Claudia Frankel: Sugar Cane Alley Response

Sugar Cane Alley, directed by Euzhan Palcy, illustrates life in the Caribbean island of Martinique. The film follows the coming of age of Jose as he pursues an education and navigates a difficult world. This film is also a perfect example of the effects of imperialism and empires. Jose and his community live a repressed life. Most of the adults result to drinking to cope with the misery of having to work in the fields for little pay. Something I found interesting was the distinction between the children, namely Jose, and the adults. Palcy well contrasted the youthful enthusiasm with the depressed and surrendered adults. Following Jose’s life more closely, allows the reader to gain a better understanding as to the oppression the community lives under. One of the most revealing scenes in the film is when Jose is reading his essay about the lives of poor blacks that work in the sugar cane fields. I was amazed that such a young boy could be so perceptive as to the issues plaguing his community. Jose’s character brings attention to the oppression and subordination the workers live with. His essay brilliantly outlines the cycle in which the poorly paid and denigrated workers are unhappy, but can’t seek autonomy and thus are driven to alcohol and drugs to cope with their misery.

What I find even more interesting is that Jose, the person seemingly the most aware of the issues in his community, is the one able to break from it. This demonstrates that by recognizing the oppression and separating himself from it, he is able to find a better life and more freedoms. Recognizing the cycle of subjugation by an oppressive society is extremely powerful and important. Palcy utilizes Jose’s character to do so. What’s more, by using a child, Palcy is further humanizing the experience. Jose is perceived as a young and innocent child that the audience can sympathize with. By using him to bring awareness to the issues, Palcy is invoking further support from the audience. I truly enjoyed this film. Jose and his friends brought light to a visibly difficult story of poverty and subjugation. It was enjoyable, while conveying important issues about imperialism and oppression.

Response

            Although I wasn't present to watch the beginning of Sugar Cane Alley, I witnessed a moving personal journey found in the young protagonist. The kid went from one who had no care in the world to one interested in education and would even cry when being accused of plagiarism. His relationship with the old man also intrigued me because many believed the man to be a low life, but Jose sees him almost as a hero. Their final scene together where the old man gives Jose advice really touched me because of his intellectual sayings that had an obvious impression on Jose. I also thought it was interesting when looking at this film against the film The Battle Of Algiers. Both showed the effects of imperialism but in two different ways. One showed the rebellion against the imperialism and all the violence that goes along with it, while the other showed the people in the "slums" mostly accepting their place in society and trying to thrive in it.
           Sugar Cane Alley also mirrored closely the book Miguel Street that we have read, showing the growing of a young boy through his relationships to the people around him. They both show how our surroundings do make us into the man we are when we get older. One powerful scene I found in the film is when Jose dances in the river when his teacher admits he didn't plagiarize. This scene was so powerful because it shows how Jose actually took pride in his schoolwork now and wanted to be recognized as a smart individual instead of a lowly cane field worker. The film utilized long shots on expressions to show the emotions of situations as well as beautiful shots of the surrounding areas to give the audience a sense of wonder and appreciation for the culture it came from. The themes of trying to break from the normalities in life and reaching for excellence spoke to me and gave me a revitalized outlook on education and its importance. I liked the film as a whole and wish i could have experienced it in its entirety!

Sugar Cane Alley

Sugar Cane Alley is heartbreaking but inspiring at the same time. The story is about a young boy who has very little, but ends up making the most of his life by getting a good education and having the chance to get out of the sugar cane slavery. He lives in a village where all the adults are slaves who work on the sugar cane plantations. They are clearly not treated well, and the segregation is very prominent and hard to avoid. They practically live on the edge of survival, which is why it is so insipiring that Jose makes a life for himself. Out of all the children, Jose is the luckiest one because he is able to work hard and end up going to a good private school in the Fort-De-France. Jose’s success wouldn’t have been possinle without his two parental figures in his life.

His Grandma, M’Man Tin, is his main supporter. Without her, he probably would have followed in the path of slavery and never made it out of the sugar cane colony. She inspires him every day to learn something new and to never give up. Even though she was a very poor woman, she did everything she could to completely support Jose even though she knew it would be a strain financially. Jose was also supported and influenced by Carmen, a determined young man who dreams of being an actor. He pushes Jose to learn to read and educate himself, and Jose does what he says. Sugar Cane Alley shows how influential an empire can have on a certain community, but also proves that with the right people pushing you to succeed and inspiring you every day, one can truly get out of the system and start a new life for themselves, away from what the empire has created.

Daniel Shapiro Sugar Cane Ally Response

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.

