Banjo · Chapters
Chapters explained
Chapter companions for Banjo by Claude McKay.
Chapter 1
Dedication
The book is dedicated to Ruthope.
Chapter 2
Banjo
The chapter introduces the character Banjo and sets the stage for the novel 'Banjo: A Story Without a Plot', establishing the narrative style and central figure around whom the story will revolve.
Chapter 3
First Part
The first part of the novel introduces the reader to the world of Black expatriates and laborers in the French port city of Marseille. It centers on Banjo, an easygoing and rootless wanderer, and his encounters with a diverse cast of characters, including the sharp-tongued Malty Avis, the mysterious Latnah, and the intellectual Ray. The narrative explores the precarious lives of these men and women, their struggles for survival, their dreams of freedom, and their complex relationships with each other and the world around them.
Chapter 4
I: The Ditch
Banjo arrives in Marseilles with money and a banjo, quickly spending his savings on a girl and the vibrant life of the Ditch. After being left broke, he meets Malty Avis and his gang of beach boys, who feed him and introduce him to their world. Banjo plays his banjo, impressing the group and local dockers, and begins to dream of forming an orchestra. The chapter introduces the characters and the setting of the Vieux Port, establishing the themes of freedom, survival, and community among the displaced.
Chapter 5
II: The Breakwater
Banjo, recovering from his injury, becomes a permanent lodger at Latnah's and spends his days with Malty's gang. The chapter depicts the vibrant yet harsh life of the beach boys in Marseille's old port, including wine-drinking escapades, forming an orchestra dream, and a night of music and dancing in local cafés. Latnah's envy over a dancer's collection sparks a quarrel with Banjo, highlighting tensions between them.
Chapter 6
III: Malty Turned Down
The chapter opens with Banjo and Malty discussing Latnah's role in the gang, with Malty expressing jealousy over Banjo's easy acceptance of her. They spend the day at the docks, drinking sweet wine with Dengel, Ginger, and Bugsy, then swim and sunbathe. Malty's desire for Latnah is stirred when he sees her swim, and he later makes unwanted advances, leading to a confrontation with Banjo. The chapter also recounts how Latnah first joined the gang, her altercation with a woman on a ship, and Malty's initial protection of her.
Chapter 7
IV: Hard Feeding
The chapter depicts the beach boys' opportunistic scavenging for food from 'good' ships, highlighting their camaraderie and survival tactics. Ginger's past story of spending a thousand francs in a brothel is revealed, and a chaotic feeding frenzy aboard a ship leads to Banjo's disgust and a philosophical argument about self-respect. Banjo's discontent culminates in his abrupt departure on a passing boat, leaving his companions in awe.
Chapter 8
V: “Jellyroll”
Banjo revels in the vibrant, mixed-race atmosphere of the Café African, a new Senegalese-owned bar that draws all shades of the Negro population in Marseilles. He plays his beloved tune 'Shake That Thing' and dreams of forming an orchestra. A chance encounter with a music-making cargo boat crew leads to a wild evening of jazz, dancing, and a sudden brawl that spills the musicians out into the night. Banjo and his friends, including Malty, are then led by a Martinique guide to an international love shop, where they observe the diverse and commodified world of the Ditch.
Chapter 9
Second Part
The chapter opens with Banjo and his gang, including Malty, Goosey, Bugsy, and others, living a carefree life in the Ville, a shantytown. They engage in petty theft, drink, and discuss their disdain for work and the constraints of society. Banjo is injured and cared for by Latnah, who becomes a part of the group. The narrative introduces various characters and their backstories, including Taloufa, a Senegalese man who was a football player, and Ray, who declares his intention to write a book about their lives. The chapter explores themes of freedom, survival, and the rejection of conventional labor, as the group navigates their existence on the margins of society.
Chapter 10
VI: Meeting-Up
Ray and Banjo explore Marseilles, discussing art, life, and the Negro experience. They visit the Corniche, encounter a café proprietor who is a fervent Garveyite, and engage in debates about race, colonialism, and the African diaspora.
Chapter 11
VII: The Flute-Boy
Banjo and Ray encounter a flute-playing youth in Bum Square, who tells them his story of leaving his ship and being swindled in the Ditch. Banjo recruits him for his planned orchestra, and a debate ensues about race, music, and the banjo's symbolism.
Chapter 12
VIII: A Carved Carrot
Banjo and Ray navigate the rough life of the Ditch, where competition and violence simmer. The chapter opens with a scene of beach boys and girls vying for attention, leading to a violent incident involving a carved carrot and a sailor's death. Later, Banjo and his friends rehearse a song, 'Stay, Carolina, Stay,' which showcases their musical camaraderie. Ray rejects an old woman's advances, revealing his discomfort with the slimy aspects of the quarter. The chapter highlights the tensions and bonds within the community.
