Journey to Be Her Own Selina:
Broadening Ethnic Boundary for Selfhood in Marshall’s
Brown Girl, Brownstones
Shu-Ling Chen*
Abstract
Caribbean/African American woman writer Paule Marshall’s Bildungsroman, Brown Girl, Brownstones is a touchstone in contemporary Afro-American women’s fiction with its portrayal of black women’s lives within the context of a black culture.  The novel depicts the struggles of the Barbadian immigrants to succeed in the highly racialized, gendered, and classist American society.  To realize its American dream in a hostile white world, the Barbadian community falls prey to the paradigm of progress.  Consequently, Selina is alienated from the Barbadian community and feels ambivalent toward her mother, Silla, who embodies its values.  In this essay, I study Selina’s journey to establish her identity, discussing the politics and discourse of race/ethnicity, gender, and class.  Selina’s selfhood is a hybrid ethnic/cultural identity.  She broadens her Barbadian/Caribbean ethnic boundary and sees herself as both Caribbean and African American.
The major points of the essay include, first, the significance of the social context, which shapes the values of the Barbadian community and explains its assimilation to capitalist American culture.  It also contributes to the ambivalence that characterizes American-born Selina’s feelings toward her Barbadian-born mother and her ethnicity.  Second, the role of the three othermothers－Suggie, Miss Thompson, and Miss Mary, is analyzed.  They provide Selina with different kinds of life styles and womanhood and links to other ethnic/racial groups.  They help Selina face the conflict between ethnic assimilation and individualism.  Third, Selina’s encounter with racism and experiencing a double consciousness enable her to fully understand the meaning of her color and to view her mother and the other Barbadian immigrants as fellow victims.  Fourth, Selina’s final gesture of leaving behind one of her bangles shows that her ambivalence toward her ethnicity remains.  Although Selina identifies with her mother and acknowledges her ethnic heritage, she still disapproves of the Barbadian community’s materialistic values and strict class-based, ethnic solidarity.  She intends to travel out of the stifling circle of the community’s boundary to be her own Selina. 
Keywords: Paule Marshall, Brown Girl, Brownstones, Barbadian, Ethnicity, Selfhood, Paradigm of progress, Double consciousness, Othermother