Examining Literary Catalysts in Two Short Novels

Examining Literary Catalysts in Two Short Novels For the longest time women have played the secondary roles in many novels written by men, which many times they were only used for effect on the story. However, the two novels that will be discussed in this paper show men in those secondary roles. In the book Brown Girl Brownstone, by Paule Marshall, we see the secondary character played by a man who by first appearance seems like a sloth. In some aspects he serves as a foil to the mother figure in the story. His death in the story serves as a turning point in the story, in which change occurs for the main character as well as other characters. In the other book that will be analyzed in this writing, titled Mama Day, a city bread young man finds himself at the center of many mysterious happenings, when he visits his girlfriend Cocoa’s hometown. His death in the novel is what ultimately allows for resolution at the end. What should one make of these events in the novels? If a universal view could be established it would be to say that these men act as literary catalysts for change for the stories in which they take part in. Although they may not be the main focus of the story they still play a significant role in how the plot unfolds, and without them many aspects of the stories would fall apart. Much like a catalyst in a chemical reaction these characters become part of the process to help change the plot. In hopes to understand why they are literary catalyst, comparing their parts in the plot to that of the definition of catalyst is necessary, building upon the basis of the definition and relating it to their situations and motivation or actions In understanding to why these characters can be referred to as literary catalyst, the definition of catalyst must be defined. A catalyst is an item that causes a static object or concept to commence change. Not only does a catalyst perform this on static ideas, but for dynamic ideas as well. Many times in literature a character or characters are placed in stories as a literary catalyst to help the story to move on or change at a more rapid rate. This does not only hold bar to only the character, but for their actions, ideas, and sometimes even personalities, a degree of change can be made. Not limited just to characters, but an array of ideas, or objects could act as literary catalysts. Using the term would be sufficient for describing the characters, ideas, or objects that cause or speed on change in a plot. An experiment without a catalyst is an experiment that will not happen, much like in literature if characters, certain ideas, or object don’t exist to move the plot along it will remain static. So in many cases a literary catalyst would seem like a necessity in a novel, or other piece. So establishing that without a literary catalyst there is no way to advance a story seems plausible. In both novels we see each character play a key role in the story. Note that these characters may be static or dynamic, but at one point they change the plot, much like two chemicals may be unchanging. However upon contact with a catalyst they change whether for better or for worse something happens, which allows them to be different from what they were originally. Looking for the literary catalyst or catalysts in a story may be hard sometime, but for the two novels being discussed in this easy, it is actually quite easy to see why the characters represent literary catalysts. Looking further into their roles played during the course of the novels they are in we can see change taking place within each story. Their existence in the story or role they play would be necessary for the plot to change and like stated above, without them being there, change would have never occurred. In Brown Girl, Brownstones, we see the main character Deighton is portrayed as lazy male father, who had no ambition to do anything in life except changing his mind about what he wants to do. “While all of the central characters fight their own battle with racism, Deighton 's struggle is of particular interest since the effects of his struggle spill over into the lives of his family.” (Jenkins) Although he is shown as a lazy sloth, he is actually not that bad of a father, from reading the novel we can see he loves his children very much. However he causes wife much pain due to his unemployment and his tendency not take important matters as seriously as he should. During the course of the story, his personality becomes more distorted as he indulges in random ambitions which interest him, such as playing the trumpet, or attending church. For the most part Deighton can be seen a pretty static character. Over the course of the story of which he is included he doesn’t change very much. Over the first part of the story he fights with his wife over the land which belongs to him. The land which is in Barbados, was given to him by his sister, making it rightfully his. However his wife does not feel that this is so. She feels that it should be put into buying the house that they live in currently. Slowly, they become bitterness drives them away each other. With Deighton being a static character, it does not help that he cannot change himself for the better of his family, which in turn leads to his deportation from America and his demise. It is clear that Deighton’s role as a character is a literary catalyst for change in Brown Girl Brownstones, simply because since he does remain much of a static character throughout his portion in the plot, his wife becomes fed up with him a decides to push him away once for good by deporting him back to his own country. He then kills himself by drowning ending the cycle of in which he kept his family in. “However, it is also the death of. Deighton Boyce in Brown Girl that brings about the increased importance of the. relationship between Silla and Selina.” (McDanniels) The story is able to move on from that point after his death. Deighton is not the only catalyst in this story, if analyzed further we could find many more, but for the purpose of this essay he is the only one mentioned. George, in Mama Day by Gloria Naylor, could almost be considered a round character by first glance upon reading, but he does actually change during the story, along with his wife Cocoa. In Mama Day, George and Cocoa take a visit to Cocoa’s hometown to stay with her great aunts Mama Day also know as Miranda and Abigail. During this time George begins to like staying down with her family and even asks Cocoa if she would like to stay as well. Days pass by and due to certain events in the story Cocoa becomes deathly ill, when the bridge off the island collapses. George wants to save, but isn’t really sure how or where to even began. Hopelessness sets in and he forgets all ideas about liking the island from before, wanting to get his wife and self off of it. Mama Day eventually offers to help him save Cocoa from the curse which she has been put under. He listens to Mama Day and in the end saves her from death only to die from a heart attack. George’s place in the story is clear from the beginning of the novel, being foreshadowed by many of the things that Mama Day and Abigail say to each other. “And now there is that boy. Miranda looks down at her hands again. In all her years she could count on half of her fingers folk she 'd met with a will like his. He believes in himself deep within himself… A single moment was all she asked, even a fingertip to touch hers here at the other place. So together they could be the bridge for Baby Girl to walk over. “(Naylor) After George’s death the story takes a turn for the better with Cocoa remarried with kids and a loving husband. From the reading she can also be seen as changed from who she once was. George stands out as a clear literary catalyst at this point; in which his cause a major change in the story. “George 's death forms another compromise, Naylor designs to stir critical inquiry as much as to bring her novel to closure. The character suffers a fatal heart attack while following Mama Day 's instruction to enter a chicken coop and bring back the unidentified cure for Cocoa.” (Lamonthe 75) Without him resolution would not have been possible in this story. He was the literary catalyst that allowed the loose ends in the plot to resolve and come together. In conclusion looking at and analyzing these two books, as well as the definition of catalyst, there may be more literary catalysts contained in each novel the two indentified in the introduction have been shown as literary catalyst to the stories in which they reside. Through both example and comparison establishing both characters as literary catalysts is plausible. Their roles in the story are vastly important to the development of the plot and without their existence in each story, many aspects of the plot would fall apart. These characters allow major changes in each novel to take place, which is why they can be considered catalyst.

