George Lamming's in the Castle of My Skin
What is exile? For some, exile may be equivalent to eviction. For some, it may be equivalent to shunning. The dictionary definitions of exile are “absence from own country,” “somebody living outside own country,” and “banishment.” These definitions are examples of a physical exile, or in other words, a physical removal or dislocation of a person or people. The idea of exile does not necessarily have to be a physical displacement, though. Exile can be personal, mental, or cultural. Exile can be emotional or social. This type of exile is one that many people can associate with. Anyone who longs to belong somewhere, with a group of people, or in a community dreads social and cultural exile. It is worthy of note that these exiles may be separate from each other, but they may go hand in hand. When asking this question, it is helpful to look to George Lamming, author of In the Castle of my Skin. Lamming presents exile as a complex idea. He uses the main character, G., to portray a layered definition of exile. Through G.’s interactions with his family, friends, and community, there is a constant sense that G. is an outsider. Exile is complex, and cultural and personal exile is likely to lead to inevitable physical exile, as illustrated by the character G. and his consciousness in Lamming’s novel, In the Castle of My Skin. G. lives in a small village in the Barbados. In this village, there is an clear split between colonial powers and their colonies. The inhabitants of these colonies gets the brunt of all power exertions, and G.’s story shows how colonial power exertion was not necessarily physical, as in force or militancy, but cultural, which led to psychological troubles. Especially in G.’s education, it is shown that the colonial powers devalue the culture and all that is associated with Africans, and instead drive into the boys’ brains the superiority of the English, white culture. It is apparent that with colonialism came the idea that
Cited: Lamming, George. In the Castle of My Skin. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1953. Print.