Pantomimey y y y Print PDF Cite Share At a glance: y y y y y y y y First Published: 1980 Type of Plot: Comedy Time of Work: The 1970 s Setting: Tobago, the West Indies Characters: Harry Trewe, Jackson Phillip Genres: Drama, Postcolonial literature, Comedy Subjects: Values, 1970 s, Acting or actors, Caribbean, Racism, Colonialism, Art or artists, Guilt, England or English people, West Indies, Creative process Locales: West Indies, Tobago, West Indies Characters Discussed Harry Trewe Harry Trewe, a retired English actor in his middle forties, now the owner and operator of the Castaways Guest House. His apparent problem as the play begins is to put together entertainment for the guests of his establishment, utilizing his own skills as an actor and the musical performing abilities of Jackson Phillip, whom he employs as an entertainer. Trewe attempts to persuade Jackson, who is black, to play the role of Robinson Crusoe to his Friday. Although most of the action is devoted to their arguments over whether this pantomime will be performed, Trewe reveals that he has many other problems. He is a victim of insomnia and boredom, which is ironic because he intentionally invested his money in the remote island of Tobago, where the guest house is situated. He speaks of suicide and of jumping off a ledge. The play s setting (in a gazebo or summer house on the edge of a cliff) and Trewe s personal problems (he is separated from his wife and his son is dead) suggest that his talk of suicide may be serious. Trewe s problems as owner of the guest house and his personal problems are exacerbated by and wound up in his image of himself as a white man, which he finds is harder to leave behind than he had believed. He urges Jackson to be his equal and to play his (Trewe s) master but nevertheless resorts to commanding the black Trinidadian whenever he becomes threatened or frustrated. Jackson Phillip Jackson Phillip, a forty-year-old native of Trinidad who was once a calypso performer and now works in the Castaways Guest House for Harry Trewe. Having been a Heinegger. complaining about the lack of entertainment for guests due to arrive in less than a week. untutored laborer. . threatens to quit his job. as Trewe wishes him to do. Harry stops the machine. notices Jackson s shoeless footprint in the dirt around the breakfast table and continues his song with the essential but subtle question of the play: Is this the footprint of a naked man. or arguing with Trewe. Finding Harry gone. then starts it and tries a few more lines of the song before stopping the recorder once more. speaking of the child s death and the wife s loneliness. Although Jackson wishes only to serve breakfast and continue the repairs. Harry jumps up on the ledge overlooking the sea and feigns a suicide attempt. Jackson calls to him and. Finally. He switches from dialect to dialect depending on whether he is alone. but he is long-suffering. Harry enters with a goatskin hat and parasol. white waiter s jacket and black pants but barefoot. the audience watches Harry Trewe. Trewe explains. leaving an empty stage for a few moments before Jackson Phillip. Finally. . Jackson protests the insistent refrain of Harry s pet parrot. reminding Jackson of his talent for singing calypsos. however. Phillip nevertheless tries futilely to operate as though he were a naïve. dressed in an open. Unhappy with his initial effort. Jackson. and having been in New York City. casts Jackson as Friday in his version of the Crusoe story. . Heinegger. . Jackson tells Harry that language is ideas . He is harassed by a parrot which. and he certainly prefers not to play the role of Crusoe. While Harry attempts to persuade Jackson to play Friday to his own Crusoe. His prior experiences have led him to prefer not to have an intimate friendship with a white man. . without explanation. where the play is set.? When Jackson returns. is only calling its previous owner. Responding to Jackson s refusal to play along. Threatening the parrot in playful banter. serving Trewe. Heinegger./ or is it the naked footprint of a man . he exits with it. enters to serve Harry his breakfast. and forcing Trewe to admit his emotions. but Harry jumps back down.performer on the bigger. He attempts the role. y The Play As the curtain rises on the sparse set of Pantomime. more frequented island. which apparently has happened before. protesting that he will be accused of murder. speculates halfheartedly that Harry has jumped into the sea below the gazebo at the Castaways Guest House. argues that the guests will be casualties if he does not complete repairs to the guesthouse instead of humoring Harry with work on his pantomime. dressed in white. hearing no response. both sincerely and with heavy sarcasm. start a tape recorder and begin a light song and dance routine based loosely on the story of Robinson Crusoe. As Jackson exits. his humanity is called forth and called on when he must rescue Trewe from his despair by acting out the part of Trewe s wife. Jackson. and this precolonial parrot have the wrong idea. Harry persists in his plans for the pantomime of Crusoe. the quick-paced dialogue commences