💡Theme: The Power Of Protest Flashcards
‘We are the consequence of history. We are the warriors you made.’ ‘We have dignity and worth.’
TUFTY, LEON, PROTEST, VIOLENCE, RACISM. Tufty uses language as a form of political protest, writing ‘Ode to Castro’ as a protest poem about the mistreatment of black people following Windrush. The collective pronoun ‘we’ shows how he wants people to be unified, and the solemn and dignified form of an ‘Ode’ evokes ideas of pride.
This poem is influential to Leon, who recites lines from it at several points in the book. The power of this poem is highlighted when Leon recites it to the policeman when he’s caught in the riot, reminding the policeman of his humanity and stopping the policeman’s potentially violent reaction.
‘It’s a protest. Except we don’t bomb people in their beds like you Irish people.’
TUFTY, DEVLIN, VIOLENCE, PROTEST. When Tufty and Devlin are fighting in the allotments in Chapter 36, Tufty stereotypes Irish people as terrorists, showing how Devlin is marginalised because of
xenophobic attitudes. Here, we see a more negative side of Tufty; despite Leon’s admiration for him, he is flawed. The motif of protest runs throughout the novel- car bombings and hunger strikes, rally groups and armies, poetry and peaceful protest, uprisings and riots. De Waal seems to be exploring different ways that people can protest.
“Irishmen that are dying on a hunger strike […] wouldn’t mind a bit of that […] don’t remember the last time I was hungry.” (Ch. 30)
De Waal could have alluded to the Irish Hunger Strike:
- To commemorate those lives last as she was half Irish
- To demonstrate prejudice and insensitivity at the time as a comparison to the treatment of black people
- To raise awareness of the deaths that have happened in the past in the quest for freedom
- Show the reality of world events; whereas in some peoples lives this was a huge struggle and life’s work, most normal people would see this in the background of their lives or a joke.
- Juxtapose ideas about protest already introduced through the characters of Tufty, Mr Johnson, and Castro
‘Spit comes out of his mouth like a wild dog.’ […]
‘Leave him! Leave him! He can’t breathe!’
VIOLENCE, PROTEST, CASTRO. In Chapter 27, the reader witnesses first hand the brutality of the police. When questioning Tufty and Castro about another man called Rainbow, they claim that Castro is resisting arrest, and drag him away. The language used to describe this is graphic and visual, making the reader feel fear for his safety, and foreshadowing his later death in the cells. The frantic repetition and exclamatory nature of Tufty’s speech is also emotive, and alludes to Eric Garner, who was choked to death by police after repeating ‘I can’t breathe’ 11 times in 2014. This reminds the reader that systemic racism and unnecessary police brutality still exist.
