15 George Lamming: In the Castle of My Skin

Dr. Alice Samson

Introduction to the novel

George Lamming’s In the Castle of My Skin was published in 1953. It was Lamming’s first novel and won him the Somerset Maugham Award. The novel through a depiction of the mundane events in a young boy’s life narrates the dramatic changes that take place in the village and society that he lives in. The novel uses such characteristic devices of modernist fiction as shifting perspectives and unreliable narration to recount the boyhood of a sensitive, unusually intelligent young boy, who is being raised by a protective mother who is a single parent.

The novel’s chief concern is not the individual consciousness of the protagonist and Lamming uses intelligence and observation of G. (the protagonist) as the window through which the reader  views  the  legacy  of  colonialism  and  slavery  in  the  rural  Caribbean  society.  It is through G’s narration that the reader gets access to the effects that politics of race, capital, are disturbed as  education, labor movement  lead to sudden,  violent riots  in a rural, passive and feudalistic society. In his later works of fiction too, Lamming continues to examine the Caribbean experience through the eyes’ of his protagonists even as they migrate to the northern, urban megapolis (London and several cities in the United States and Canada). But in In the Castle of My Skin, as befits his choice of protagonist, the scope of perception is limited to the personal, domestic, and village spheres. Through this restricted view, the reader receives a comprehensive image of significant socio-cultural changes in a tradition-bound part of the world.

 Life and Work of George Lamming

Alongside the novelist V. S. Naipaul and the poets Derek Walcott and Kamau Brathwaite, the Barbadian novelist George Lamming is one of the most important figures in Caribbean Anglophone (English-speaking) literature. George Lamming was born on June 8, 1927, in Carrington Village, a small village about two miles from Bridgetown, the capital of Barbados’s capital. Lamming was raised by his unmarried mother (who had an interracial parentage) and by Papa Grandison, who was the mother’s godfather.

Lamming attended the Roebuck Boys School in Carrington Village and won a scholarship to attend Combermere High School. At Combermere he attracted the attentions of his teachers who recognized and encouraged his talent for writing. When he was nineteen, Lamming left Barbados for Trinidad, where he was employed as a teacher. In Trinidad, Lamming continued to write and publish in the Anglo-Caribbean literary journal Bim. He came in contact with a number of other writers like himself.

In 1950 Lamming sailed for London. His literary output, previously limited to poetry, expanded and he began writing fiction. By 1960, Lamming had published four novels and his most lauded work of non-fiction The Pleasures of Exile. Initially he worked in a factory and found employment with the overseas division of the British Broadcasting Service. The employment with the BBC provided him the scope to travel widely and he made his first trip to the United States in 1955. It was during these travels that Lamming began to get involved in the political movements in the Caribbean islands.

In the 1960s, Lamming edited two special issues of of New World Quarterly, one dedicated  to the independence of Barbados and the other to the independence of Guyana. He was extremely active in the promotion of Caribbean literature, receiving fellowships, writing television scripts, serving on literary prize juries, and occupying the chair of Writer in Residence at the University of the West Indies. In 1971, Lamming published the novel Water with Berries, a novel about anti-West Indian bigotry in England. This was followed by the Natives of My Person, followed in 1972. Since then, Lamming has not published novels. In 1990s he brought out three books of criticism, focusing on his enduring concerns: political self-determination, racism, and the legacy of the fraught relationships between the European powers and the peoples they colonized and enslaved.

Major Themes in the writings of George Lamming

Alongside Edward Kamau Brathwaite, George Lamming is credited to have brought into sharp focus the travails that the previously colonized and currently displaced populations face in the first world. Every noted writer from the Caribbean region, including Jamaica Kincaid, CLR James, V.S. Naipaul, has explored the theme of exile, displacement, and longing for home amidst other tropes. Some writers including CLR James and Lamming have used the trope of Prospero versus Caliban to discuss the relations between the colonizer and the colonized. Additionally James and Lamming have viewed the literature as the chief mode to record the history of the subaltern population in the Caribbean region. Lamming has once remarked that “I do not know whether literary scholars make the connection, but one of the functions of the novel in the Caribbean is to serve as a form of social history”.

Besides, Lamming has also explored the ideas of the newly founded Caribbean and West Indian identity. While most of Lamming’s work focuses on the ideas of displacement and exile, he offered specific historical or philosophical points on colonialism. Some of Lamming’s later novels were set in San Cristobal, a fictional country in the West Indies. The imaginary site allowed Lamming to construct and examine the pan-Caribbean or West Indian identity that in the real world was supposed to have united diverse populations across several Caribbean islands.