with mutual greetings wherein Harry admits a desperate boredom and. you turn around and you say to them: you are not good enough. all but coerces Jackson to take Crusoe s role. startled by Jackson standing very close. . his civilization. that what he was doing . Harry stumbles on the idea of reversing the roles: The white Harry will play the part of the black Friday while the black Jackson will play the white Crusoe. I will keep mine as master. was . even though he cannot afford to lose his job. return things to normal. you go back to your position as slave or servant. while agreeing to stop. After a long pause in the noise. . . Harry. he stops the work on the pantomime. offering as an excuse his fear of creating a play. Jackson. however. sees the pantomime as nothing less than a reenactment of the history of imperialism. When act 2 begins. with hammer in hand. As the lights fade. gives the worldview of Man Friday to the part of Crusoe reversing the perspectives of master and slave as well as the skin colors of the two actors in their respective roles. When Harry realizes that he has been recast as a Christian cannibal. Jackson s hammering in the process of making repairs distracts Harry. horrible. you find that place as God make it . shirtless. Including references to Harry s divorced wife and his dead son. will not accept the loss of his dignity and independence. however. disconcerted by Harry s penchant for wandering around in his underwear and realizing that Harry will not drop the project. for nearly two thousand years . and Harry is trying to escape the tension with a paperback thriller. however. that he d have to be taught by this African . professing his liberal views. Recovering from his mock fear of Jackson s mock threat. and we ll forget the whole thing ever happened. . let s call the whole thing off. decides that the pantomime has become too serious. Harry. Still reluctant. . . . unnerved by the very improvisation that he had asked of Jackson. Harry becomes visibly more hesitant to continue the reversal of roles. Jackson substitutes an invented religion and language that inverts the colonial dominance of the British Empire. . . that everything was wrong. . it is noon. As Jackson begins to dominate the pantomime s development. consents and quickly adapts the improvisations in progress to his own perspective: that of a colonial subject who becomes the colonizing authority. . Jackson. . As the first act closes in an increasingly tense exchange. his culture . Harry threatens to fire Jackson if he persists in his improvised role. Jackson. in essence. Jackson. reminds Harry that they have just enacted the history of the British Empire and explains: You come to a place. now fully engaged in the role of a black Crusoe who is educating a white Man Friday on the dynamics of colonialism. the two men face each other rigidly while Jackson insists that Harry get out of his way so that he can straighten up the breakfast table. they try to do something. Jackson. Jackson argues that he must finish his work. you civilize the natives. but he tries to ignore it by attempting to nap. Harry invites Jackson to sit and drink with him.Suddenly. Harry s treatment of Jackson . Harry jumps up from his deck chair. Jackson s closing song asserts the unity of their acting styles for the project at hand. had been driving when their son was killed in a car wreck. and Jackson affirms his faith in his own Creole acting by dressing again as Crusoe. Jackson requests a raise. Eventually. suggesting that social equality must be followed by economic equality. You imitate everything. Assuming Ellen s voice. Pushing Harry to accept the reality of his situation. Harry s racism erupts viciously: You people create nothing. Jackson exits and returns with a photograph of Harry s former wife Ellen. When Jackson responds to the mock attack by strangling the parrot. Harry seems to be crying and laughing at the same time. suffering romantic. Jackson theorizes that Crusoe was the first true Creole because he had to adapt to his environment so that he could not only survive but also achieve dignity in the art of living. Harry reveals a despairing emptiness in the wake of a wife who had been far more successful in theater than he had been but who. he wants to include the slaughter of a goat in the pantomime. he expects to be paid as an actor not as a handyman. the two men begin work again on the pantomime. pretends. but. through considerable exposition of racial and cultural understanding. Jackson provokes an emotional catharsis in Harry. as Harry and the audience join in applause. because of her alcoholism. Harry sees Crusoe as a lonely. switching to Friday s role. uncertain whether he is playing Crusoe. Harry had divorced his wife and fled to the West Indies. despite the reconciliatory tones. Jackson sees Crusoe as a practical realist who must create a new life for himself from the material immediately at hand. The men dub the two styles as classical and Creole acting. on his knees. and he argues that Crusoe unlike Harry had a wife and child to whom he could return. As the tension wanes. As Jackson presses Harry