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The Exploration of the African Citizen in Gem of the Ocean

  • Journal of Modern English Drama
  • Abbr : JMBARD
  • 2014, 27(3), pp.79-105
  • Publisher : 한국현대영미드라마학회
  • Research Area : Humanities > English Language and Literature > English Literature > Contemporary English Drama

Soim Kim 1

1건국대학교

Accredited

ABSTRACT

August Wilson’s Gem of the Ocean dramatizes Aunt Ester and Solly’s process of educating Citizen. Aunt Ester, a “285-year-old” former slave, embodies the African wisdom and history. Solly, a former slave and an Underground Railroad conductor, symbolizes the African nomadic life and the spirit of resistance. Citizen, whose name evokes the idea of citizenship, lacks a sense of both the African-American tradition and the American system of law and freedom. The background of the play is Pittsburgh in 1904. The year 1904 is the time of the great migration of the blacks from the South to the North where the Jim Crow Laws enforcing segregation are more lenient than in the South. But even in Pittsburgh, the living conditions of the blacks are harsh: the mill where Citizen has worked broke the original contract, and a series of mishaps lead to a riot and Solly’s setting the mill on fire. The paper illuminates in this difficult time, what values the two African mentors, Ester and Solly, present to Citizen, and what kind of citizenship they intend to build up. Ester’s counsel includes the purification of the soul, the expansion of life, and finally, the embracement of the history of black slaves. Solly provides a unique view on freedom and law based upon his personal experience as a runaway slave and as an Underground Railroad conductor. Significantly, Ester and Solly’s guidances merge into the ritual heading to “the City of the Bones” with the boat called “the Gem of the Ocean.” In the ritual, in which all the black community participates, Citizen is proclaimed to be “reborn as a man of the people.” Both Ester and Solly believe in the power of the African community, which is expected to overcome segregation and inequality. But the effect of the ritual is tested just after it ends. Caesar, the black constable, raids Ester’s place, eventually arrests Ester, and kills Solly. While the play endorses the sense of the African tradition and the support of the community as the bases for Black citizenship, the sacrifice of Solly and character weakness of Citizen provide more questions than answers. As there is a gap between the idealistic vision of the community power and Pittsburgh reality, there certainly exists a gap between the message the play endorses and the still harsh reality the Black people confront now in the USA. As the starting play of ‘The Pittsburgh Cycle,’ Gem of the Ocean provides the agendas to dwell upon throughout the10-play cycle rather than a compact answer.

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