Chapter 13
IX: Taloufa's Shirttail
Taloufa, a young Nigerian who has traveled from mission school to Cardiff and America, arrives in Marseilles and becomes part of Banjo's circle. He shares his belief in the Back-to-Africa movement and Marcus Garvey. After a night of music and dancing, Taloufa is robbed by an Algerian girl he picked up, losing over three hundred francs. His friends debate whether to involve the police, with Bugsy urging action and Ginger advising against it. Ultimately, Taloufa refuses to press charges, and the group disperses at dawn.
Chapter 14
X: Storytelling
Ray attempts to engage Senegalese men in storytelling but faces suspicion due to his identity as a writer. He defends his craft against Goosey's concerns about racial representation, sharing a personal anecdote about posing nude in Paris. The chapter also introduces two white vagabonds, one Irish and one English, who discuss their harsh experiences with colonial justice.
Chapter 15
XI: Everybody Doing It
Ray, a wandering black intellectual, observes the chaotic and cosmopolitan scene of Marseilles' Canebière, reflecting on European nationalism, racial dynamics, and his own deracinated identity. He meets two English gentleman panhandlers, one of whom demonstrates his technique of soliciting money from tourists. Ray reminisces about the 'Turkey Trot' dance and his early days in America, contrasting the vibrant black cultural expressions with the hypocrisies of European civilization. He contemplates his unique position as a black man observing the 'civilized' world, rejecting patriotism as a poisonous seed, and embracing his role as a detached, amused observer.
Chapter 16
XII: Bugsy's Chinese Pie
Banjo and Ray discuss their panhandling strategies and share their earnings. They join the gang in front of a hotel where they encounter a religious woman from New York. The group shares a meal of Bugsy's Chinese pie, during which Banjo tells a story about Jerco in Harlem. Afterward, they see a starving white boy and Banjo gives him money, sparking a debate about race and charity.
Chapter 17
XIII: Bugsy Comes Back at Banjo
Bugsy returns to the Ditch and spreads malicious rumors about Banjo to Latnah, claiming Banjo is an 'ofay-lover' who prefers white women and squanders his money on his former flame, Chère Blanche. Latnah, already seething with jealousy and racial resentment, is further enraged. Meanwhile, Banjo, who is color-blind to race in his own way, reunites with Chère Blanche, who has fallen to the bottom of the Ditch's social scale. The chapter also depicts the vibrant, tense atmosphere of the Cairo Café, where Latnah and Bugsy's conversation takes place, and ends with a confrontation between Banjo and Latnah, where Latnah threatens Banjo with a dagger after he mocks her.
Chapter 18
XIV: Telling Jokes
The chapter opens with the beach boys avoiding Lonesome Blue, a Southern black man who has been expelled from France but refuses to leave. Despite his dire condition, Banjo and the others refuse to help him, seeing him as a 'dead thing' without the vagabond spirit. The conversation turns to jokes about race, leading to a heated argument between Goosey and Ray about race pride and the nature of 'Negro' jokes. Ray criticizes Goosey's views, calling him a 'coon' and a 'nigger newspaper,' while Goosey accuses Ray of being a man without a country. Ray eventually decides to help Lonesome Blue, taking him away, while the chapter reflects on the fate of an old black seaman who died alone in Joliette.
Chapter 19
XV: White Terror
The chapter opens with the arrival of American and British ships in Marseilles, bringing an influx of sailors and tourists. Ray, on his way to meet Banjo, encounters a drunken British seaman and then three American Negro seamen, one of whom he knows from his railroad days. They all go to the Senegalese Bar, where Banjo is already present. The group discusses the relative freedom for Black men in France compared to America, with Banjo and Ray offering nuanced views on French and American racism. They decide to go to the British-American Bar, but on the way, they are surrounded by a group of painted youths. The chapter highlights the pervasive prejudice and the complex dynamics of race, business, and freedom in the port city, contrasting the experiences of Black sailors from America with the local French and colonial populations.
Chapter 20
XVI: The “Blue Cinema”
Ray engages in a series of intellectual debates about race, identity, and colonialism. He first argues with Goosey about the nature of sexual and race relations, asserting that property and power control sex and that the white race's advancement is tied to the emancipation of its women. He then meets a Martiniquan student who expresses pride in the Empress Josephine and disdain for Senegalese Africans, prompting Ray to critique educated Negroes who despise their own people and to advocate for a racial renaissance rooted in the common people and native cultures. Later, at the African Bar, Ray observes and enjoys the rich African dialects and tribal diversity, while a conversation among the patrons reveals tensions between French West Indians and native Africans, with the patron arguing that American Negroes are the best off, a claim Ray challenges by pointing out the realities of Jim Crow and lynch law in the American South.
