29 pages • 58-minute read
To Da-Duh, In Memoriam
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Literary Devices
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of racism.
Allusion
An allusion is an indirect reference to another work of literature or to something of other cultural significance. “To Da-duh, in Memoriam” includes several allusions, deepening the resonance of an otherwise straightforward narrative by associating it with broader social and historical forces. For example, when describing life in New York, the narrator references a number of cultural touchstones that collectively give a sense of the world she inhabits, such as a “Shirley Temple coat with fur on the collar” (102). The reference to the famous child star heightens the sense of New York as another world—a place where movies are accessible and Black and white girls wear similar clothing, implying a degree of social mobility and cultural exchange that is unusual in Barbados. Conversely, the narrator compares Da-duh’s face to a “Benin mask,” referencing the ceremonial art of a former West African empire. In associating Da-duh with a powerful but fallen civilization, the allusion suggests her difficulty adjusting to a changing world order while also acknowledging her heritage and dignity.
Allusions thus serve as a key way of evoking the broader context of The Black Diaspora and Colonialization. This is particularly true of the reference to the “famous ’37 strike” (105). The story says little about this event beyond the British response to it, but its origins—the anger of the island’s exploited Black laborers—speak to the shifting dynamics around race and empire that characterize Da-duh and the narrator’s relationship.
Dialect
A dialect is a variant of a language unique to a particular region, ethnic group, class, etc. In literature, the use of dialect is closely associated with verisimilitude, as writers often seek to capture a particular dialect (through diction, phonetic spelling, etc.) to create a sense of time and place. This is the case in “To Da-duh, in Memoriam,” where Paule Marshall uses the vocabulary and grammatical conventions of Barbadian English to establish the work’s setting and Da-duh’s character, in keeping with the theme of Environment as a Source of Identity. For example, when Da-duh announces her plans to show St. Thomas sugarcane to the narrator, she says, “They’s canes father, bo, […] I goin’ take you out in the ground and show them to you” (99). Here, the spelling (“goin’”), vocabulary (“bo,” a form of address), and grammar (“they’s”) all reflect Da-duh’s Barbadian identity.
By contrast, the narrator uses more “standard” English in both dialogue and narration. However, she does adopt some of her grandmother’s linguistic habits during her stay, including the phrase “How you mean” (103). This contributes to the work’s exploration of Conflict and Cultural Connections Between Generations: Although the narrator and her grandmother are often at odds, the narrator also carries on Da-duh’s legacy.
Dichotomy
A dichotomy is a pair of opposing images, ideas, characters, etc. Oppositions of this kind permeate the story, reflecting its interest in the relationship between past and present, colony and metropole, nature and technology, old and young, etc. For example, the narrator’s descriptions of Da-duh tend to emphasize inflexibility, whereas the imagery she uses to describe herself implies suppleness, as in this passage: “My right forefinger waving, I trucked around the nearby trees and around Da-duh’s awed and rigid form. After the Truck I did the Suzy-Q, my lean hips swishing, my sneakers sidling zigzag over the ground” (102). Here, Da-duh’s “rigid” bearing evokes both her age and her traditionalism, while the narrator’s fluid movements (“waving,” “swishing,” etc.) suggest youth and flexibility in the face of a changing world.
However, much as the story complicates the various dichotomies it is structured around, it also blurs together the language associated with them. This is evident in the descriptions of Da-duh herself, which depict her as simultaneously old and young, light and dark, etc. It also informs the account of the British response to the strike, including “the planes […] swooping and screaming like monstrous birds down over the village” (106). Here, the natural world and modern technology merge in a way that implies they are not mere opposites. Rather, the seemingly pristine environment of Barbados and the instruments of warfare are connected via colonialism.
Personification
Personification is a literary device that involves giving human attributes to nonhuman things. The narrator often uses it when describing the landscape and vegetation of Barbados, as in this passage: “It was a violent place, the tangled foliage fighting each other for a chance at the sunlight, the branches of the trees locked in what seemed an immemorial struggle, one both necessary and inevitable” (101). The image of the plants engaging in combat communicates the narrator’s unease with her surroundings, which seem to act with intent not usually associated with plants. It also hints at the region’s history: While the landscape may look unaltered, much of it has been shaped by plantation farming. The “violence” of the plants thus reflects the violence of colonialism and enslavement. Finally, the use of personification deepens the parallels between Barbados and Da-duh, who, to the narrator, appears similarly enigmatic and imposing. The idea that the scenery is an extension of Da-duh (or vice versa) speaks to the story’s interest in the relationship between place and identity.
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