Brother

David Chariandy starts Brother by quoting a line from Antigone; a very brief reference but powerful enough to accurately present the major themes of his novel. Hope, social injustice, sibling loyalty, rebellion, and the importance of honoring the dead being all wrapped around the veil of a constant battle between learning, unlearning, and relearning follow the themes of Sophocle’s drama.

The author is David Chariandy, who lived in Scarborough as a child; his mom was a domestic worker from Trinidad and dad was South Asian. Interestingly enough, Chariandy dedicated Brother to Austin Clarke; the first black professional writer in Canada who gave voice to simple black domestic workers through his novels (https://literature.britishcouncil.org/writer/austin-clarke). The title of the book is intriguing because Brother is a word that represents loyalty, love, and dedication, but also disappointment, struggles and pain. The book is a quick read -177 pages- and can be easily digested by reading it once. However, the deeper analysis of the novel happens after the second and third read. The novel has a few different covers, with he first one being a vinyl record player, which is significant because the novel ended with loud music from it. Another cover includes the utility pole prologue where Michael and Francis climb a utility pole and speak about memory as a survival tactic.

Furthermore, the novel has 7 chapters, and each of those chapters has its own mini ending, which keeps the excitement for the next chapter. Chariandy crafted the introduction is such a way that it sets up the atmosphere of the entire book with hints of the ending; We realize early on that Francis is gone but we do not know where, how and why yet. It feels like a ghost is being alongside the readers throughout the entire reading. The dramatic climax of the book happens on chapter 6 with Francis’ death. The aesthetics of the book are being emphasized by the fact that the novel is written from an adolescent’s point of view. The simple but effective language, truly captures the vitality of life and resilience of families within Scarborough. Written from an adult’s point of view; Michael presents all the incidents of the present.

Brother is narrated in first-person by the kid and the adult Michael, who has lost his older brother, Francis, and now takes care of his heartbroken mother. There are 7 chapters in the book, and each chapter is broken up into sections that move through time in a nested structure of memory that presents Michael's relationship with his brother. The narrative often makes sudden shifts between the present and the past. After a brief prologue where Michael and Francis climb a utility pole, the novel opens in the present with the arrival of Aisha; an old classmate and a friend. Aisha returns to The Park, which is a housing complex in the impoverished Scarborough, to grieve her recently deceased father. Michael still lives in his childhood apartment with his mother, and it is quickly clear that Francis is gone and neither Michael nor his mother have moved on.

“Υour can always do things to let the world know you’re not nobody. You never know when your break is coming,” says Francis, Michael’s older brother, telling Michael to be patient and his opportunity will appear. Unfortunately, Francis learns early on that his opportunity is not appearing and that it is dangerous to hope. Michael and Francis’ childhoods are typical of second-generation children in 1990s Scarborough; they experience poverty, witness gun violence, endure intimidation from the police and do not get an equitable chance to education. Their mother works long hours and has three different jobs to make ends meet. The story of the brothers’ childhood memories in the Scarborough community is described, with the death of Francis being fully revealed in chapter 6. The novel ends with Michael and his mother coming to terms with the past and focusing on living their lives without Francis.

Chariandy handles some of the most emotional and crucial social issues of literature with care and wisdom. Representations of teaching and learning are uncovered through the interactions of the brothers – the school, brothers – mother, the brothers - the police, and the brothers – friends. Specifically, Michael and Francis were taught the social hardships of second-generation children by being reminded of the burden of being the child of a migrant. First, the school will not guide nor provide a fair academic chance to the brothers in order to become respected members of society. It is therefore no surprise that Michael and Francis did not pursue Higher Education after high school, since they were discouraged from pursuing anything more than blue collar jobs. Second, society keeps the stigma of migrant families alive which is shown through the portrayal of Michael and Francis’ single mother, whose High Education degree had no academic value in Canada and resulted in having to work up to three cleaning jobs; these jobs were not enough to satisfy the brothers’ and the mother’s basic needs. Furthermore, the brothers were constantly under the police’s radar because of their Trinidadian background which resulted in Francis’ death by a police officer who shot an innocent boy instead of answering to his question, “What have I done?”. Indeed, Michael, Francis and all students from The Park, Scarborough, were not given the required academic attention and dedication, because they were seen as migrant kids who will never progress in life. Hence, students like Michael were overlooked, students like Francis joined untrustworthy gangs, and students like Aisha, who had tremendous potential, were disappointed because of social inequality.

All in all, Brother has a beating heart and a sharp tongue. It is elegant, vital, indubitably current. A Canadian novel, crafted by a talented and precise writer, who handles some of the most emotional issues of our time with care and wisdom. The result is seething and persuasive. Definitely, the most moving book I have read this month!

References

Chariandy, D. (2018). Brother: A novel.
https://literature.britishcouncil.org/writer/austin-clarke