further to accept his failures as an actor and as a husband. to beg forgiveness while Harry puts on the goatskin attire of Crusoe. In his catharsis. Themes and Meanings . who forgives Ellen as Jackson still playing her feigns suicide while standing on the ledge above the sea. Harry now appears free from his self-indulgent romantic liberalism. exchanging puns on the words goat and ego. In his grief and inability to accept the loss. or himself. but. both men emerge from the uneasiness of Harry s genuine vulnerability and. Harry mimics an earlier story of Jackson s that involved a threat with an ice pick. Jackson quickly sees that Harry s Crusoe is little more than his projection of sentimental agony onto the Crusoe character. the improvisation digresses frequently with intermittent discussions of equality and acting styles. entrapped by the self-conscious loss of his wife and son. Friday. As the play closes. they seem to have reached a more intimate but tentative understanding of personal equality. respectively. Jackson. agree to get the pantomime finished before the guests arrival. If he is to act.has grown somewhat. he is intimidated by Jackson s successful synthesis. the crucial ability to move beyond perpetual dialectical reversals rests on the artist s capacity to create as a witness to the essential goodness of humanity. While both characters change in the course of the drama. seizes the opportunity to play master (Crusoe) and. . of colonial history. having freed himself from psychological dependence on colonial acculturation. Jackson s forgiveness of Harry without accepting a position of inferiority becomes Harry s forgiveness of Ellen. affirms those differences as a prerequisite to understanding the essential unity of humanity.Pantomime embraces several issues of racial and cultural equality. he is also oblivious to Jackson s personal dignity and pride in that independence. but he also demonstrates his ability to turn Western language and culture to his own quest for artistic integrity. While Harry and Jackson represent the dialectic between master and slave. after many years. He arrives with enough capital to assume the role of master. Jackson s faith in the equality of art Western and Creole founded on the uniqueness of language permits Harry to grasp their equality as people. but. Harry s flight to the West Indies enacts symbolically the expansion of the British Empire and the colonial conquests of any empire. the reversals implicit in the play and explicit in the satire of the pantomime are merely methods by which the two men can establish mutual respect for each other s differences and yet use those differences to create a new version of the Crusoe story the story of emergent racial equality in the inextricable destiny of all humankind. and of artistic methods. the ability to improvise according to immediate circumstances without the loss of self-dignity. historical. in so doing. management and labor. What Jackson offers Harry is a sense of common humanity that is free from suppressing racial. Consequently. Rather than blurring differences in a universalist concept of art. Walcott s larger theme of forgiveness as a crucial motive for artistic vision offers a resolution to the dialectical struggles between race and class. Harry s forgiveness of himself for his failures. but these issues are all subordinate to the play s faith in the integrity of the artist s vision of diversity yet unity within humanity. and. he remains oblivious to the potential for independent critical thought and creation. Derek Walcott. in his cultural assumptions embedded in the language of empire. Not only has Jackson assimilated what of Western culture is useful to him by spiking his improvisations with allusions to canonical English literary texts such as Samuel Taylor Coleridge s The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (1798). Consequently. As Harry realizes Jackson s effectiveness. . primarily through his poetic play with the English language. educates the unwilling Harry in the feelings of being cast as an inferior human being. . and cultural differences. serves as the catalyst by which Harry can come to terms with his largely unconscious racism and with his sexism the jealousy over his wife s success which had provoked the tragic events of his past. paradoxically. as a Creole actor. he see this naked footprint that is the mark of his salvation . just as important. As Jackon puts it: I tell you: man must live! Then. Jackson s recovery of respect for the cultural origins of calypso and Creole acting. Jackson. and colonizer and colonized. despite the fact of West Indian political independence. but such an effort does not erase the legacies of shame or obliterate the differences of historical power. Those differences are governed by language and history. depending on the shifting tones of confrontation and intimacy and the audience s reaction to various scenes. and props also helps keep the audience s attention on nuance and innuendo in the rapidly moving dialogue. incapable of participating in a rational world just as Harry often responds to Jackson. where one actor played all