Some Thoughts on Charlotte
If you had asked me about my thoughts on Charlotte about halfway through the book, I would say my view of her was relatively clear-cut. She was a white person who somewhat patronizingly went along with PaPa LaBas' beliefs and methods, but was quick to turn around and use that culture as a passing fad for rich people to appropriate and fawn over. Sure, maybe she was sympathetic to PaPa LaBas' views and cause, and perhaps even believed in it to some extent, but ultimately she cared far more about advancing her own career than respecting "The Work" she had begun to learn at the Mumbo Jumbo Kathedral.
This opinion was only further cemented in my mind by the few scenes we see of Charlotte after she leaves the Kathedral. The one play (?) we see her acting in was incredibly racist and demeaning, and outside of work she's just lounging about with the kinds of rich people who are either vehemently against Jes Grew, or see it as some fun, quirky and exotic trend they can learn in order to be hip and fashionable.
Then things get complicated once Charlotte helps Berbelang and the Mu'tafikah kidnap Biff Musclewhite. She had been wholly focused on her own career and place in life, and didn't seem at all the type to do something as serious as aiding in a kidnapping, particularly of a man like Biff Muscelwhite. To me, this moment drastically changed and complicated my view of Charlotte, especially with how she was later choked to death for her involvement. It feels like a deliberate choice on Reed's part to include her in this plot, and almost turn her into a martyr figure.
I get that he might've just decided she could move the plot forward by mindlessly doing a friend a favor, but *literal kidnapping* is the favor. It's hard for me to see this as Charlotte just "helping a friend out", especially since while Charlotte knew Berbelang, but she never appeared to be particularly close to him, or even have known him for very long. She was meant to be Berbelang's replacement at the Kathedral, presumably coming to work there only soon before Berbelang left, and we never see any implication that the two of them had a real connection beyond coworkers for a brief period of time. I don't see romance as a possible explanation either, since it was Earline that was in a (somewhat rocky, but still pretty serious) relationship with Berbelang.
So the other possibility is that Charlotte genuinely believed in the Mu'tafikah's cause, at least to some extent, or supported their work enough to be willing to risk her life, and eventually die, for it. Reed's portrayal of Charlotte when she was talking to PaPa LaBas about leaving the Kathedral to pursue her career and bastardize and cheapen The Work felt very deliberate and pointed, and not favorable at all. Charlotte was depicted as this hyper-sexual, "sultry" woman who was deceiving poor, genuine PaPa LaBas, and was going to use The Work to make profit for herself. That sexual part is further reinforced by her character on-stage, and the way the rich men in the crown lust after her. So it's really interesting that Reed has her use that very same sex-appeal to lure Biff Musclewhite in with the intent of letting the Mu'tafikah kidnap him to steal (recover) an ancient artifact. Personally, I can't see it as anything other than a deliberate choice on Reed's part to complicate the reader's view of Charlotte, and the kind of views and values she holds.
Plus, having her killed in a rather brutal fashion (& having her death unjustly and blatantly covered up by Musclewhite with absolutely no consequence or questioning, despite him putting no effort into disguising his actions) makes the reader further sympathetic to Charlotte, and returns her to the side of Jes Grew and the Kathedral, where earlier she would've solidly fallen in the category of "traitor" and underminer of the cause.
So, not really sure where I'm going from here. I tried writing a couple paragraphs about what exactly I felt Charlotte's character was meant to represent, but I didn't like how any of them turned out, so I'll turn it over to anyone who actually read this far through my rambling and might want to make a comment.
(I feel like my blog posts get less and less coherent with every one I put up, but maybe that's just the book too)
Well written piece! I haven't thought about Charlotte that deeply, so this exploration of her character and representations was really interesting. Reed certainly meant for everything about his characters, including Charlotte, to have some kind of meaning. From her beliefs, her relationships, her sexuality, and her tragic and brutal death, Charlotte becomes a pretty interesting character. I also wonder if she's a sympathetic character by the end.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I was also pretty confused by Charlotte. I mean, the first time we're introduced to her, she talks about teaching watered down versions of the dances Papa LaBas taught her, so , right off the bat, it already seems like her motivations are corrupt. With that and her performance at the club, I thought I had an idea of what Charlotte represented in Mumbo Jumbo: white people exploiting black culture rather than shunning it, which still negatively affects the preservation of the culture. However, her death does confuse my perception of her. I guess to me, she represented this kind of two dimensional character you would see in a murder mystery, who seems pretty cookie cutter, until something shocking about them is revealed right after or before they get murdered. Sorry this has been a strange rant, I just watched Murder on the Nile so I may just be thinking back to that. Anyway, great blog post! Charlotte is a tough character to tackle.
