'Brother Man'

Brief Biography of Roger Mais

Roger Mais  was a Jamaican journalist, novelist, poet, and playwright. He was born in Kingston, Jamaica on August 11, 1905. He was extremely prolific and by 1951, Mais had won ten first prizes in West Indian literary competitions.

Mais launched his career as a journalist and contributor for the weekly newspaper, Public Opinion from 1939 to 1952, which was associated with the People's National Party. He also wrote several plays, reviews, and short stories for the newspaper Focus and the Jamaica Daily Gleaner, focusing his articles on social injustice and inequality. He used this approach to reach his local audience and to primarily push for a national identity and anti-colonialism.

Mais has published over a hundred short stories. He went to Europe: London and Paris, to fulfill himself; hired a literary agent, wrote under the fictitious name of Kingsley Croft, and presented an art exhibition in Paris. His three main novels are The Hills were Joyful Together”(1953); “Brotherman” (1954) and “Black Lightning” (1955)

He died of cancer at the early age of forty-nine.

Critique of Brother Man

Annie Paul states that “Brother Man” is the first Jamaican novel to portray the Rastafarian in a positive light.  Back then Rastaraianism represented protest and going against the norms of society.  Back  in the  1950s Rastas were viewed with disdain as a  secret cult and a menace to public safety. According to her, :

“It’s interesting to read Brother Man today, when Rastas and things Rastafarian have acquired such cultural charisma that their image, carried abroad by stars such as Bob Marley and other dreadlocked musicians, is now routinely used to advertise Jamaica as a tourist destination.”

Wikepedia, the online Encyclopedia claims that “the book is extremely significant as it is the first serious representation of Rastafarianism in literature.” Roger Mais foresaw the defining power of the Rasta movement to Jamaican society 20 years before the era of Bob Marley and Reggae mainstream.

Gleaner Art critic, Winston Wright sees Roger Mais as a visionary and states:

“In Brother Man, Mais brought prejudice to light and projected the Rastafarian as a person of peace: it seemed he saw the role they would play in a post-colonial Jamaica.”

It must be noted that within 10 years of the book's publication, ghetto youth and middle-class children were drawn to the Rasta message, and by the 1970s, a full-fledged Rasta revolution was taking place in Jamaica.

Religious aspect as it relates to Rastafarianism

In Jamaica during the 1950s when Roger Mais wrote the book Rastas and their religion were scorned. People wrote letters to the press about the fearsome look of Rastas and stating that bearded men should be arrested and put in prison.

“They should be publicly washed and shaved! They should be banished to Africa. They should be sterilized. They should be publicly flogged.”

Rastas were viewed as potential rapists and murderers. In present day Jamaica, on the other hand, Rastas have transformed into an odd kind of respectability. Rasta values, with its ital food and conscious music are perceived to be wholesome, old-fashioned, and desirable.

In the book, good and evil in the Jamaican slums are brought to life. Mais outlines the origins of the Rastafarian cult and the hero's Christ-like walk with the ordinary people he lives with. The healer who everybody calls Brother Man, a.k.a. Bra Man, is a shoe-maker whose ability to cure the sick and injured through a mystic force elevates him to the status of a prophet. As a result, crowds follow him when he walks around the lane.

With each miracle performed, his reputation spreads. Although Brother Man devotes his life to healing and caring for the inhabitants of his neighbourhood, they turn on him when things don't go their way or at the first sign of trouble, as they are not loyal to him.

This story has almost a Christlike symbolism because just as Jesus went about doing good, but yet he was crucified; so too Brother Man is peaceful, gentle, caring and does good to all his neighbours; but they turn on him in the end.

Literature Terms (Home Work)

                                                                                                                                                    22/09/10
These are a few literary terms that are often used in stories:

A Novel is a fictitious story of book length.

A Novella is a mid-length work of fiction, shorter than a novel but longer than a short story.

A Short Story is piece of fiction that is shorter than a novel. It is traditionally based on a single plot, event, character/set of characters and typically leads quickly to a climax and resolution.

Elements of Prose Fiction

Narrative Techniques are techniques used in telling a story.

Point of View also known as narrative mode is defined as the perspective of the narrative voice.

Characterization is the process of conveying/creating the image or personality of the characters in a story.

Setting is the background, scene or environment where the story takes place.

Theme is one of the fundamental components of fiction which is the main idea or message of an essay, paragraph, movie or book.

Plot refers to the story line or plan of a literary work.

Style is a manner of putting thoughts into words or the characteristic mode of construction and expression in writing and speaking.

Literary Devices are specific aspects of literature, in the sense of its universal function as an art form which expresses ideas through language, which we can recognize, identify, interpret and/or analyze.

Imagery is language that appeals to the senses : taste, touch, sight, hearing and smell.

Symbol is a person, place or object which has a meaning in itself but suggests other meanings as well. In other words anything that suggests a meaning beyond the obvious.

Irony is the contrast between what is expected or what appears to be and what actually is.

Satire is a literary genre or form where vices, follies, abuses and shortcomings are put up for ridicule.

Allusion is a figure of speech that is used to link concepts that the reader already has knowledge of, with concepts discussed in the story. 


Structural Devices


Stream of Consciousness is a narrative mode that seeks to portray an individual's point of view by giving the written equivalent of the character's thought processes, either in a loose interior monologue, or in connection to his/her actions.

Interior Monologue is a passage of writing presenting a character's inner thoughts and emotions in a direct, sometimes disjointed or fragmentary manner.

Flashback is an interjected scene that takes the narrative back in time from the current point.

Foreshadowing is a

n author’s use of hints or clues to suggest events that will occur later in the story.

Time frame is a period during which something takes place or is projected to occur.

Motif is any recurring element that has symbolic significance in a story.

Juxtaposition  is the arrangement of two or more characters, actions, settings, phrases, or words side-by-side in similar narrative moments for the purpose of comparison, contrast, rhetorical effect, suspense, or character development.

The eight types of fiction are:
1.Fable
2.Science Fiction
3.Bildungsroman
4.Romance
5.Allegory
6.Picaresque
7.Gothic
8.Historical

Literary Context
 - is anything beyond the specific words of a literary work that may be relevant to understanding and meaning.

Social Context/environment also known as the milieu, is the environment of people that surrounds something's creation or intended audience. Social context reflects how the people around something use and interpret it. The social context influences how something is viewed. 

Political Context reflects the environment in which something is produced indicating it's purpose or agenda

Religious Context is the setting of a spiritual nature which sets the tone or background of a particular scene/ event in a story, novel or novelette

Ethnic Context is the ethnicity/ethnic background of the main characters in a story.

Historical Context reflects the time in which something takes place or was created and how that influences how you interpret it. In other words, it is the events that took place around something through which you understand that thing.

Moral Context sets the tone of the ethical or philosophical tone of the story.

Intellectual Context gives the academic or educational background of the protagonist.

Cultural Context is the overriding values and mores of the main characters in the book/story.