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Dramatic Irony
Part 2
Explanation and Analysis—How Do You Know?:
In Antoinette's account of her visit to Christophine in the second part, one of Christophine's comments sparks a flashback for her. Through this flashback, the reader gets insight into events that took place before Antoinette's marriage.
After Antoinette briefly questions the knowledge and authority of her former nurse, Christophine makes a comment that restores Antoinette's faith in her perception:
"Your aunt old woman now, she turn her face to the wall."
"How do you know?" I said. For that is what happened.
By italicizing Antoinette's line, Rhys shows that the girl is taken aback at Christophine's shrewd awareness of an event she was absent for. She knows that Christophine does not mean "turn her face to the wall" in a figurative sense.
Antoinette proceeds to recall "what happened," starting with an argument she overheard between Aunt Cora and Richard Mason. Convinced that Richard is "handing over everything the child owns to a perfect stranger," Aunt Cora attempts to protect Antoinette. Richard refuses to listen, storming off. After Antoinette gives Aunt Cora smelling salts, the older woman turns "away from the window, the sky, the looking-glass, the pretty things on the dressing-table." Eventually, she "turned her face to the wall." This movement symbolizes Aunt Cora's surrender to Richard Mason. She falls ill shortly after and doesn't attend the wedding.
As the only person still around from Antoinette's early childhood, Christophine often conjures up memories for Antoinette. Her presence is familiar and safe, and even her scent brings Antoinette back to Coulibri. Right after Antoinette arrives at Christophine's house, she descends into a series of flashbacks and associations induced by this scent. The reader struggles to know which temporal layer Antoinette is narrating from as she thinks of Christophine "standing knee-deep in the river at Coulibri," the process of washing clothes, the dark blue sky, mangoes, and the feeling of "lying alone in my bed with the soft silk cotton mattress and fine sheets, listening."
Christophine's knowledge that Aunt Cora turned her face to the wall does not frighten Antoinette. Most of all, she takes comfort in knowing she has a perceptive life witness from whom she can seek counsel. When she leaves Christophine's house, she worries that she has undermined the sacredness of this relationship by offering Christophine money in exchange for obeah.
Related Themes:
