Sugar Cane Alley epitomized the effects oppression and
imperialism on a nation. The village that Jose lived in, in Martinique, was
poverty stricken, and the people that lived there had little opportunity. Education was the only pathway out of the
village, and many people could not go to school because they were trapped in
the cycle and life of an indentured servant. This was seen through Jose’s
grandmother’s duties in the cane fields, and through the hard work of Medouze. Sugar
Cane Alley was very similar to Miguel Street, in that both the movie and the
novel illustrated the individual lives of people living in a poverty stricken
village. It showed the ties of a community, and how work could shape social
structure. One concept that Sugar Cane Alley displayed that Miguel Street did not
was the hierarchy of villages and towns in Martinique. It displayed the poor
village that Jose lived in, and how many people worked in the sugar cane fields
making little money to support their families. It also showed the middle class
and upper class towns, and the opportunities that education and ethnicity could
bring to a community and the people living in it.
Jose broke the cycle of indentured labor in his family
through his education. This paralleled the narrator in Miguel Street, as he was
able to escape the poverty of his town tainted by imperialism and oppression.
Sugar Cane Alley depicts the hope in a nation full of hardship. It illustrates
how much harder oppressed people have to work to try to make a descent life for
themselves. The movie illustrates how a community is shaped overall through
little opportunity, and how the people in the community all try to work through
and overcome this social and physical state of being.
Hi Serena,
ReplyDeleteI think your analysis of "Sugar Cane Alley" is spot on. I think an interesting point that I agree with is that "Sugar Cane Alley" showed more of a contrast between the levels of rich and poor than "Miguel Street." In "Miguel Street," it seems to describe a more singular level of a neighborhood while the film "Sugar Cane Alley" we can actually see these different areas and a more stark contrast between them. "Sugar Cane Alley" showed different settings, from the poor village that Jose lived in, to the upscale town where he went to school later in the film, that weren't elaborated on as much as "Miguel Street."
I agree with your points about community and oppression, and your point that the movie illustrates "how a community is shaped overall through little opportunity" is thought provoking. Jose's community has been worn down by decades of work and morale is at a low. The way of life in Jose's village, from the way elders interact and teach children to how the children forge their own paths in the village's conditions, has been shaped from the lack of opportunity. I think this is sad as extremes have allowed the community to form an identity that Jose realizes he wants to improve, and thus has to leave in order to attempt to build a better life.
I definitely can see the parallels between Jose and the narrator in Miguel Street. Both of them are in situations where their fates appear to be pre-determined, but they manage to escape through education. Not only that, but they also both have a maternal figure in their lives who is strongly encouraging them to pursue greater opportunities.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with what you said about how in "Sugar Cane Alley", there is a goal to work towards that is visible. Jose can see the boat leave to Port-de-France (the city of opportunity and success), and he can see people around him who are successful, even though those in his village do not represent this same success. In Miguel Street, the narrator needs to travel far away for better opportunities, and does not get to indulge in the same "visible representation of success" that Jose does.