In his celebrated novel Water with Berries (1971), Lamming retells the story of the Prospero and the Caliban. The novel, which is inspired by William Shakespeare’s The Tempest, successfully localizes the story and subtly informs the reader that the original text is a production of a mind which sympathized with the British’s imperialist mindset. In Pleasures of Exile, Lamming argues that the much examined relationship between Prospero and Caliban mirrors the opposition between colonizer and colonized. Caliban, Lamming argues, is not only exiled from his nature but is also colonized by language. He argues that as a writer from the Caribbean island he is “a direct descendant of slaves, too near to the actual enterprise to believe that its (colonialism’s) echoes are over with the reign of emancipation”. He further states that he is also “a direct descendant of Prospero worshipping in the same temple of endeavour, using his legacy of language”. As a descendant of Prospero, Lamming states that his duty is to remind “the descendants of both sides” that what has been done is done and cannot be undone. The present, Lamming argues is “endowed with different meanings, may grow towards a future which is colonised by our acts in this moment, but which must always remain open.”

For Lamming, colonialism is a complex project. The history of colonialism is non-linear and is fraught with the dynamics of capital and power. Hence, it was unpredictable and violent. Writing in the now canonized Pleasures of Exile, Lamming argues that “the indigenous Carib and Arawak Indians, living by their own lights long before the European adventure, gradually disappear in a blind, wild forest of blood”. He states that western imperialism brought in a “mischievous gift”, which is the “sugar cane”. The introduction, argues Lamming leads to a “fantastic human migration” and to the creation of “the New World of the Caribbean”; which is constituted by “deported crooks and criminals, defeated soldiers and Royalist gentlemen fleeing from Europe, slaves from the West Coast of Africa, East Indians, Chinese, Corsicans, and Portuguese”. All these characters move and meet on an “unfamiliar soil, in an unpredictable and infinite range of custom and endeavour”. These are individuals and are living in inclement environments “surrounded by memories of splendour and misery” and “always the sea!”

Though Lamming was sympathetic to the cause of the political left, he was never formally associated with the left of centre political organizations. Yet, there are several depictions of organized forms of mass protest like the workers’ strikes, and boycott calls in most of his novels.

Plot of the novel

Like most of the novels, focussed on depicting the political shifts taking place in the Caribbean islands, written in English by the first generation of coloured writers In the Castle of My Skin is a long novel spread over 290 pages. It is divided into 14 chapters. The novel can be divided into three parts. The first 3 chapters paint the setting of G’s life, his family, village and school. They provide the reader a glimpse into the social settings of Creighton.

Creighton is depicted as being representative of any village in the island. In the next 5 chapters, the reader is exposed to the power relation and the impending transformations. The villagers are simultaneously both tepid and hopeful of these changes. In the last 4 chapters, the novel describes the transformation that has been brought in. The villagers realise that the white elite class from the plantation is being replaced by a native bourgeois class. The village is transformed and its social fabric has been altered. Both its eldest and the young members of the village are leaving it.

In the Castle of My Skin opens with an image of flooding waters and this deluge becomes the main motif of the book. The unnamed protagonist ‘G.’, on his ninth birthday, is looking out the window of his house and talking with his mother about the unusual rains in the village.

His mother tells him about his relatives. The reader gets to know that G’s father is absent from their lives. The boy curiously enquires about his grandparents and is informed that they have left for the United States many years ago. The chapter is narrated by the boy and describes the life in Creighton. The reader is exposed to the village social life. He hears about the Pa and Ma, the water inspector, and the village landlord.

In the second chapter, the scope of the boy’s vision widens to include others outside of his household. The reader is introduced to the neighbours as G’s mother bathes him in the yard outside his house. Bob, a boy in the neighbouring house who is of the same age as G climbs up the fence to watch, laughs and calls other boys to come and see G’s mother giving G a bath. G.’s mother calls the boys “vagabonds” and curses them. The boys tear down the pumpkin vine. As she G’s mother scolds Bob, Bob’s mother emerges and hits Bob on his ear. G’s mother tries to pull Bob away. A number of boys and girls come to gawk at the scene, even as Bob stands in the middle of the yard naked. The mother on realising that G is naked tries to whip him.

The incident brings together all the mothers in the village who start talking among themselves about the “botheration” that their children be. Miss Foster tells a story about how Gordon’s fowl cock shat on a white man’s suit. The boys then go to the public showers. Inside the showers, under the taps they play with each other and are ejected by the supervisor for “fooling around.” They proceed to the railroad tracks to place pins and nails on the rails. As they walk back to the village, they stop and buy food from a vendor. The chapter closes with Miss Foster, Bob’s mother, and G.’s mother talking about the effects of the flood. Miss Foster talks with awe about how the landlord treated her well, giving her tea and sixty cents.

