In what ways does Jean Rhys characterize Antoinette as an outsider in Part One of the novel and to what effect? 

Part one of the novel begins with Antoinette’s narration and introducing us readers to her childhood with some background on the historical context. We start to grasp knowledge on the complication of the racial dynamic at that time. Antoinette and her family become socially isolated from the community they live in. Antoinette fails to identify with a particular identity as the Jamaican and black society refuse to acknowledge them as one of them due to her skin colour and they are financially too poor to be considered of the higher white society. She has a deep desire to fit in with a society and feel as though she is a part of it as her mom, the only other person which such identity crisis, ignores her daughter and doesn’t pay much attention to her daughter. In part one of the novel, Jean Rhys introduces Tia, a young black girl who befriends Antoinette. Yet her character is greatly significant as she helps further shed light on Antoinette being an outsider. This is seen as their growing friendship comes to a halt. As they argue one day, Tia tells Antoinette: “Plenty white people in Jamaica. Real white people they got gold money…Old time white people nothin but white nigger now, and black nigger better than white nigger.” There is a clear racial tension visible between the two girls which causes a feud between them. This feud reflects the social and financial discrepancy between the whites and the blacks which drives a growing resentment between the races. Another particular moment in the book takes place when the servants set the Coulibri estate on fire and Antoinette sees Tia and runs towards, in hopes of staying with her as she viewed herself equal to Tia. But in that moment Tia throws a rock at Antoinette, hitting her head. At that moment, Antoinette comes to the realization that she isn’t the same as Tia and won’t ever be, she describes it as looking in glass- her reference to a mirror image is essential as a mirror is both the same and opposite, familiar yet inaccessible. This further characterizes her as an outsider.

Throughout the first part of the book, we are provided with a deeper insight into the complex identity crisis Antoinette faces, leaving her to become an outsider. This is heavily influenced by Jean Rhys’s own life and childhood. She is continuously referred to as a “white cockroach” regarding her as something that doesn’t belong, which leads Antoinette to feel the racial hatred and seek refuge in her garden- her place of escape and freedom. Jean Rhys also effectively uses secondary characters to portray Antoinette’s eager desire to fit in and shows how they influence her identity. Yet her struggle with alienation and absence of an identity is critical in leading to her emotional breakdown and later her mental state.

·         The novel is an account of the identities of the previously marginalized communities, Creole individuality, race relations, displacement and the group’s different relationships with home

·         The novelist highlights the fact that the individual identity of the people is constructed by the society itself and Rhys uses Anoinette to represent this. Jean Rhyscriticizes the divisions inherent in European social structures and addresses this issue by means of depicting all those typical characters and stereotype which even after the end of slavery and colonialism, decide people’s identities and values on the basis of their skin colour.