Tell Me A Story

In Wendt's "Black Rainbow", the "utopia" that the President and The Tribunal have created was made possible by the erasure of the memory of history of their citizens so as to create a society that is at peace with its surroundings alone. The citizens are left with prescribed mechanical emotions, manufactured fulfillments of desire, and a superficial "peace". There is major emphesis placed on the admonition of storytelling--as it, in some aspects, is a device that allows us to recount our histories, or share in the histories of others--which was strictly forbidden in this uniform utopia. This struck me, as the act of storytelling was considered almost sacred in the other stories we've read: in Danticat's "Krik? Krak!", storytelling becomes the migrated Haitians' "sole inheritance" from their ancestors; in Achebe's "No Longer At Ease", his his connection to Umuofia resonates in his reverting to old Igbo proverbs to explain situations; in Calvino's "Invisible Cities", Polo recounts his history with Venice through a myriad of stories of the lands he's traveled to.
Aeto's story was the most striking, a digression in the story of the quest that completely captivated me. "His mother had a phenomenal memroy which her parents had trained so the otherwolders couldn't obliterate their true history. Her knowledge was in the stories she filled their lives with. The usefulness of usefullness, she described her stories"(159). The power of his story both relied on his recount of details of his past, and the fact that he had never before shared the memory, but obviously carried it with him all those years.
In turn, Wendt demonstrates the importance that storytelling still has in this society, as it is the cause of the Free Citizen's reversion from the ways of the Tribunal and back to reality, "Though the Tribunal has banned history, we are what we remember, the precious rope strecthing across the abyss of all that we have forgotten...And the history, the fabulous storehouse of memories, of our love, opened and gave reason and meaning to my quest across the abyss, a quest which had truned me into a heretic defying the Tribunal and all I'd been raised to believe in"(178). I believe it is when "the true ones"(also note the significance of the fact that he nicknames his comrades from the streets, who have forgone stability the Tribunal would have provided them in order to remain true to themselves and their past, as "true), share the stories of their past, it is completely jarring to the Free Citizen that he could have allowed someone to take those same memories away from him; it is here that he ways the sacrifice and the outcome, and finds them to be nowhere close to comparable.

A Tale of Two Cities

Wendt explores two cities in his novel Black Rainbow. There is a city of the ruling class or the class of the Tribunal where its citizens have everything. The other city is a class of the Polynesian people, who are considered secular. The city of the Tribunal is seen as the “other” by the secular city because the Polynesians have not conformed. The city of the Tribunal and President are described as intruders. The Free Citizens wife states, “They are still here?” (17). The Free Citizens Wife is referring to the Tribunal. She refers to them as “they” meaning the “other”. She does not consider herself part of the city her husband wants to belong to. That city is foreign to her. She does not want to give up her history to the President’s City like her husband. Unlike the Free Citizen’s wife, his companion refers to the Polynesian city as the “other”. She states, “Their refusal to be like us, be law abiding citizens” (27). She believes the Polynesians must conform for her to feel comfortable. There are two distinct cities in the world of the Black Rainbow. These cities cannot seem to commingle. The Polynesian city must conform to the President’s city. The Polynesian must give up their history to be a part of an institution which considers itself superior.
Wendt adapts this story line from the history of the South Pacific Islands. The islands were European colonies and they were constantly overloaded by European immigrants. The people of the islands feared they would lose their history and culture through this immersion of the immigrants. The Polynesian people believed their culture would be siphoned off with the overload of Europeans and their own culture. Today, the Polynesians’ worst fear is coming true. Most schools have converted to teaching French to their students. Many of these generations are not aware of their past. http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/wendt.htm

Baltimore contains two cities like Black Rainbow. There is the city of the privileged and the city of the underprivileged. We as Loyola students are encouraged to seek out the city of the underprivileged and help. However, what if our help is viewed as an intrusion? The city of the underprivileged can see our assistance as an infringement upon their culture. This city does have a history and culture that can be erased by the intrusion of Loyola students. Like the President’s city, we view ourselves as the privileged and the superior, but how do we know our way is the right way? Some people might welcome our help and some might refuse believing the way and where they live is right for them and makes them happy.