parts in a dumb show. in short. both Harry and Jackson suffer the legacies of imperialism. Near-melodramatic gesture reinforces the language play of puns and allusions. By using a sparse set. is the principal means of compliance or resistance. while at times feigning subservience to meet Harry s expectations. Artistic independence as well as sociopolitical independence requires confidence in one s worldview articulated in language and performed in the face of colonial attitudes such as Harry s. Walcott has chosen his title quite consciously. with origins in the dumb show of the mime. whose actors were suppressed by Christian Roman rulers in the fifth century. Walcott forces the audience to be more attentive to language and gesture.Dramatic Devices From the title itself. just as Harry must finally act on his liberal views and Jackson must act on his belief in the validity of Creole art. Finally. of worldview. The relative simplicity of lighting. but Derek Walcott s inclination to offer his actors limited freedom for improvisation permits some adaptation of gesture. The unity of the two characters has for its precedent the dominance of both. beyond the literal action on which Harry and Jackson are seeking to create a pantomime. such as Trewe and true. Anchored in the Roman emphasis on the portrayal of character and in the gestures of grand opera. Pantomime evokes speech as the complement to exaggerated expressive behavior such as that in the mime. accents and puns. Jackson s refusal to conform to Harry s version of the Crusoe story is the refusal of the colonized to conform to the dumb show of colonial rule in which behavior submissive or revolutionary not language. Jackson s invented language in the first act underscores the importance of linguistic identity: the source of ideas. but he demands an identity of equality the stance of . are the dramatic establishment of an identity capable of creating an independent artistic vision. for Walcott. The subgenre of the pantomime has a relevant etymology suggesting that. Jackson s gestures. Jackson s Creole grammatical structures. Thus. much of the fast-paced comedy of Pantomime depends on linguistic play and the two actors effective employment of proper British and West Indian Creole English accents. pantomime indicates a necessity to act on one s principles. he can play the role of servant. the Latin pantomimus means complete mime. Similarly. the pantomime implies both empire and its consequential parallel effects on both actors. is language. sound. are often ironically confrontational. Hence. the subgenre suggests a colonial paradigm in which the colonized are treated as children. Originating in Augustan Rome. As the pantomime s evolution progressed through the farce of the commedia dell arte in medieval Italy and France into eighteenth century British plays for children. These early plays. Walcott s growth as a dramatist parallels his development as a poet. he has not yet found the humor that Jackson possesses to sustain a quest for personal identity. postcolonial playwright who has used the drama to illuminate issues of colonialism and racism. so. With Dream on Monkey Mountain (pr. Lucian French-English patois and the character of ordinary fishermen who survive the whimsical forces of nature and empire. Walcott emphasizes the folk idiom of St. Walcott s poetry in his collection The Castaway and Other Poems (1965) centers on the very Creole Crusoe figure that Jackson fully develops in Pantomime.the artist freeing himself through his own language in order to affirm his faith in humanity. alluding frequently to Stephen Dedalus (James Joyce s artist-hero) and to the mythic Icarus. and Ngugi wa Thiong o. His dedication to West Indian drama is unsurpassed. pb. is widely regarded as the best West Indian playwright and. pb. does his dramatic development move toward confidence in the use of Creole styles. The protagonist Makak in Dream on Monkey Mountain can use language only to achieve racial identity. 1961) further evoke the folk tradition of St. which had not yet set on the West Indies. pb. Ione (pr. Athol Fugard. 1970) presents the protagonist Brown (of black and . After the farce in Jourmard and the steadfastness of Makak s resolve not to be duped into accepting the illusion of colonial supremacy in Dream on Monkey Mountain. Just as Walcott s poetry becomes increasingly more confident in its use of Creole culture and language. and the latter shares some of the didactic qualities of Pantomime. 1957) and Drums and Colors: An Epic Production (pr. 1967. Walcott founded the Trinidad Theatre Workshop in 1959. Critical Context Derek Walcott. too. writing. Naipaul). Walcott received considerable acclaim. for there are no indigenous cultures that survive in the West Indies upon which the artist might base his identity. Jackson brings much humor to the Creole Crusoe s quest for identity. S. Walcott s plays of the early 1970 s explore the ambivalence of racial identity. Makak is still caught in the perennial reversals of dialectical power between master and slave. 