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Quotes on the human spirit
“The Longest Memory”
The human spirit in the longest memory is primarily symbolized through Chapel and Lydia who embody the theme of hope for change in a new generation coupled with the dawn of the older generation
Forgettting (Whitechapel) “What you shout in your sleep is a young man dreaming” “Something that cannot be possessed; that will remain confined to the realm of sleep, fantasy”
Just as D’aguair explores the theme of hope, conversely he also explores the theme of hopelessness and the effect it can have on the human spirit. The death of Chapel symbolizes the short term death of hope for change in the novel and Whitechapel Whitechapel is portrayed as a broken man.
Lydia “This is the day I open my eyes and realize how foolish I have been. Foolish and selfish. I have taught him to read yet he cannot write his own name”
Throughout the novel, the idea of the human spirit and resilience is explored. The human spirit embodies the fundamental idea that we are all capable of more than we realize possible. Lydia’s realization is a profound embodiment of the human spirit and the ability for people to change their beliefs and values, underpinning the key theme of hope for a brighter future which is reoccurring through the text.
Cook “My master’s pot is full of the sweetest things which my hands will touch but my belly won’t see. Yet my pot is sweeter. Sweet because I take from it and and fill two plates for the people I love, my husband and my son”
Cook “I want to summon some disdain before I tell him what I saw and heard but all I feel inside is pride, not fear, not yet; just pride”
Cook “I am his mother. I can;t say ‘Son’ books are not for you”, “I will not do it nor will I get my husband to do it”
Lydia “At what point do I stop hearing the words and realize I am in love with it’s cadence?”
The theme of love can be related to the human spirit as thr oughout the novel, it is not only Lydia’s progressive and opens views which establish her relationship with Chapel but love which eventually forms the basis of hope for a brighter future
Lydia “Chapel I want to say, all my memory is yours”, “I will devour father’s library for you”
Despite being banned from seeing each other, Chapel and Lydia’s forbidden love is recurring reminder to the reader of the power of the human spirit and inherently what it means to be human and well as giving a key reason to continue to live and fight regardless of adversity.
Chapel and Lydia’s forbidden love is a key element of the story used by D’Aguiar to embody literary hope for change in “The Longest Memory”
Lydia “I wish you were white. It is a miserable time to be me. I wish I could be with Chapel”-Hope Chapel”-Hope for change
Lydia “I swallow my rage and persevere” p ersevere”
Lydia “Chapel says he will write verses for a living. Verses for the birthdays of dignitaries” “Verses for the t he death of prominent citizens. Verses to commemorate the anniversary of this or that institution or brotherhood. Verses for a gentleman to woo his lady” -symbolizes faith in human nature, oneself
“Verses of religion. Verses, verses, verses”
Lydia and Chapel’s dreams of a brighter future are embodied through the dreams which Lydia and Chapel share of moving to the North. Lydia and Chapel’s dreams are lucid and their hope for the future naive yet optimistic symbolizing D’Aguiar’s message that h ope can exist even in the face of seemingly impossible odds.
D’Aguiar stresses through the personal hopes and dreams of Lydia and Chapel that hope for the future is necessary for perseverance, when one’s cause is dangerous or impossible.
D’Aguiar encourages encourages hope for the future through the younger generation of Lydia and Chapel, critically through the theme of forbidden love.
D’Aguair presents not a stereotypical sense of upbeat hope but a more complex discussion of hope, the integral relationship it has with the human spirit and the way the characters In the novel lead their lives.
Lydia “this is the world we find ourselves in. We have to learn to live with it otherwise we will be miserable and bring trouble tumbling on our heads. I understand father I u nderstand perfectly”
Lydia’s quote here is a reflection of the theme of resilience and how the plantation owners attempt to subjugate the slaves by attempting to break their spirit both ph ysically through violence but psychologically through deprivation of education and ignorance.
Whitechapel “Memory is pain trying to resurrect itself”
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Hope in “Black Diggers” is similarly presented theatrically by Tom Wright through characters as illustrated in “The Longest Memory”. The theme of hope for change is presented through the younger generation who join the army in the hope h ope of earning respect and acceptance when they return home, this is highlighted through the theme of naivety and sense of optimism which Bertie, Nigel and Archie have in the first half of the novel.
Mum “and you reckon you can waltz around with the white boys do you? That they’ll make life easy for you, suddenly your their dearest black mate, suddenly you’ll be a man and a white one at that? That the doors do ors will open for you? Do you?”
Bertie “yeah you know what mum? Yeah I do something like that”
In this section of dialogue Wright seeks to highlight the fundamental theme of hope for change which is present in bot Black Diggers” and “The Longest Memory” through the differences between the younger generation and the older generation
Bertie’s mother ‘mum’ remains cynical and distrustful, in contrast Bertie is willing to take a chance and trust the Europeans and fight for the new concept of Australia in the hope that he will achieve equality for his people
Grandad “we’ve been fighting for country for a long time now”
Bertie You’ve told me about this pop, I know. No it’s all fences, we’re fenced. But this isn’t just about us..it’s about a bigger world”
Wright again highlights the fundamental fu ndamental differences differences between two generations to explore the idea of hope and faith in oneself but more importantly trust in the Europeans and “the same boot which have been kicking us for years”
Bertie “They need lads, for the first the first time they need us. Changed the rules made it easier for aborigines”
Critically, the theme of hope is also portrayed through the songs in the play such as “The world’s turned upside down” featuring lyrics highlighting the optimism of the aborigines f or f or change such as “The white man needs us colored boys now”, and “Here in the shit every face is brown” (1916 Indian Ocean) “Sons of the Southern Cross” also symbolizes the themes of hope for change through its optimism and upbeat tone in the backdrop of the fomation of the young commonwealth and the young country called “Australia”
Human spirit 1949 Glebe Town Hall Bloke with a glass of wine (Aboriginal) “Thank god for the army. Thank God for the uniform and the chance to serve. Because when I was a whippersnapper and I first joined up I was just a woebegone failure. And in the army you earn your way you take on dignity. A dignity perhaps that no one was going to let you have back home”
Mick “for you the war’s over. What’s starting to dawn on me is that for that for us the war is never going to end”
Archie “I thought things would change after the war”
Old Hand “why? Why would things change? The only thing around here that’s changed is you”
Archie (letter) “Dear Aunty May”, “I am good. I say my prayers like you tell me to and you were right, there are Methodists here and we read the scripture” – Power of literacy
Correspondence
“...I must exhort you to grant full citizenship privelages to every one of us colored soldiers who soldiers who voluntarily wore his majesty;s uniform in active service”, “we do not wish to remain humble and servile to the Aborigines protection board”
1929 Forest Lodge Sydney
Nigel “Sir , news of the outrage perpetuated in the Northern Territory last year re quires the strongest possible condemnation from all Australians who have a inclination of skerrick of christian decency”
“surely we did not go through the mud and blood of foreign fields to continue a darker purpose at home?”
The human spirit is actively portrayed through songs and correspondence correspondence throughout “Black Diggers” Wright makes use of songs to highlight the mood of each phase of the storyline including the emotion of hope, optimism, fear, grief and loss experienced by the soldiers during and after the war. Wright seeks to portray the optimism and pioneering spirit of the aborigines however conversely the absence of hope is also explored through the themes of isolation and abandonment.
Nigel’s letter is an example of the human spirit at work, constantly cons tantly fighting for a better future, relentless persistent.
Similarities and differences between “Black Diggers” and “The longest Memory” on
the human spirit.
Black Diggers
Wright presents the human spirit through the struggle of the aborigines against injustice and primarily through the themes of trauma and memory A key section in which this is highlighted is in the “correspondence” “correspondence” section, featuring multiple excerpts of letters written to the state government department of lands, which are “pages of letters fall from the sky. Men stand in pools reciting their missives” The human spirit is also portrayed through the theme of naivety and the sense of optimism prevalent throughout the novel in songs such as “sons of the southern cross” and “The world’s turned upside down”-hope
Longest Memory
D’Aguiar illustrates the power of the human spirit through the theme of love (Forbidden love between Chapel and Lydia as the basis of new hope in the dawn of an older generation)
While Wright presents the human spirit through the themes of suffering and trauma experienced by the Aborigines during world war I, D’aguair paints a more grim view of the human spirit through the futility of the situation which the slaves find themselves in
Human spirit-emphasized through power of literacy and ability to learn-Lydia
Chapel is empowered through literacy and with the help of Lydia, Literacy becomes an instrument to resist oppression
structures the history as “a patchwork quilt of history” in contrast Black Diggers-Wright deliberately structures “The Longest Memory” is a novella of chronological chronological storylines told from the perspective of different characters. The different perspectives allows the D’aguair to paint a multi-faceted and complex
picture on themes of hope, change and the past.