Claire Shalloe Blog Post

Both “Sugar Cane Alley” and Miguel Street are examples of stories in which a main character is placed in an environment which makes it difficult to break out of their socioeconomic status. In “Sugar Came Alley,” Jose is orphaned at a young age and cared for by his grandmother, M’Man Tine. It is clear the M’Man Tine wants a promising future for her grandson, however there are few opportunities in Martinique, where most people of their race work in the sugar cane fields. Jose’s innate intelligence is shown during his time in the classroom, specifically when his teacher asks him to recite something. His ability to recite what she asks indicates his mental capacity, which later helps Jose to gain his teacher’s support in his possibility of having a brighter future. 

In the same way Jose’s teacher helps to actualize his goal of receiving a higher education, many of the stories in Miguel Street have a similar message of moving out of one’s societal ranking. For example, in “Until the Soldier’s Come Home,” Edward tries to leave his own culture behind and assimilate into the American one. Edward’s initial attempt to become more American fails; while he tries to have a typical American family, his wife is barren, unhappy, and eventually runs away with an American soldier. This indicates that, despite Edward’s efforts, he could not become something he was not, an American. However, in the same way that Jose eventually overcomes the poverty of his home village, the short story ends with Edward marrying an American woman and starting a family. 

This short story in Miguel Street and “Sugar Cane Alley” both focus on people who seem to be stuck in a certain environment. Reading Miguel Street prior to watching the movie gave me a more optimistic view of what could come of Jose’s life. After seeing how characters like Edward could achieve what they would want in Miguel Street, I had a belief that Jose could escape his probable future as a sugar cane field worker. However, many stories end in a similar way to how they started in the collection of short stories; for example “The Coward” and “B. Wordsworth” do not have particularly happy endings. These make me realize that stories like Jose’s are rare; for every one child that receives a great opportunity, so many are left behind. 

Kevin Xue's Response to Sugar Cane Alley

Sugar Cane Alley's alley's main theme, I believe, is to depict José's transition from the poor to wealth, the powerless to the powerful and most importantly, overcoming of the social barriers between the white and black population. One scene comes to mind when trying to show the success he had in the aforementioned areas, and that is the first time he travels to the Fort-De-France to continue his education. The scene is full of symbols of him rising through the levels of society and on the way of becoming an affluent, successful member of the community.

The beginning of the scene comes with a clear depiction of his new status. In it, José's is dressed in a white, spotless suit completed with an equally pristine top hat. Previously, only white men were seen in such luxurious clothing, an example being the overseer on his horse watching over the laborers in the fields. This alteration of his appearance is definitely a sign of his development as he progresses to the upper class. Another symbol of his power comes when he arrives at the Fort-De-France. There is a quick scene of José staring down at a little boy polishing shoes for other people. When thinking back, José used to be exactly like the little boy when he polished shoes in exchange for lunch. Now, however, he is standing over his little boy showing that he has risen above his former self. The sounds in the scene is also significant. Previously, the movie had little music soundtrack, and there would almost always be yelling and grunting in the background when José was in the field with the others. This gloomy atmosphere is disrupted in this scene by an upbeat soundtrack playing the background; it echoes his new found happiness and excitement to exploring new places and going about the path to reach his full potential.

Arielle's Opachan's Response to Sugar Cane Alley

This movie shows a much different form of oppression than that in "The Battle of Algiers". In "The Battle of Algiers", there is more of a focus on the revolution that results from the French oppression of the Arabs. In "Sugar Cane Alley", there is still quite obvious oppression and class differences, but we don't see very strong anger and resistance as in "The Battle of Algiers". Of course, the indentured servants still express their frustration with their oppressive lifestyle. For instance, Mama Tine expresses that a stillborn child is lucky because they are "saved from the cane fields", and Medouze is said to die in the cane fields because the cane fields took his life anyways. It is interesting to see how these feelings of frustration with oppression results in revolution in Algeria, but there is no real resulting resistance in "Sugar Cane Alley".
Something else that really interested me was the emphasis on education in "Sugar Cane Alley". Although there are very clear racial divisions, there is definitely the opportunity to progress in socioeconomic class through education. Mama Tine insists that Jose study and work hard in school, because she refuses to allow him to be an indentured servant that slaves away in the sugar cane fields. Even when the children are punished for setting the garden ablaze, Mama Tine does not want Jose to participate in any work in the cane fields because she never wants him to experience the hard labor that she experiences everyday. When Jose's superior academic achievements are recognized, he is immediately sent to Port-de-France and is given opportunities that he otherwise never would have been granted.