1958. he might well be described as the founder of modern West Indian theater. Choosing the obscurity of the West Indies over exile and prominence in London (such as that achieved by Trinidadian novelist V. directing and producing more than forty plays before his resignation from the workshop in 1977. 1970). The Crusoe figure must create from whatever materials are at hand. pb. according to Robert Graves. 1954).. In his one-act drama The Sea at Dauphin (pr. Lucia. Along with such playwrights as Wole Soyinka. In a Fine Castle (pr. he is a non-Western.. suggest Walcott s resolve both to experiment with the materials of his predecessors and to forge his own wings with which to fly into the sun of the British Empire. is one of the best poets anywhere writing in English. winner of the 1992 Nobel Prize in Literature. and Walcott s Jourmard (pr. 1967) had provided an early foray into comedy. equalizing their current status while acknowledging the past historical imbalances in power. Others. and capable of defining a West Indian artistic identity in its own terms. offers an account of the artist s evolution. which his colonial education had offered. it is not until Pantomime that the individual artist s accommodation to place. pb. uses the vehicle of a reggae musical to argue that the source of identity is within each person. Indeed. In Palace of the Peacock. . Brown University. take the differing rhythms of colonizer and colonized and play them off of one another. the notion of polyrhythm has allowed Caribbean authors to synthesize any number of conflicting factors or forces into one loose union. to juxtapose characters with different status or different history. through an autobiographical examination of his childhood and early development as a poet. akin to the project in William Wordsworth s The Prelude: Or. for instance) then watches as the clashing of these two now equal currents reveals elements of oppression and suffering that each have in common. They have used this polyrhythmic writing both consciously and unconsciously. 1978). Some. highly syncretic and diverse West Indian rhythm. Lichtenstein '99. the authors of the West Indies have picked up upon the cross-rhythmic nature of their culture. Contributing Editor. Authors have used this structure to play one voice off another. and Franklin (pr. In his book-length poem Another Life (1973). Harris foregoes traditional notions of narrative in order to display how the multiple historical currents in which the Caribbean is rooted come together to form a new. and to race becomes explicitly located within the integrity of the artist s inner life. in pursuit of different political and artistic agendas. set in a Jamaican squatter community of Rastafarians. 1976. Caribbean Web Inevitably. The Growth of a Poet s Mind (1850). etc) in and dragged them into the present to display their influence. Walcott. to allow different perspectives to coexist. Walcott must resolve his own multicultural ancestry in pursuit of a language both faithful to the monuments of beauty from the West. Of necessity.white ancestry) caught in a struggle to resolve the conflicts inherent in the newly emerging black consciousness with the legacies of colonial culture. to history. like Wilson Harris. Both Harry and Jackson find that only by finding themselves at home within can their mutual language of English articulate an authentic identity that heals the damage of colonial rule and creates the freedom of Creole art. While O Babylon! (pr. have made obvious reference to past roots (Arawaks. such as Derek Walcott. In short. they have amplified it in so many different ways in their writing that one could include this quality as a defining characteristic (if such an essentializing process is still possible) of modern West Indian writing. 1973) explores the complex hierarchies of complexion in the emergent black pride movement. Walcott's audience (as in Pantomime. Polyrhythm and the Caribbean: Literature Part One: Introduction David P. each other. and assemble these spectral variations into something of a meaningful. and missionary. Authors use it as a tool for reversing the destructive binary oppositions imposed by empire. Lamming attempts to recreate the polyrhythmic voice of a Caribbean community. not black and white only. but possess the keen ability to perceive the conflicts and shades of meaning. the pacifist and the warrior. By exploring these roles in relation to Pantomime. in order to show how what seems a unified tide of the village (or the church) upon closer examination gives way to differing rhythms clashing. They use it to more accurately portray the different cultures and traditions in which they grew up. The performative nature of the play also leads the audience to realize that acting forms a significant part of postcolonial life. But far from allowing his readers to assume the colony's rhythms to be united. Like many authors. rather than holding to a single one. One could find many instances of cross-rhythms in George Lamming's In the Castle of My Skin. in order to set them at odds with each other and depict the process by which growth in the Caribbean has been retarded. the utility of this framework seems undeniable. Walcott has stated