare and her group fail. Cliff states, "Who had been the quashee (betrayer)? some asked. Lights played and skidded across their hiding places, as helicopters spun into the valley" (208). A group member betrayed the group and the plan to attack the crew members. Lastly, the helicopter that comes proves that the oppressed will stay oppressed while those that fight the oppression sometimes suffer. The irony is that Clare's revolutionary group understands that their people are considered inferior because they are not white, so they fight for freedom; however, someone betrayed them, supporting the privileged race that oppresses them. The sad realization becomes exposed as the revolutionary group wants their culture to overcome the oppression but is hoodwinked by their race, proving that suppression will never die unless the oppressed fight.

Society not only condemns race but makes sure that people's identities revolve around racial stereotypes. Michelle Cliff's novel No Telephone to Heaven shows how the protagonist becomes connected to their identity while others mimic racial oppression and societal privilege. The last chapter's ironic theme shows how mimesis transgresses those suppressed and makes them either not acknowledge their mistreatment, as the Watchman, or notice the inferiority but betray those helping them, like the revolutionary group traitor. Cliff's novel is not only a story of a racial metamorphosis, but how racial oppression exists and how people continue it.

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Works Cited

Cliff, Michelle. No Telephone to Heaven. Penguin Books, 1996.