Chapter 3 expands the scope of G.’s experience even more and the reader is introduced to the school education system. The narration also moves once more beyond G.’s immediate consciousness. The chapter begins with a description of the schoolyard and moves quickly to describe boys’ assembly for Empire Day. The inspector gives them a speech about the special relationship between Barbados and England before inspecting the classes. The boys are informed that Barbados is England’s main ally and is actually a ‘little England’. A boy misbehaves and is flogged. The boys begin to speak among themselves in a play-style manner and the conversation reveals their feelings about their parents. The boy who was flogged by teacher earlier reveals the relationship that teacher and teacher’s wife.

The boys return to the class and inquire about the process of making coins with the King’s face on them. Though they want to learn about slavery, their school tells them nothing about it. The head teacher receives an envelope which contains a letter and a photograph. The photograph reveals that the wife is cheating him. The teacher is shocked and ponders what to do about the letter and the photograph. He is also worried if the students have understood what is going on. He thinks about his responsibilities to the village, and the obligation to be an example to the whole community. He contemplates the ways through which he can react to the discovery of infidelity, and wonders how he should balance this travesty with his role as a teacher and his position as the reservoir of English reserve and propriety. He looks at his students and demands silence. One of the boys attempts to explain the roots of slavery by citing examples from the Bible. He tries to normalize it and the chapter closes with the boys examining the pennies given to them by the inspector for Empire Day.

Two new characters an “Old Man” and an “Old Woman” are introduced in the chapter IV. It has been an year since the floods have affected the village. The two senior members of the village live together and represent the old ways of the village. They discuss the events in the village in the year. Mr. Slime, formerly the school teacher, has opened a “Penny Bank and Friendly Society” in which all of the inhabitants of Creighton Village put their money. Mr. Slime is compared to Moses and is deemed the liberator of the common folk of the village.

The village expects a conflict between Slime and Creighton. As they are about to sleep the Old Man and the Old Woman talk about Barbadians who have left the island. The reader is informed that many people from Barbados migrated in search of jobs. At the turn of the century many of them migrated to the Panamas and in twentieth century they sought to go to the United States.

In the fifth chapter the reader is introduced to the food habits of the villagers. As Savory, the fried-food vendor arrives to sell cakes, the villagers gather around him to buy food. Their discussions are centered around the events at the school and Slime. Most of the villagers, including Pa and Ma seem to buy their food from Savory. Slime had now emerged as the leader of the village and is also involved with a strike at the docks in the capital city. The strike has its ramifications in the village as some of its inhabitants are employed on the docks. The villagers argue if the workers are ready to strike and stake their livelihoods. The conversation reveals that Creighton, the white landlord, is part owner of a shipping company. The villagers also discuss how the strike could cause financial loss to the landlord. Some of the more informed villagers discuss the writings of J. B. Priestly, of some strife in Trinidad, cricket and the anti-colonial revolutionary Marcus Garvey. At this juncture two women fight with each other and both of them accuse the other of infidelity and illegitimate pregnancy.

In the sixth chapter the reader is exposed to the exclusive neighbourhood in which the rich, white elite reside. G. and Bob cross Belleville as the make their way to the beach. The neighbourhood contrasts strongly with G.’s own milieu. The houses in Belleville are “bungalows high and wide with open galleries and porticoes” and the residents employ servants. G. and Bob are joined by Trumper and Boy Blue. The boys joke with each other, try catching crabs and discuss issues of marriage, fidelity, and polygamy. Boy Blue in his attempt to catch crabs is caught in the undertow and is rescued by the fisherman. The boys walk back from the beach, get their clothes and return to the village.

In chapter seven, the reader is introduced to the religious scene on the island. The boys on their way to the village pass through a gathering of worshippers seated around a table. They are speaking in tongues and are dancing around a table. The boys walk away from the worshippers and begin to discuss Mr. Slime and the landlord. They deem that Mr. Slime plans to sell the land to the villagers. The boys find themselves near the landlord’s house and though they are intimidated with its size, they sneak into the compound. The landlord has hosted an elegant party in honour of the newly arrived ship, Goliath.

The boys hear a noise by the trash heap and they discover a man and Mr. Creighton’s daughter courting in the shadows. The boys realize that they are crouching on an anthill and yelp. The guests at the party recognize that there are trespassers inside the compound. The overseer and sailors chase the boys. The boys run back to the village and disappear into the crowd of worshippers.