that he feels Crusoe performs roles himself. its dramatic form allows for the classic master/slave model to be tooled and retooled so many times that the play is free to flow between interpretations of the story. Earl Lovelace also presents different currents of rhythm for multiple purposes in his work The Wine of Astonishment. cohesive whole. of a small village in rural Barbados. those of Adam. one can understand why Walcott uses Robinson . Although the play falls under the general category of the rewrite. God. Theatre of the Castaway: Derek Walcott's Methods in "Rewriting" Robinson Crusoe David Ford Derek Walcott's play Pantomime has as its central pillar the relationship between Robinson Crusoe and his man Friday. The permutations of a basic polyrhythmic structure go on and on.Authors have also used the polyrhythmic structure with less politically weighted intentions. But he also creates a kind of Bakhtinian multivocality by literally representing (through dialogue) the voices of several different characters of different ages. Indeed. indeed nearly attacking. He does present figures of both colonizer and colonized status. one sees the figures of the imperial (in the police force assigned to rub out the Spiritual Baptist church) clashing with that of the colony (villagers such as Bee or Bolo). By attuning the reader to the voices of elders such as Ma and Pa. authors employ polyrhythmic structures to represent the movements of their own minds. Understanding why Walcott rewrites Defoe's novel involves examining the principles of the postcolonial rewrite as well as the establishment of Robinson Crusoe as a piece of "classic" literature. which surely see not from one side only. and of youth such as G or the boys in the schoolyard. he presents the struggles and tensions between Bee and Bolo. Finally. the most widely read. Martin Green elaborates on the book's popularity in saying that: of all the stories of the British Empire. moving book in the light of subsequent history cannot help but fall under its prophetic spell" (Ellis 15)." writes Walcott. whereas only four go to perhaps the most famous literary novel of the nineteenth century. and another four to the most famous eighteenth-century novel." Walcott states that Robinson Crusoe was "our first book. to create a new text. our profane Genesis" (11). then." wherein the writer directly reworks a literary "classic. The rewrite is the most obvious example of postcolonial authors "writing back" to the imperial centre. their first tendencies were toward imitating the literature they had learned. In the National Union Catalog." reacting against those European literary standards." or an element thereof. Since the culture and education of these writers was dominated by imperial rule. The next move was toward "writing back. We knew the literature of Empires. Even well into the twentieth century the novel was still appreciated around the world. John Moore writes that before the publication of Robinson Crusoe "there was no English novel worth the name and no book (except the Bible) as widely accepted among all classes of English readers" (55). Understanding why Walcott uses the Defoe text as a model begins by acknowledging the importance and power that the novel holds. Clarissa. that Walcott feels that the Crusoe-Friday relationship is popular and important enough to write about. or against. and consider whether he uses the text fairly. (16) Walcott chooses Robinson Crusoe as the centre of his rewrite. the text has held popularity for an extremely long time. in fact. James Joyce has said "whoever rereads this simple. fifty-four pages are given to listing different editions of Defoe's book. through literature. it is not surprising that a prominent endeavour among colonized writer/artists has been to rework the European "classics" in order to invest them with more local relevance and to divest them of their assumed authority/authenticity. (35) For a rather simple story of a man forced to use his ingenuity to survive after being shipwrecked on a deserted island. Greek. that it should be argued as Frank Ellis does that "Robinson Crusoe has become a myth of great potency and wide application" ("Preface"3).Crusoe. . Rochester's West Indian wife in Jane Eyre. He feels that the power of the text. Roman. even after Britain's global power was decimated (Ashcroft 3-7). from his West Indian perspective. For so long. It is little wonder. Middlemarch. and its often-assumed legacy as the first novel. The most direct form of this is the "rewrite. "were natural assimilators. British. An example would be Jean Rhys's Wide Sargasso Sea. "The writers of my generation. was that of Robinson Crusoe. In his poem "Crusoe's Journal. but across Europe. Indeed it seems demonstrable that the Robinson story has been one of the most widely read in the whole world. which explores the life of Bertha. through their essential classics" ("Muse" 4). not only across the Empire. Gilbert and Tompkins in Post Colonial Drama write that: given the legacy of a colonialist education which perpetuates. very specific socio-cultural values in the guise of universal truth. Walcott's choice