Afloat in a Sea of Faces: Islanders and the Ocean in Jean Rhys' Wide Sargasso Sea

Upon reviewing the email outlining our topic for the response paper, after I had already written mine, I realized I had not focused on any aspect of postcolonialism and can't really tie it in with what I wrote. I will try to write another paper by tomorrow but here is what I did write.

Afloat in a Sea of Faces :
Islanders and the Ocean in Jean Rhys’ "Wide Sargasso Sea"

sargasso: "seaweed," 1598, from Port. sargasso "seaweed," perhaps from sarga, a type of grape (on this theory, the sea plant was so called from its berry-like air sacs), or from L. sargus, a kind of fish found in the Mediterranean and eastern Atlantic, from Gk. sargos.
(online etymology dictionary)


"My mother usually walked up and down the glacis, a paved roofed-in terrace which ran the length of the house and sloped upwards to a clump of bamboos. Standing by the bamboos she had a clear view of the sea, but anyone passing could stare at her. They stared, sometimes they laughed. Long after the sound was far away and faint she kept her eyes shut and her hands clenched. A frown came between her black eyebrows, deep – it might have been cut with a knife. I hated this frown and once I touched her forehead trying to smooth it. But she pushed me away, not roughly, but calmly, coldly, without a word, as if she had decided once and for all that I was useless to her". (Rhys 5).


This passage, from the beginning of Jean Rhys’ "Wide Sargasso Sea", is highly significant to
a reader’s understanding of the rest of novel. In addition to the obvious, that being that the title
of the book refers to the passage, it contains a plethora of meaningful references.
Even the first line lets us know quite a lot about the character of Annette. We know that
she paces daily in a roofed-in terrace. Though pacing in an enclosed space puts one in mind of an
imprisoned existence, which is a recurring theme in the novel, Annette prefers the glacis
because from there she can view the sea. The sea means freedom, escape, a better life, perhaps
a wish to return home for Annette.
Anyone who has lived on an island knows that for an islander the sea takes on a different
meaning than for someone from a mainland place. Many people who come to an island from a
mainland find the surrounding sea a type of an entrapment, a foreboding element. While those
who have lived always on an island know the sea to be a positive element, insulating one from
the outside world while at the same time offering a hope of escape, renewal and freedom. One
never knows what or who will arrive with the tide … or when one embarks on a journey where
those waves will take one. For Annette, who is an islander from Martinique, the sea is a positive
element, perhaps one of the few in her life. Annette continues to pace up on the glacis, even
though she can be seen by her neighbours, and is often made an object of ridicule. Annette is
nothing if not determined. While she is not unaffected by the laughter “she kept her eyes shut
and her hands clenched. A frown came between her black eyebrows,” she continues in her silent vigil.
The last two lines of the passage are also significant to one’s understanding of the
protagonist Antoinette, throughout the remainder of the novel. Antoinette is portrayed as a
sensitive child who hates to see her mother suffering and angry. But instead of loving and
embracing her, her mother rejects her and her concern. Not in a passionate, momentary way
but “calmly, coldly”. An emotionless rejection, which Antoinette internalizes as meaning her
existence is unimportant to her mother.
Throughout the novel Antoinette’s sense of rejection shapes her life. The pacing upon
the glacis also is reminiscent of the scene in "Jane Eyre" when Mrs. Rochester (Antoinette) kills
herself. Mrs. Rochester jumps from the roof of Thornfield in a blaze of flames. In contrast with her
mother’s cold relentless pacing, Antoinette succumbs to society’s rejection. She is as
impassioned, fiery and emotional as her mother is cold, calculating and emotionless.


Works Cited

Rhys, Jean. "Wide Sargasso Sea". London: Penguin Books, 1968.

Harper, Douglas. "Online Etymology Dictionary":
http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=sargasso November, 2001.