Banjo · Chapter
XX: The Rock of Refuge explained
Banjo's illness worsens, and Ray and Malty secure his admission to the Hôtel Dieu hospital after navigating bureaucratic hurdles.
What happens
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.
Themes in this chapter
Race and Identity
Banjo's conversation with Latnah about race pride and his declaration that he knows he is 'cullud' underscores the complexities of racial identity and solidarity in the Ditch.
Displacement and Homelessness
Banjo's illness and his lack of proper documentation highlight the precarious existence of the beach boys, who are displaced and lack the basic rights of citizens.
Community and Comradeship
Despite their hardships, the beach boys rally around Banjo, bringing him food and supplies, demonstrating a strong sense of mutual support and loyalty.
Colonialism and Exploitation
The story of the Indian seamen being robbed by 'kelts' and the hospital admission woman's complaint about foreign patients highlight the exploitation and resentment directed at colonized people.
Characters to notice
- Banjo
Suffering from severe kidney pain, he is admitted to the Hôtel Dieu hospital. He reluctantly considers America as home and asks Ray to write to his aunt.
- Ray
Takes charge of getting Banjo to the hospital, navigating the admission process. He reflects on the changing Ditch and sells a poem, using the money to buy a chicken for Banjo.
- Malty Avis
Helps Ray get Banjo to the hospital and brings him a chicken dinner. He tells the story of Indian seamen who were robbed by 'kelts'.
- Latnah
Refuses to visit Banjo in the hospital, claiming he has no race pride, but she cooks the chicken for his dinner.
- Lonesome Blue
His unwelcome reappearance in the Ditch is noted as the beginning of events that altered Ray's impression of the place.
- Bugsy
Mentioned in a conversation at the hospital, where Banjo criticizes him for hating white people and spreading rumors.
Key passages
“As them doctors am gwina cut me up, pardner, I guess you'd better write back home foh me.”
Banjo asks Ray to write to his family back in America, as he faces the prospect of surgery.
This shows Banjo's reluctant turn towards America as a home in the face of a serious health crisis.
“The Hôtel Dieu (so the hospital is named) presented the aspect of a gloriously macabre picnic on this Sunday noon. It loomed like a great gray Rock of Refuge on the hill above the Ditch.”
The hospital, called Hôtel Dieu, looked like a grim but vital sanctuary, a 'Rock of Refuge' towering over the Ditch, where patients and their families gathered for a strange Sunday meal.
This imagery contrasts the squalor of the Ditch with the hospital as a place of last resort, highlighting the desperation of the community.
“But I know what I is, what I feel, and what I loves, and I ain't nevah yet foheget that Ise cullud and that cullud is cullud and white is some'n' else.”
Banjo asserts his strong sense of racial identity, stating he never forgets he is Black and that being Black is fundamentally different from being white.
This statement is central to the chapter's exploration of race and identity, as Banjo defends himself against Bugsy's accusations.