ReplyDeleteIt definitely seems like Charlotte is a very self-centered character in the beginning of the book, learning and taking a very important piece of culture and using it for her own benefit. Charlottes sexuality would definitely lead her to fall into some very regressive stereotypes about women during the early 20th century. But the way her, a white woman, death is basically meaningless in term of effect of the perpetrator is important to show how atonism has cemented itself as a real threat in the setting of mumbo jumbo (as goofy and von vampton and safecracker are). While I don't think charlotte is as fleshed out as some of the other characters, I do think her role is important.
ReplyDeleteIt's significant, I think, that LaBas never seems to resent Charlotte for going her own way, aside from expressing concern about her not devaluing "the Work" or exploiting it for commercial purposes (which she ends up doing anyway). It's also maybe significant, in terms of the novel's historical narrative, that she is not only white but *French,* not American: the French were generally far more open to the idea of jazz as "serious" culture and art, and Black jazz musicians (and writers, and dancers, and artists) often moved to Paris because they were treated much more professionally than in the U.S. But much of the French "Afrophilia" of this period would strike us today as still pretty racist (lost of "noble savage" and "primitivist" imagery, exploitative sexuality, etc.), but it's complicated--the artists themselves often saw it as a preferable alternative to the U.S. So maybe Reed is partly reflecting on this historical context by including a white-French woman performing in a minstrel show on Broadway, but also helping the Mu'tafikah.
ReplyDeleteThis was a really thought-provoking analysis! In a novel where much of the central cast of characters feels pretty morally black and white, Charlotte is definitely an interesting case to examine. In the end, I'm really not sure where I stand on her—like you described, I had written her off in the first part of the novel, and the end to her story definitely caught me by surprise. I think the part of Reed 's intention with this storyline is to use the circumstances surrounding her death to illuminate the role of the police in upholding Atonism. Here, Biff's cartoonishly ridiculous cover story is enough to turn away the cop who arrives to investigate, and he faces absolutely no consequences for taking her life.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting! I definitely didn't spend as much time analyzing Charlotte and the way we're supposed to feel about her but I'm glad I have now. I honestly don't know what I think. Did Ishmael Reed make her get involved in the kidnapping just to play with us, or was Charlotte genuinely empathetic and wanting to help? I could possible see that maybe Charlotte was initially fully on board with Papa La Bas and The Work, and her stint as a performer capitalizing off The Work could be seen as a stray from her true nature. Maybe she got distracted by money and fame, and her coming back to help against Biff Musclewhite is representative of her deciding to come back. However, the argument that IR is simply wanting us to feel conflicted in our view of her is also very compelling. From what we know about him as a writer, it definitely seems like something he'd do. So I guess I haven't come up with a decision, but it was interesting to consider.
ReplyDeleteI think Charlotte is definitely a confusing character, and I agree with you that Reed seemed like he was trying to complicate her character by involving her in the Mu'tafikah plot. We talked a bit in class about how she kind of represents a person in our world who you can't tell whether they are on the side of justice or are just doing it to enhance their image (like Mother's Younger Brother). It is hard to ignore Charlotte's theater performances that bastardize the Work, but at the same time I think the reader hopes she genuinely believes in the Kathedral's cause, and Reed uses that to really mess with our heads and perceptions of Charlotte.
ReplyDeleteWow I think this post was very much needed. I think as much as we tried to discuss the over arching theme of Jes Gew and dive into the book, one thing we didn't do as much is dive into specific characters that help form the plot. And Charlotte for sure is a bit of a tricky character. I think even though she seems to be a minor character for a large amount of the book, it's important to note that she had a big impact in the fight for Jes Grew.
ReplyDeleteTo me, Charlotte symbolizes a lot of people; people who are riding the trends created by black people like a fad. Charlotte associated herself with black people to seem 'down' with cause and then behind the scenes hung out with the people she supposed to be against. Although the way she dies is sad and makes some readers sympathize for her, she's fake and it was wrong of her to use the struggles of others as a means to uplift herself.
ReplyDeleteI think this another example of the failures in white allyship. Actually, the more blogs I read the more I am convinced that Read is trying to make a statement in the book about it, and he generally seems opposed. With Charlotte, we see her generally agreeing with/supporting the Work and other teaching of PaPa LaBas, but easily slipping back into her life full of people who very much do not support such things. Reed way be pointing out that white allyship is a mask that can easily be removed, which makes it a fickle thing.
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