In the eighth chapter Pa and Ma during their discussion reveal that Creighton wants to sell his land and leave the island. Ma has visited the landlord’s house to pay rent. Creighton is disturbed by the changes in the village and tells her that some young vagabonds from the village have violated his daughter. The old woman Ma describes to her husband the “responsibility” Creighton feels for the village.

In chapter nine, the reader is informed that trouble has broken out in the town. Men have not gone to work and the disturbances of the city have begun to affect Creighton. The head teacher informs a student that there is fighting in the city. Nobody in the village knows what happened in the city. In the village there are no policemen and the school and shops are closed. Even as Pa persistently tries to find out what is happening, Trumper comes running down the road, enquiring if Bob has returned yet. The strike in the town has become violent as police and the workers clashed in the city. Slime has addressed a mass meeting which was organized in the city the previous night. An old woman claims that her son has been shot to death.

The villagers anticipate that the men will ambush the overseer and even the landlord. The armed arrive and seem to be waiting to attack the landlord. Mr. Creighton walks through the village with soiled clothes. He has a terrified look on his face. Some of the armed men position themselves as to attack him. They look towards Slime and wait for his signal. Slime does not urge them to attack the landlord. Thus, Creighton escapes unhurt.

The action in the last five chapters of the novel depicts the anxiety, the disappointment and the resignation of the inhabitants in Creighton. G does very well in school and attends high school, even as the others dropout. Trumper goes to the United States. Slime promises the poor, coloured population that he will help them own land and houses. He urges them to invest their savings with his organizations and soon emerges as one of the most powerful men on the island. His organization attracts investment from the poor coloured population across the island.

The landlord’s daughter moves to England and has no plans to return to the island. Creighton and his wife stay put in their house. Old Ma dies in her sleep and Old Pa is left alone. Slime and his men buy the land from the landlord and evict several of the landlord’s former tenants. The Fosters’, and the shoemaker lose their houses. Most of the houses are shifted physically and they crumble in the process. Slime seeks to sell the land back to the tenants and gradually drives most of them into debt.

G. completes his school and Trumper returns to the village. Trumper is politically active and informs G. of the situation in the United States. Slime and his friends want to occupy Old Pa’s land and arrange for him to be sent to the Alms House. G. spends his last evening in the village in the company of Trumper. As he is returning home he meets Old Pa who informs him that he is looking at the place for one last time. The novel ends on an ironical note as the old man states ‘we both settin’ forth tomorrow… I to my last restin’ –place before the grave, an’ you into the wide wide world’.

Major themes in the novel1. Ideas of dependency and blackness in the novel

On its surface In the Castle of my Skin seems to be an autobiographical novel, which depicts the growing up years of a young boy. The novel addresses several pertinent issues including those of colonialism and dependence, anti-colonial struggle and the trepidation of a colonized population which is on the cusp of achieving independence. The old landlord Creighton though is much detested by the villagers is also viewed as the benefactor. Even as the poor, resident blacks murmur about the unfair wages and high rents they are also grateful to him for the timely help that he extends in the wake of natural calamities. For instance, the landlord sends a white man to distribute food to the villagers after the great flood. He offers tea and chats with a few women when they visit him to pay rent. He waives the rents off when the poor are unable to pay it. However, the villagers also are aware that he does not pay them fair wages. For all their dependence on the landlord, most of the villagers side with Mr. Slime when he offers them an alternative. Even the Old Ma and Old Pa are at times in awe of Mr. Slime. However, instead of winning their rights the villagers invest their savings and trust with Mr. Slime. They make him the new authority and end up depending on him. The novel points out that the diligent, intelligent and strong colonized population has no trust in its own abilities and is susceptible of investing its trust in an authoritative and protective figure and depending on it.

The population despises its own skin. There are several references in the novel which indicate that the local population is uncomfortable with its blackness. Most of the inhabitants of the village detest the black skin, admire and respect the white skin, but are most comfortable and contented with the brown or the mulatto skin. As Lamming notes “No black boy wanted to be white, but it was also true that no black boy liked the idea of being black. Brown skin was a satisfactory compromise, and brown skin meant a mixture of white and black. There was a famous family on the island which could boast of the prettiest daughters. Their father was an old Scotch planer who had lived from time to time with some of the labourers on the sugar estate. The daughters were ravishing, and one was known throughout the island as the crystal sugar cake.”