Chapter 21
XVII: Breaking-Up
After a night of heavy drinking, Ray wakes with a hangover and finds Banjo preparing to leave with wealthy companions for the Riviera. Despite Ray's warnings, Banjo insists on going, leaving the beach boys leaderless. The group disperses: Goosey and Bugsy find factory work, while Ray, Latnah, and Malty decide to go to the vineyards for seasonal work. The chapter reflects on the economic changes affecting the beach boys and the dissolution of their community.
Chapter 22
Third Part
The chapter follows Banjo and his companions as they navigate life in the port town, dealing with the aftermath of the vintage season, encounters with various characters, and the constant struggle for survival and freedom.
Chapter 23
XVIII: Banjo’s Return
Banjo returns to the Vieux Port after a disappointing stint with wealthy people, finding his old gang dispersed. He loses his banjo to a trick by two Senegalese men, forcing him to seek work. With Dengel's help, he bribes Sarka, a Senegalese section boss, with a silk shirt and tie to get a job on the docks. Banjo becomes a steady coal worker, a grim change from his carefree past, and reunites with Chère Blanche. Ray tries to persuade him to return to his old ways, but Banjo feels the gang has broken up and accepts his new life.
Chapter 24
XIX: Lonesome Blue Again
Ray, preparing to leave the Ditch, encounters Lonesome Blue, who has been imprisoned again for violating the expulsion order. Ray's attempts to help Lonesome through the American consulate are met with bureaucratic indifference and hostility. Ray's frustration with Lonesome's helplessness and the officials' cruelty deepens, reinforcing his desire to leave. He decides to depart that evening, but before he can have a farewell drink with his friends, he learns from Malty that Banjo has been taken suddenly ill and is dying.
Chapter 25
XX: The Rock of Refuge
Banjo's illness worsens, and Ray and Malty secure his admission to the Hôtel Dieu hospital after navigating bureaucratic hurdles. While Banjo is hospitalized, Ray reflects on the changing Ditch, and the chapter explores themes of displacement, race, and community amidst suffering. Banjo's thoughts turn to America as home, and he asks Ray to write to his aunt. The chapter also includes a visit from Ray and Malty with a chicken dinner, and a conversation about Indian seamen being robbed, highlighting the exploitation and racial tensions in the Ditch.
Chapter 26
Official Fists
Ray and Crosby are incredulous after Banjo and his gang are brutally beaten by police without charge. Banjo dismisses the idea of reporting the incident, explaining his philosophy of avoiding official entanglements. Ray reflects on the police's power in the Ditch and the routine searches. Later, Ray himself is arrested and beaten by police, then jailed. After his release, he writes to the prefect about the injustice but declines to prosecute, engaging in a philosophical debate with Crosby about morality, race, and civilization. The chapter also covers the death of Bugsy, who dies in a squalid room, and the gang's efforts to give him a proper funeral, with Ray reflecting on the meaning of waste and ritual.
Chapter 27
XXII: Reaction
Ray reflects on the hypocrisy of French civilization and its treatment of black people, feeling alienated even in Europe. He argues with a French student about the true nature of French tolerance, and ultimately decides to return to the Ditch, rejecting the respectable life Crosby represents.
Chapter 28
XXIII: Shake That Thing Again
Ray returns to the Ditch and joins Banjo and the gang at the African Bar, where they celebrate with music and dancing. Banjo plays 'Shake That Thing' and the party is lively until a tout warns of a police raid. Ray slips away to avoid trouble and meets Latnah in the Bum Square. They go to her place and share an intimate moment, smoking opium and discussing their mixed heritage and pasts.
Chapter 29
XXIV: The Chauffeur’s Lot
Ray, Banjo, and Goosey encounter Ray's chauffeur friend, who invites them to his suburban property. The outing reveals the chauffeur's lower-middle-class aspirations and his exploitation of young men. Later, at a bistro, the chauffeur harasses Latnah, who rebuffs him. An Arab woman, one of the chauffeur's former lovers, enters and shoots him dead. The chapter also includes an encounter with Sister Geter, an evangelist preaching in the streets, and a reunion with Jake, who is about to depart.
Chapter 30
XXV: Banjo’s Ace of Spades
Banjo and Goosey argue about race and survival. Banjo shares a personal story of his brother's lynching and his own war experience, contrasting his natural, instinctive approach to life with Goosey's book learning and idealism. Jake arrives with a taxi to take the boys to their ship, but Banjo reveals he has signed on under a false name and taken a month's wages, planning to jump ship and stay in Marseille. He invites Ray to join him. Ray reflects on the social morality he has learned versus the instinctive, self-preserving lifestyle of the beach boys, feeling a deep connection to his African roots through the Senegalese. Banjo and Ray say goodbye to Goosey and Jake at the ship. Afterwards, they wander the docks, observing the commerce of the world, and encounter Malty and Ginger panhandling near a P&O boat with an Indian crew.