Works Cited

Lamonthe, Daphne. "Gloria Naylor 's Mama Day: bridging roots and routes.." African American Review 3(2005): 68-76.
Naylor, Gloria. Mama Day. New York: Ticknor&Fields, 1988.
Marshall, Paule. Brown Girl Brownstones. New York: The Feminist Press, 1981.
Jenkins, Deanna. "Analyzing Brown Girl Brownstones." University of Virginia Library. 24 Apr 2008 <http://etext.virginia.edu/railton/enlt214/jenkins.html>.
Amy K. Levin. Africanism and Authenticity in African-American Women 's Novels. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2003. ii + 208 pp.
McDanniels, Preselfannie. Mothering Modes: Analyzing Mother Roles in Novels by Twentieth-Century United States Women Writers. Diss. Jackson State University, 1992. MA. Mississppi College: 1992.

Cited: Lamonthe, Daphne. "Gloria Naylor 's Mama Day: bridging roots and routes.." African American Review 3(2005): 68-76. Naylor, Gloria. Mama Day. New York: Ticknor&Fields, 1988. Marshall, Paule. Brown Girl Brownstones. New York: The Feminist Press, 1981. Jenkins, Deanna. "Analyzing Brown Girl Brownstones." University of Virginia Library. 24 Apr 2008 <http://etext.virginia.edu/railton/enlt214/jenkins.html>. Amy K. Levin. Africanism and Authenticity in African-American Women 's Novels. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2003. ii + 208 pp. McDanniels, Preselfannie. Mothering Modes: Analyzing Mother Roles in Novels by Twentieth-Century United States Women Writers. Diss. Jackson State University, 1992. MA. Mississppi College: 1992.