2. Anti-colonial struggle in the novel

The novel also throws light on the dynamics of anti-colonial struggle. The village has a scheming, intelligent teacher whom the emaciated population deems to be its representative. Mr. Slime, the former school teacher, who thought of himself as the representative of all that was English on the island, emerges as the leader of the workers and villagers in the island. He addresses meetings in the town, organizes strike and leads the agitation against the colonial authorities. The novel beautifully depicts this contrast. Neither the workers nor the villagers realise that Mr. Slime is an ambitious leader. Mr. Slime never gets arrested or hurt during the strikes and agitations. When the angry villagers and workers want to kill Creighton and the overseer, Mr. Slime protects them. The anti-colonial struggle scares the white folk on the island and they are forced to reach out and compromise with Mr. Slime. The villagers are not aware that Mr. Slime and his organization have cut deals with the white elites who owned the plantations, the docks, and the shipping companies. The villagers who have invested their hard earned savings with Mr. Slime do not realise that several organizations and banks outside the island have also invested in the same organization. In many ways the dynamics of anti-colonial struggle in the novel is in sync with that of the real life struggles. The struggle threw up a local elite, which was in actuality a comprador class, which even as it lead the agitation, used the revolution to advance its own cause and ultimately replaced the colonial elite as the authority in a postcolonial milieu. The novel indicates that the black population its intelligence, memory and history notwithstanding is unable to think for itself. Colonialism has made it incapable of articulating its demands; hence it constantly seeks to be represented by another agency.

Characters in the novel1.  G.

G. is the protagonist of the novel. Also at times the narrator of the novel, G. is an intelligent and an observant who is sensitive to the changes sweeping through the island. Brought up by a single parent, G. is good at studies and decides to leave the village. He is adept at hiding his views and is often thought of as an ill-informed person. He is aware that he is radically different from his peers. He states that ‘the likeness will meet and make merry, but they won’t know you, the you that’s hidden somewhere in the castle of your skin’. Towards the end of the novel, G. realizes that to continue to love his village he has to abandon it.

2.  Mother

G.’s mother is a strong woman, who brings up her son independently. Bereft of amy living members of her gamily, mother is a methodical, diligent and caring woman who can be jovial and also use the whip to “roast his tail.” She is not aware of the politics on the island and is she shocked when Trumper informs her of Slime’s plans.

3.  Pa

Pa, the old man is the father figure of the village. He is the repository of village memory and history and is revered by all the villagers. He knew the ‘shoemaker as a young boy’. A diligent man, he worked in Panama during his youth and earned money. Most of his relatives have left him behind and migrated to the United States. He has become poor. He understands Slime’s plans but refuses to publicly blame him. On knowing that he has to sell his house and is being moved to the Alms House, he accepts his fate.

4.  Ma

Ma, the old mother is the wife of Pa. She also acts as the repository of the village’s history and memory. She is balding and wears a white cloth on her head. She is religious and intuitive. She deems that village has changed for bad and sympathises with the landlord. She dies at the end of the riots.

5.  Mr. Creighton

Mr. Creighton is the white landlord who owns the village. He has several assets including a shipping company, houses, and plantations. The older generation view him as a benign patriarchy. However, as the younger inhabitants of the village side with Mr. Slime. Mr. Creighton’s authority erodes and he is forced to sell the village to Mr. Slime.

6.  Mr. Slime

Mr. Slime initially is a teacher at the local village school. He deems that he is a repository of all that is English on the island. He is suave, articulate, dynamic and intelligent. When he is informed of his wife’s infidelity he is shocked. He starts an organization which collects pennies from the poor on the island. He promises that he will help them acquire houses. He leads the worker’s strike and emerges as the spokesman and leader of the disgruntled poor on the island. He challenges Creighton and gradually replaces Creighton as the landlord.

Towards the end of the novel, it is revealed that he is not interested in helping the poor, but is focussed only on advancing his own cause. In many ways he is a predecessor to the corrupt, first generation postcolonial leaders in the third world who betray the trust of the people.

7.  Trumper

He is the childhood friend of G. He moves away to the United States after middle school. He returns to the island, just as G. prepares to leave it. He is a politically conscious individual. The experience in America has shaped his outlook towards the politics of race and class. He contextualises the corruption of Mr. Slime. He can be read as the predecessor of the radical native who is influenced b west and attempts to challenge the corrupt postcolonial elite in the postcolonies.

References

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6. Pouchet Paquet, Sandra. The Novels of George Lamming. London: Heinemann, 1983.
7. Saunders, Patricia. “The Pleasures/Privileges of Exile: Re/covering Race and Sexuality.” The Pleasures of Exile and Water With Berries. Alien-Nation and Repatriation: Translating Identity in Anglophone Caribbean Literature. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2007.
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9. Joseph, Margaret Paul. Caliban in Exile: The Outsider in Caribbean Fiction. New York: Greenwood Press, 1992.