In 2012, Jackie Kay published her third collection of short stories Reality, Reality, which was immediately considered ranking amongst the best of the genre. This essay seeks to explore the meaning of the colours of age in the short story "These are not my Clothes".
Margaret is an elderly woman living in a retirement home where inhabitants are treated awfully – both physically and mentally. However, through the story’s witty and unreliable first-person narrator and the use of colour, the collection questions the societal concept of "the elderly" and the concomitant fear of age and growing old.
Table of Contents
1. ‘My Marbles Are Many-Coloured’ – The Colours of Age in Jackie Kay’s ‘These Are Not My Clothes’
Research Objectives and Themes
The academic paper analyzes how Jackie Kay uses the protagonist Margaret in the short story "These are not my clothes" to deconstruct societal prejudices regarding aging, arguing that identity remains fluid rather than being defined by a singular age-related category.
- The role of color imagery as a narrative tool for empowerment and perception.
- Deconstruction of the "elderly" identity through the protagonist's internal mosaic.
- Examination of the institutionalized environment of retirement homes and the experience of physical abuse.
- The application of poststructuralist perspectives on identity formation in elderly characters.
- The use of "gallows humour" as a mechanism for both trauma and resistance.
Excerpt from the Book
‘My Marbles Are Many-Coloured’ – The Colours of Age in Jackie Kay’s ‘These Are Not My Clothes’
The soup given to the retirement home’s inhabitants, for example, is red. Margaret, however, does not simply take the red soup as tomato soup, but as a soup separated from differently coloured soups. To her, the soup is only red “because it couldn’t be blue. But yesterday it was yellow, you can get yellow soup and green soup, you know, but you can’t really get black soup or blue soup” (21). This poststructuralist view on soup, as its colour can only exist in relation to another, is a humorous depiction of the instant and allegedly confusing associations Margaret continuously yet unknowingly experiences. Whereas the reader might interpret these confusing associations as clear signs of dementia and inevitably ascribe the factor ‘age’ to her identity, for Margaret, it is simply another facet to her personal mosaic.
Red is also the colour of the cardigan the narrator orders through her favourite caretaker Vadnie. As a form of rebellion, Margaret requests a “cherry red cardigan of the colour of the soup” (24). The narrator then adds that “cardigans can be the same colour as soup”, something the caretaker is already familiar with as “she knows that’s the kind of complicated world” (24) they live in. Again, Margaret’s perception of the world is shared in a grinning way as the reader is left to humorously question whether this really makes up the complexity of the world that we live in.
Summary of Chapters
1. ‘My Marbles Are Many-Coloured’ – The Colours of Age in Jackie Kay’s ‘These Are Not My Clothes’: This chapter explores how the protagonist Margaret utilizes vibrant color imagery to assert her identity against the reductive societal label of being "elderly" within a restrictive retirement home setting.
Keywords
Jackie Kay, Reality Reality, These are not my clothes, Fluidity of identity, Ageing, Retirement home, Colour symbolism, Narrative perspective, Poststructuralism, Empowerment, Gallows humour, Literary theory, Margaret, Identity construction, Mosaic of life
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the core focus of this academic paper?
The paper examines how Jackie Kay challenges conventional societal perceptions of aging through the narrative of an elderly protagonist who refuses to be limited by her environment or age-related stigmas.
Which central thematic areas are explored?
The study focuses on the fluidity of identity, the symbolism of color as a tool for personal empowerment, and the critique of how elderly individuals are treated within institutional settings.
What is the primary objective of the author?
The goal is to demonstrate that the protagonist, Margaret, constructs her own "colorful mosaic" of identity, thereby deconstructing the fear of aging and asserting individual perspective.
Which analytical methods are employed?
The paper utilizes a literary analysis approach, focusing on narrative techniques, poststructuralist concepts of identity, and the role of metaphorical imagery.
What specific aspects are covered in the main body?
The text analyzes Margaret's observations of her surroundings, her symbolic use of colors in relation to clothing and food, and her psychological resistance against the retirement home's staff.
Which keywords characterize this work?
Key terms include "fluidity of identity," "colour symbolism," "ageing," "literary theory," and "empowerment."
How does the author interpret Margaret’s confusing associations with soup?
The author views these as a humorous and poststructuralist expression of Margaret's unique worldview, rather than simply dismissing them as symptoms of dementia.
What is the significance of the "red cardigan" in the text?
The red cardigan serves as a symbol of power and personal rebellion, representing the protagonist's attempt to reclaim autonomy over her own life and appearance.
Why does the protagonist consider herself to have "many-coloured marbles"?
The "many-coloured marbles" represent her complex, multifaceted identity that refuses to conform to the single, "single-coloured" identity often imposed upon the elderly by society.
- Arbeit zitieren
- Marnie Hensler (Autor:in), 2020, "My Marbles Are Many-Coloured". The Colours of Age in Jackie Kay’s "These Are Not My Clothes", München, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/1030974
