Brown Girl, Brownstones

Deighton Boyce inherits two acres of land back in Barbados near the start of the first book. For Deighton, the land symbolizes success as a Barbadian immigrant. Prior to inheriting the land, Deighton also has dreams of building a colonial-style house back in Barbados. The house is a symbol of success for Deighton. It is notable that Deighton’s fantasy of a house and land on which to build it are in Barbados rather than the United States. Deighton’s ideas of what would make him successful are oriented towards his origin; his attachment to a dream of returning as a successful man to Barbados shows that he has not fully assimilated to life as an immigrant in the United States.

Silver bangles are common gifts for newborns in the Caribbean. In the novel, Barbadian immigrants import these bangles from Barbados for their little girls. The bangles are thus important symbols of Barbadian identity for the female characters. As a 10-year-old, Selina wears the bangles, but she removes them and throws them into the ruins of several demolished brownstones at the end of the novel. This renunciation of the bangles symbolizes her adulthood and her decision to reject traditional notions of what it means to be Barbadian.

Deighton cashes a $900 check after Silla sells his land, and then he spends the money on gifts for himself and his family. The gifts include a fancy trumpet for himself, evening clothes for his daughters, books for Selina, and fox-fur collar coat for Silla. On the one hand, the gifts represent his desire to be a good provider who can give his wife and daughter the material items associated with success in America. On the other hand, his purchase of these gifts instead of using the money for a down payment on the brownstone represents his defiance of Silla’s vision of what success means. For Silla and her Barbadian peers, Deighton’s purchase of the gifts instead of the house is just further evidence of his lack of initiative and inability to fulfill the ideals of what it means to be a successful Barbadian immigrant.

During World War II, Silla works a lathe machine in a factory. Her ability to master this industrial work is a sign of her determination to master life in the United States, especially when it comes to earning money. She explains to Selina that she was initially hired to do non-skilled work because of racist hiring practices at the factory, but she observed the operation of the lathe until she mastered it and then convinced the bosses to hire her to operate it. She presents this story of success to Selina as an example of how one can overcome racism and challenges through hard work. Silla’s story about her mastery of the lathe is symbolic of her belief in the American Dream—determination, initiative, and self-promotion will enable one to succeed.

Deighton Boyce loses the use of his arm after an accident at the mattress factory. Without the arm, Deighton is no longer able to work or pursue his schemes to make money as a trumpet-player. The arm is thus a symbol of his ability to be a breadwinner in America. The arm is also a phallic symbol. It represents his masculinity and his ability to meet the gender expectation that he will exercise authority over the girls and women in his household, his wife’s sexuality, and his social status as a Barbadian man. With the loss of the arm, Deighton gives up all pretense of trying to fulfill these roles.

Like her father, Selina enjoys listening to the sounds of music that escape clubs frequented by African Americans, so these clubs, with their sounds of blues, jazz, and black patrons enjoying themselves, represent freedom and connection to American identity in the novel.

Selina takes Clive with her to listen to music outside the White Drake in one of the later sections of the novel, and she momentarily feels that the bluesman singing has managed to express the challenges that come with being black in the world; however, the sense of kinship with African Americans slips away, leaving Selina to feel isolated from the African Americans inside the club. In this case, the White Drake represents Selina’s sense of alienation from African-American identity.

The Barbadian Homeowner’s and Business Association is a mutual aid society or self-help group started by the immigrants in Selina’s community during the late 1940s. The group is an important symbol of Barbadian immigrant identity; it is notably closed to African Americans. Selina sees the group as close-minded and intolerant as a result. Her rejection of the group represents her rejection of the restrictive notions of Barbadian immigrant identity held by most of her peers. On the other hand, the activities of the group—starting a bank, providing scholarship for university studies, providing social events for young people—show the enterprising nature of the Barbadian community and their efforts to overcome racism by relying on one another.

While the Boyce home is on the quieter Chauncey Street in Brooklyn, the surrounding streets and parks are livelier places where both Selina and Deighton observe city life and long to engage with African-Americans. These streets represent assimilation to American culture and freedom.