A City Underneath a City

In Black Rainbow, Albert Wendt uses the city to aid in his argument against the distorted ideals of The Tribunal. Specifically, the city seems to be used as a critique against extreme captalism and oppressive rule. The three youths that the Free Citizen encounters are the primary characters that help to shed light on the city that Wendt gives us. It seems as though these youths know the city as it really is, unlike the members of The Tribunal, who have a false sense of the city. The Free Citizen says, "They even filled in what wasn't in the maps, especially when we descended into the labyrinth below the inner city, into a world I knew nothing about." (134). The youths open up the Free Citizen to an unfamiliar world full of reality, which aids in the Free Citizen's rebellion from The Tribunal and its ways. The city that the young people expose the Free Citizen to is " a city underneath a city" (134). The young people claim that they were " the first" (134) in this city. Therefore, they illuminate the truth that was buried when the Tribunal took over and imposed its foolish laws on the people. Even though this truth was buried, these rebellious youths are able to expose the city that lies beneath and has long since been forgotten.

The building in which the Government's Insurance Corporation is housed is aptly named " the palace". The Free Citizen describes the building as being, " twenty stories high, stained by rain, [ and] sightless rows of windows" (136). It is altogether ironic that the government believes this place to be a palace when it truly is " just another f****** ugly office building" (136), according to Faintail, one of the young people who know the truth behind the ediface. This office is the epitome of extreme capitalism and oppressive rule; its description is cleverly articulated by Wendt, so as to enlighten the reader on the point he is trying to convey. In addition to being filled with the smell of mildew and people that do not make eye contact with anyone, the office building is " Just hundreds of offices inhabited by nine- to-five people, desks, filing cabinets, paper, memories,paperclips, rubber bands, Twink, word processors, and computers" (136). This dreary, monotonous description of the office building certainly depicts the corporate atmosphere in a negative light, therefore driving home Wendt's message.

Wendt's novel ties in perfectly with the 'Year of the City' here at Loyola. I think it would be beneficial for us to see the city from the perspective of the uncommon citizens- citizens much like the young people who know the underground city so well in Black Rainbow. We can gain valuable knowledge from these people and perhaps discover certain facets of Baltimore that were previously unknown to us. These people can be a lens for us to view the city as it is not normally seen and prove to be invaluable throughout our exploration of the city. As students at Loyola, we see the city as college students only. It is important to recall that one's position in the city affects their overall experience in it. Therefore, it would be helpful to acquire a viewpoint outside of the one we already have of Baltimore.

The City Drags Like a Ball and Chain Attached to One Leg

In Albert Wendt's Black Rainbow, one passage describes Aeto as a hostage in a chef couple's home. After breaking the spell of their food and care, Aeto decides to wander the streets in the middle of the night, aware that the man and woman won't notice his absence. "Because they slept from midnight till six he felt safe during that time, so he started leaving the house and walking for exercise. He often walked all night, relearning the city. He never thought of not returning. Why? He would never be able to fathom that one." (175). Throughout this eerie story, the reader senses that this couple represents a ruthless, capitalistic power forced upon Aeto without warning. Tempted by the marvelous food, Aeto never exercises his freedom or will to choose. He has forfeited his place in the city, able only to relearn it, as he describes. He is no longer able to live in it, even though he walks through the streets and observes his surroundings.

Obi, in Chinua Achebe's novel No Longer at Ease, experiences a similar situation to Aeto when he returns to his home city from London. Influenced by British ideals and "bettered" by a proper education, Obi can no longer relate to his people when he arrives. The city in which he grew up is no longer the city to which he arrives when he is sent to London as a promise for the better future of society, an educated man. His fellow citizens actually harmed and alienated him by sending him to pursue what they thought was a better opportunity.

Neither character is good enough, in the eyes of the two societal groups, split according to economic class and dominating power. Both characters have characteristics that allow them access to the members of both classes, but neither is fully able to identify with any particular group. Obi makes grammar mistakes, even with an elite education. Aeto can't abandon the chef couple, even though he knows they are hurting him. In both novels, the issue of language also plays an important role; in Achebe's novel, Obi thinks that nothing gives him greater pleasure than to find another Ibo-speaking student in a London bus, and in Wendt's novel, Aeto and his companions can talk secretly in the back of the narrator's car, "street pidgin, their coinage." (123). Both characters are suddenly caught between two societies within the same city, no longer belonging to the city, lacking connection with any particular group.