Someone once aptly said – everything belongs to the mind; shut your mind and the world disappears. True to this, freedom too is a state of the mind. With freedom come happiness, serenity and also responsibility. The stepping stone to attain this freedom is based on a strong foundation laid by courage. Courage can be depicted either subtly or explicitly in innumerable forms. Free Enterprise, written by Michelle Cliff and Bailey’s Café, by Gloria Naylor are two novels that unfold and unravel the lives of an array of bizarre and unique characters and the intense struggle of every individual at some point in their lives through a display of courage. The existing societal dogmas and norms have formed a basis for the pursuit of liberation of several characters portrayed in both the novels. Although the storyline of the two novels have their occurrences in two different eras, there have been significant similarities that mark the likeliness of the prevalent conditions and this reflects upon the crisis and the struggle of several characters being portrayed. The aim of this essay is to discuss this use of space in each novel, by taking specific examples.
Michelle Cliff’s Free Enterprise represents a social agenda in a period between the post II World War and pre Civil War and it outlines a courageous struggle of two African American women against slavery in America. The tale that is interwoven into the bones of history depicts the phenomenal story of the legend Mary Ellen Pleasant and her friendship with a young Jamaican woman Annie Christmas and their combined efforts in the abolition of slavery.
Bailey’s Café by Gloria Naylor is a novel outlined in the nineteenth century that depicts a spectrum of characters who find solace in Bailey’s Café, an establishment in Chicago that serves as a safe haven for them from their troubled lives. The main narrator is the owner of the café who paints a picture filled with compassion and empathy about the life of every inhabitant of the café, their harsh undeserved sufferings and their eventual journey to the Café. Every character depicted in the story is unique and has an inglorious past, yet the future shows some glimmer of hope due the presence of the café.
“She lived her life on the edge, which is where most people who won’t settle end up, for good or ill” (Cliff 4). The above words reflect the situation of Annie Christmas in the Free Enterprise. Annie, who was originally christened Regina, was born in an affluent Jamaican family. She left her house and migrated to the United States of America with a vision to abolish slavery and work for the greater good of the society. Annie, after meeting Mary Ellen Pleasant, sensed the existing common goal between them. Through her journey, Annie establishes new and deep seated ties with an ideological family, a family of visionaries, abolitionists, victims and resisters of the era for a unified cause. Thus Annie’s battles extend beyond mere geographical boundaries. The “edge” symbolically refers to a state of life where hope dangles by the end of the thread due to the hardships encountered. “I was chained, a man among men, until a guard spied a trickle of blood down my leg, and not from the chafing of the iron cuff. You can imagine what happened next to me; maybe not. Suffice to say, I was given my own chain, should I say leash. I was cuffed around the neck and led from man to man. They were not allowed to resist.” (Cliff 207-08).
Annie’s character thus reflects her as a very strong, solitary, self – made, secluded woman, who, through personal and societal rebellion attains her vision of the greater good.
“Since the place sits right on the margin between the edge of the world and infinite possibility, the back door opens to a void. It takes courage to turn the knob and heart to leave the step” (Naylor 76). This context refers to the space behind Bailey’s Café.
Bailey’s Café serves as a haven for the people who are in search of solace away from all brutal realities and hardships of life. The “space” that is referred to in this context symbolizes the stage of human life devoid of all hope and happiness. The infinite possibility is a reference to the life at the café which can re establish all hope and faith while the back door of the café opens to the void of the past full of grief and sorrow. It takes a lot of courage to step out of the cocoon after being at the Bailey’s Café and start life afresh by leaving the step. Eve, the owner of the boarding house (brothel) beside the Café, is a character that projects strength and perseverance. Eve, being an orphan and being raised by a stern minister was curbed of a normal childhood. Due to circumstances encountered, she was thrown out of her house and was rendered shelter less. “To be thrown out his church was to be thrown out of the world” (Naylor 85). Throughout her journey in life, Eve never wavers and remains strong willed and resolute and recreates herself to provide a better living for outcast women in the society. Her love for well kept gardens symbolizes her innate beliefs and her struggle through the journey of life. "I had no choice but to walk into New Orleans neither male nor female - mud," she informs the reader/audience. "But I could right then and there choose what I was going to be when I walked back out" (Naylor 91).
Annie Christmas and Eve thus portray characters that are very strong willed and resilient who tread their ways into unexplored boundaries through sheer courage and perseverance by overcoming their physical and mental confinements and destroying all the shackles and obstacles that come their way. The powerful edifices that have chiseled the society served as a trigger to these women envision a society filled with equality and compassion. This paved a clear cut way to their strife for the betterment of people either at a community level (like Eve) or at a national level (Like Annie). This substantiates the statement of both the women constantly living in the edge and the courage that has motivated them to turn the knob and heart to leave the step defying all boundaries.
Works Cited
Naylor, Gloria. (1992). Bailey’s Café: A Critical Companion. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, Greenwood Publishing Group. Print.
Cliff, Michelle. (1993). Free Enterprise: A Novel of Mary Ellen Pleasant. San Francisco: City Lights. Print.
