Brown Girl Dreaming: Part 5 Summary & Analysis

When Georgiana comes to live with them, the part of Jacqueline’s life that took place in Greenville is over. Woodson portrays Georgiana’s grief in a poignant, understated way, emphasizing her lack of energy and purpose as she sits in her chair for months, looking out the window. Despite Jacqueline’s efforts to immortalize Gunnar and her life in Greenville through writing, she has the sense that the family’s world is irrevocably changed.

Jacqueline sometimes feels pessimistic that the New York that was promised to her in the stories people told her in Greenville does not actually exist in real life. But she has hope that the sapling of a mimosa tree that Georgiana planted will bring her a sense of unity in New York that she didn’t feel before, when she was so often shuttling between two homes. Jacqueline thinks the tree, and her grandmother’s presence, will unify her internal division.

Though Jacqueline and Maria mean no harm in their fake cigarette smoking, Odella’s painful reminder that smoking killed Gunnar shows Jacqueline how symbolism can still be upsetting. It recalls Jacqueline’s earlier naivety when she insisted to Robert that words are only words­— like in that instance, Jacqueline is only just learning how symbolic meaning can still have a significant impact.

Georgiana and Jacqueline remember Gunnar, whom they both loved very deeply, in this touching anecdote. Woodson reminds the reader again how memory can be carried not only in active storytelling, but also in evocative sounds, words, objects, and in the body itself.

Jacqueline’s class assignment evokes painful memories of Greenville, where she no longer spends her summers. Instead of describing her summer in New York, or explaining why they no longer go to Greenville, Jacqueline invents stories about fake summer vacations. Once again, Jacqueline’s imagination allows her to escape from painful realities and memories as she sculpts an alternative, written reality.

Harnessing memory, for Jacqueline, is not only a way to gain control over her own life, but also a way that she can connect with other people over shared history.

Mama and Jacqueline discuss the idea of fate and the concept that “everything happens for a reason,” topics which have a distinctly spiritual bent. Mama believes in fate like Kay did, telling Jacqueline that their move to Brooklyn was fate. This seems to surprise Jacqueline, whose mother does not attend church and generally seems to have a troubled relationship with religion. When Jacqueline asks her what she believes in, Mama lists a range of different things, showing that her spirituality, rather than being absent, is plural and diverse.

As Jacqueline’s mind wanders, she wonders to Maria what their lives would have been like if various conditions hadn’t occurred. When Maria says she doesn’t want to think about it, Jacqueline’s agreement seems to indicate that she is identifying an aspect of imagining alternative reality that does not make her happy. This seems to be a new development.

As Jacqueline learns about the history of New York, it helps her situate herself in a larger narrative of the city’s institutional memory. Jacqueline begins to fit her own personal narrative into broader histories, including the founding of America and African-American history.

Jacqueline’s relationship to language continues to be an important personal outlet for her.

Robert’s conversion to Islam shows Jacqueline a new, alternative religion that is very different from the sect of Christianity she has always known. Perhaps it is Jacqueline’s dissatisfaction with her religion that fuels her curiosity about Robert’s practice.

This poem shows Jacqueline connecting with the Black Power Movement, which grew out of the Civil Rights Movement and focused on promoting socialism and black pride. Though Jacqueline and Maria clearly are too young to truly understand the political significance of the movement, the energy surrounding it still excites them, and the image of Angela Davis appeals to them.

Mama, too, seems to subscribe to the social and political agenda of the Black Power Movement, as she praises the Black Panthers to her children. Still, she tells them to quiet down when they sing black pride songs— either because she is tired, or because she fears repercussions for the racial politics they imply.

Jacqueline clearly cannot fully grasp the changing racial situation in America. She senses the implied judgment of the neighborhood woman who nostalgically tells them about the neighborhood when it was white, but she cannot fully articulate her discomfort. Jacqueline cannot understand why racial segregation occurs, or why people do not want to get along.

Woodson mentions the Vietnam War for the first time in this poem, again situating Jacqueline’s life in the context of U.S. history. Jacqueline responds to Leftie’s sad memories of the war by imagining him escaping into his imagination, a place that Jacqueline thinks must be like Robert’s Mecca. Jacqueline believes that Robert and Leftie probably use their imaginations, like she does, in order to escape painful memories.

Robert’s encouragement that the children learn about Black Power firsthand suggests that he distrusts the media outlets and how they portray the struggle for racial justice. Woodson shows the reader how the struggle for racial justice not only inspires Jacqueline and her family politically, but also inspires Jacqueline to make art. Jacqueline pays special attention to the sounds in the word “revolution,” as she is always so attentive to sound. While racism and race often cause problems for Jacqueline and her family, liberation serves as part of Jacqueline’s writerly inspiration.

Woodson shows Jacqueline to be aware not only of her desire to write, but of her writerly process.

Jacqueline admires her teacher, not only for her teaching skills, but also for her political inclination towards feminism and “the revolution.” Ms. Vivo encourages Jacqueline to write, but also states that she is a writer already, giving Jacqueline support and confidence in her goals. Jacqueline continues to gain confidence as she shares her work with classmates, hoping to feel, like Ms. Vivo does, that she is a writer.

Encouraged by Ms. Vivo’s praise and validation, Jacqueline devotes herself to her writerly dream. Her reading, writing, and daily experiences feel like they are purposeful and driving toward her goal. The reader gets a sense that Jacqueline has fully committed to her dream of being a writer and is determined to get there.

Jacqueline is inspired not only by her own life, which was previously the most prominent subject matter of her writing, but also by the breadth of stories of different people around the world. The television helps her to access these stories, and they inspire her to keep writing.

Jacqueline, who has struggled with her relationship to religion throughout the text, at last seems to have crystallized her understanding of religion and her belief system. This belief list shows Jacqueline’s maturity compared with early part of the book, when her values were not yet clear.

In her final poem of the book, Woodson shows the reader that Jacqueline has a fully developed worldview and a mature relationship to reading, writing, storytelling, and memory. To Jacqueline, language and storytelling allow her to walk through various different “worlds,” stepping into alternative realities, different consciousnesses, and past memories. Meanwhile, Jacqueline’s ability to control her own narrative has empowered her to reconcile her relationship with place (she now feels at home in the North and mentally visits the South of her memories), and has given her tools to think about race and racial justice. Together, this maturity gives Jacqueline a cohesive worldview and identity that makes her feel in control and powerful. At last, Jacqueline has become someone who can control her own story.