Literature Homework

29th of September 2010

Short Biography

Roger Mais

Roger Mais was born in Jamaica in 1905 .Mais lived in England from 1952 and returned to Jamaica in 1955, that same year he died of cancer. He was know for  depicting the lives of the underprivileged, in his novels. Mais was more than a novelist, he was a journalist, playwright, poet and artist.

Mais worked as a journalist for the 'Public Opinion' from 1939 to 1952. He wrote several plays, reviews, and short stories for the newspapers; 'Public Opinion',  'Focus' and the 'Jamaica Daily Gleaner', focusing his articles on social injustice and inequality.

Published in the 1940's, Mais' play, 'George William Gordon' was focused on the Morant Bay Rebellion of 1865.In 1944, he wrote the anti-British satirical tirade, "Now We Know," criticizing British colonial rule. That peice resulted in his incarceration of sixth months in the Spanish Town Penitentiary.This period of imprisonment was instrumental in the development of his first novel, The Hills Were Joyful Together, a work focused on working-class life in the Kingston of the 1940s, wich was published in 1953. Brother Man was published in 1954, a sympathetic exploration of the emergent Rastafari movement. Black Lightning, published in 1955, centered on an artist living in the countryside. Mais died at the age of 50.

Review Disscussion

Annie Paul's review of the book Brotherman, Rasta Vibration gives Roger Mais props for succesfully documenting the way that rastfari's were treated in jamacia in the 1950's. They were not as socialy accepted and respected as they are today, they were shoned and dislikes as is evident in the novel.

Paul notes the writers use of his characters to bring forth the conflict of morality in the novel. The struggle between good and evil is literally potrayed by saints and devils as depicted by the characters.

Paul also notes how Mais uses one character to develope the other. as seen in the case with Papacita and Girlie

Paul commends Mais for his brave use of the Characters Papacita and Girlie to write about the fine edge between sexual pleasure and pain, esspecially at that consevative time in Jamaica , and calls their conversations "some of the best writing in the book"

Paul refers to Mais as gender sensitive, because of his equal use and potrayal of women and men.In the novel, they are both equally as nice or equally as evil. Both genders are key to the plot.

Paul does not hide he feelings towards the conversational dialouge and simply says "it stinks" . She refers to the dialouge as a distressing blend of Jamacian vernacular and African americanized Dialect that was self made based on the fact that he lacked representation of the Jamacian Creole and resorted to that of his own.

Rastafarians

Based on Wikipedia the free encyclopedia:

The Rastafari movement is a new religious movement that arose in the Christian society of Jamaica in the 1930s. Its members , who worship Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia, former Emperor of  Etheopia from 1930–1936 and 1941–1974, as the 'Second Advent'. The movement is sometimes referred to as "Rastafarianism", but this term is considered derogatory and offensive by some Rastas, who dislike being labelled as an "ism".

Rastafari is not a highly organized religion; it is a movement and an ideology. Many Rastas say that it is not a "religion" at all, but a "Way of Life". Most Rastas do not claim any sect or denomination, and thus encourage one another to find faith and inspiration within themselves, although some do identify strongly with one of the "mansions of Rastafa" ; the three most prominent of these being the Nyahbinghi, the Bobo Ashanti and the Twelve Tribes of Israel.

The name Rastafari is taken from Ras Tafari, the pre-regnal  title of Haile Selassie I, composed of Amharic Ras (literally "Head," an Ethiopian title equivalent to Duke), and Haile Selassie's pre-regnal given name, Tafari. Rastafari are generally distinguished for asserting the doctrine that Haile Selassie I is another incarnation of the Christian God, called 'Jah'.They believe that 'Jah' or 'Jah Rastafari' is the second comming of Jesus Christ onto Earth.

The Rastafari movement encompasses themes such as the spiritual use of cannabis and the rejection of western society called 'Babylon. It proclaims Africa or 'Zion' as the original birthplace of mankind, and embraces various Afrocentric social and political aspirations such as the sociopolitical views and teachings of Jamaican publicist, organizer, and Black nationalist,Marcus Garvey who is often regarded as a prophet.