Sugar Cane Ally is not just a
coming of age story about a young boy named Jose, but it can also be seen as a
representation of the widespread effects of imperialism. A scene where this is apparent is after all
of the residents of “Sugar Cane Alley” finished their day working the fields,
the pay they received was just a few cents.
One man didn’t even get paid because he took too many bathroom breaks
during the day. With this pay the
residents could barely afford food and water, let alone any other living
supplies. The residents are trapped in
this system, with essentially no way out.
This is shown through the character Medouze, an old, failing man who has
lived working the fields his whole life.
To emphasize the idea that these people live and die in the fields,
Medouze actually left his house to die in the Sugar Cane Fields. There is one way out, though, which Medouze
teaches Jose, and that is through education.
Education is the one tool that
Jose can utilize to make it out of Sugar Cane Alley. At first, Jose does not understand the
importance of education. After the group
of kids burned down a man’s home, they were all ordered to start working the
fields. Jose wanted to work in order to
do what the other kids were doing, but his mom would not let him. Eventually Jose finds himself in an actual
school with a scholarship and the hope of getting himself and his grandma out
of Sugar Cane Alley. To me the most
noteworthy scene here is when Jose is accused by his teacher of plagiarizing
his homework. Although the teacher does
acknowledge his work, this scene is so crucial because it shows that Jose will
always be judged by the color of his skin before any other aspects of his
character. This theme can be related to
imperialism because it shows that the effects of imperialism are so deeply
rooted within many of these cultures that even if one has the intelligence or
drive to make it out of their social caste, due to racism (amongst other
factors) it will still be very difficult to succeed.
I completely agree with you Daniel. Sugar Cane Alley portrays the daily life of imperialism of the French enslaving african americans in Martinique for sugar. This daily cycle of working in the fields barely gave the people enough to eat and drink. The only way out of this was through school and this is exactly what the movie focuses on. It shows a young and smart boy getting a scholarship and moving to Fort-de-France for higher education. I believe that one of the themes in this movie is about the segregated race (Jose) breaking through social barriers of society (the French) through education.
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