Braaaaaiiiins

In 'Wide Sargasso Sea', by Jean Rhys, the effects of colonialism can be felt throughout the novel. We can see it in the dynamic between the blacks and whites, how the plot progresses, etc. Therefore, when Rochester was mistaken for a zombie, my mind didn't go immediately to the decaying, walking dead, but rather the Caribbean voodoo origins of the concept.
In traditional folklore, zombies are reanimated bodies completely under the control of their bokor, or master. The zombies have no free will of their own, and are in effect slaves. Commonly, zombies have been interpreted as a metaphor for slavery.
What's so interesting about the fact that zombies are mentioned in the story though, is who it's being applied to. Rochester, the white, upper class, male, is mistaken for a zombie by a girl. Does this show a paradigm shift in the way that the West Indies work?
Additionally, the definition of the zombie in folklore sounds eerily familiar to Antoinette's future predicament- unable to do anything without Rochester, completely bound to the attic by him. Could Rhys have been foreshadowing Antoinette's fate in this sequence?

Comments

  1. Yamini YedetoreNovember 18, 2017 at 1:07 PM

    Nice post! I didn't see the connection between zombies and voodoo or slavery until reading this, but it definitely makes sense now! The theme of colonialism is huge in the novel, and though Rochester is compared to a zombie, I think he does have autonomy and is in control of his life. I'm not sure the significance of having that girl see him as a zombie, its very interesting to think about!

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  2. Dante FreundNovember 18, 2017 at 9:04 PM

    This really helps show the overall creepy horror-ish feel that we discussed in class on Thursday. Who knew colonialism could be so creepy! I think that the white upper class male being mistaken for a zombie by a girl is the most revealing of the interactions.

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  3. Nina GalvezNovember 28, 2017 at 7:14 AM

    Interesting post! I like how you examined the meaning of the zombie and connected it to slavery. I think that the idea of a zombie and becoming a slave blatantly connects with Antoinette. However, with Rochester, I believe it to be more subtle. I thought that relating him to a zombie was indirectly recognizing his lack of power in the Caribbean. Since the territory is unfamiliar to him, he is kinda being controlled by the slaves (including Antoinette) around him. Ironic yet interesting!

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  4. 羅　理愛　（スミトロ　リア）December 13, 2017 at 1:31 PM

    I like how you went deeper into the subject of zombies in Wide Sargasso Sea. One of my earlier blog posts was based on research of Obeah, and I remember reading that voodoo work that Christophine familiarized herself with was a culture most popular with descendants of Ashanti-speaking West African slaves. So maybe the followers of obeah who were slaves saw themselves as zombies to their owners, and used obeah as a way to emotionally (and somewhat physically, with the effect of potions) escape the struggles of slavery.

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