Marjorie

Summary: Marjorie

Marjorie arrives in Ghana for her annual summer visit to her grandmother, Akua. As Marjorie winces while removing her bag from her shoulders, she thinks of how the scars that her father and grandmother bear have taught her to ignore her own pain. Akua tells Marjorie to speak in Twi, which is the opposite of what Marjorie does in Alabama, where her parents tell her to speak English at home. While Akua and Marjorie visit the beach, Akua confirms that Marjorie is wearing Maame’s stone, which her father gave to her the year before. Akua tells Marjorie that their family began in Cape Coast, where Akua has lived ever since she heard the spirits of their ancestors calling to them from the ocean. When Marjorie returns to Alabama, she starts high school, where the Black girls mock her for acting too white. With no friends to spend time with, Marjorie eats lunch in the English teachers’ lounge with her favorite teacher, Mrs. Pinkston.

In Marjorie’s senior year, she makes friends with a student who has just moved from Germany, Graham, and develops feelings for him. In the spring, Mrs. Pinkston asks Marjorie to write a poem for a Black cultural assembly. After seeing a movie with Graham, he and Marjorie sit in his car, and he begins playing with a lighter. Marjorie asks him to stop, as she is afraid of fire due to what happened to her father and grandmother. Over the next few weeks, Marjorie’s father receives news that Akua is sick. Marjorie and Graham go another date and share their first kiss. Marjorie begins avoiding Graham until he finds her at lunch one day. Another girl encourages Graham to sit with her and her friends, implying people will not think kindly of him sitting with Marjorie. With Marjorie’s encouragement, Graham gets up and leaves.

The night of the prom, Marjorie receives a call from Graham, who tells her he wanted to take Marjorie as his date, but his father and the school did not think it would be appropriate. A few weeks later, as Marjorie delivers her poem, which is about her family’s history, she feels a premonition and knows her grandmother has died. Marjorie and her parents go to Ghana to bury her, and during the funeral, Marjorie cries out as she throws herself onto Akua’s grave.

Analysis: Marjorie

Like Quey who came before her, Marjorie struggles with managing an identity that is of two different cultures: American and African. Her parents encourage her to speak English so that she will fit in at school, though Akua asks her to speak in Twi so as not to forget her heritage. Though both her parents and grandmother have Marjorie in mind, these contrasting requests cause difficulty for Marjorie in fully embracing either culture. At school, Marjorie is not embraced by the Black girls as they feel she acts white, and yet she is also not accepted by the white girls due to her race.

Although Graham is attracted to Marjorie, the racism prevalent in their community means the two cannot be together. Just as racism and colonization have prevailed in the past by isolating people, Marjorie too is isolated from friends and other relationships due to her not truly knowing who she is. Marjorie’s lack of clear identity also means she does not have a clear home. Marjorie does not fit in in either Alabama, where she is thought to be too African, or Africa, where she is thought to be too American. This may be why Marjorie and Graham feel a connection: Neither of them is in a place that feels like home. However, participating in Mrs. Pinkston’s Black culture assembly seems to empower Marjorie and make her feel more connected to her heritage, as she senses her beloved grandmother dying all the way across the ocean.

Marjorie’s fear of fire shows that she still retains some of the generational trauma that has been passed down from Maame. She also has a physical memory of Maame in the necklace and has learned from Akua about her family’s history. In addition, unlike many of her ancestors, Marjorie is deeply aware of what caused the scars that both Akua and Yaw have, to the point that she feels she cannot complain about any minor discomfort. Marjorie’s story also reveals that Akua moved to be closer to the Cape Coast Castle. Though this is where the evils committed by their ancestors began, Akua shows how it is more freeing to acknowledge and embrace the past instead of ignoring it. Marjorie is then able to use her own power of storytelling to immortalize her family’s history in her poem. While the trauma of one’s ancestors can persist, it can also be learned from and forgiven. Marjorie’s path also illustrates how holding on to certain aspects of heritage can allow people to embrace their identities.