of the medium of theatre for the reenactment of the Crusoe-Friday model allows him to place the characters in the roles in a way that is obviously staged. which is set on the Caribbean Island of Tobago. the results start to turn away from the comedic and Harry seems to be out of his element. Through the course of quick dialogue exchanges and the exhibition of their individual acting talent. The power that the relationship between Crusoe and Friday holds creates an archetype. The only idea Harry has for entertaining the hypothetical guests of his low budget retreat is a pantomime of Robinson Crusoe. and his interpreter. Christopher Columbus. His rewriting efforts produce Pantomime. Walcott sees Crusoe as a kind of actor as well. Jackson and Harry have gained a closer relationship by exploring their differences. Defoe's work has been "a focal point in the project of 'writing back' to the imperial centre" (36). and quotes from V. a missionary. Things become interesting when Harry suggests reversing their roles for the purposes of comedy. often thought of as the original setting for Robinson Crusoe (Gilbert 36). God. that they both understand that their own relationship is based on this model. Daniel Defoe. He is Adam because he is the first inhabitant of a second paradise. In a lecture entitled "The Figure of Crusoe" he explains his views on the various facets of Robinson Crusoe's character: My Crusoe. You're playing the stage nigger with me" (140). is Adam. "We already had the theatre of our lives. By the play's conclusion. at the hotel they are in the master/servant positions. He is Columbus because he has discovered this new . HOTEL MANAGER. Walcott presents a washed-up British actor turned hotel owner named Harry Trewe and his Trinidadian servant Jackson Phillip. and that along with Shakespeare's The Tempest. as if he imagines himself following a script: "I'd no idea I'd wind up in this ironic position of giving orders. as the two actors tackle the Crusoe story from their own angles. which prompts Walcott to rewrite this text.has had so much influence that it became an accepted prototype for the foundations of West Indian culture. his suggestion becoming slightly more than he is able to accept. but if the new script I've been given says: HARRY TREWE. "You mispronounce words on purpose. then. the men switch roles numerous times. even though Harry and Jackson are acting. dammit. and that it is also obvious artifice. don't you Jackson?" says Harry.Naipaul: "The only escape was drama" ("Twilight" 4). Hotel Manager. Pantomime shows the colonized servitude as imitation as well. Walcott makes abundantly clear. "Don't think for one second that I'm not up on your game Jackson. The facets of the master/slave relationship can be explored under the pretense of acting. then I'm going to play Harry Trewe. At the same time. an actor that tackles many roles. Harry Trewe lives his life as a play. By the same token. So sit down!" (Pantomime 108). a beachcomber. Interestingly. as we might expect.S. The Crusoe pantomime functions as a play within the play. He asks Jackson to play Friday to his Crusoe. This implies that the colonizer's domination over the colonized has always been an act. As Jackson warms to the idea. Walcott reminds the audience that the life of the colonized is always an act." he states. to the hilt. Gilbert and Tompkins also point out that Walcott is not alone in working with Robinson Crusoe. The best example is probably the naming of his famous slave: "I made him know his name should be Friday. is written in prose. which is Defoe's journal." In an area where tourist day-cruises are still billed as "Crusoe's Dream" (Gilbert 36).world. . (Quoted in Hamner 81) These Crusoe roles. Beyond an ironic take on island paradise. He is God because he teaches himself to control his creation. has the power of naming that which surrounds him. Godhead and Missionary. By exploring how Harry and Jackson deal with these ideas. . like Adam. or even try an anglicized version thereof. he is also Daniel Defoe. not in poetry. and finally. and also. he simply forces a new name upon him. by accident. points with other hand) Banda! (Drops cup) Banda Karan! (Puts his arm around Harry. By resetting the Crusoe story temporally but not geographically. a white concept of Godhead. . Crusoe does not attempt to learn Friday's true name. I called him so for the memory of the time" (Defoe 201). He then strides around the set renaming all the objects so as to teach the savage white man his language: (slams table) Patamba! (rattles beach chair) Backaraka! Backaraka! (Holds up cup. Jackson takes this control and emphasizes it in their reversal by calling the white savage "Thursday" (Pantomime 114). Walcott allows his characters to be. Walcott's treatment of Robinson Crusoe as a colonial figure can be best understood. he rules the world he has made. it is ironic that Harry's shabby hotel should be the new paradise of this rewrite. like Adam in Eden. points at him) Subu! (Faster. by fatality. He is a missionary because he instructs Friday in the uses of religion . some derelict out of Conrad or Stevenson . the idea of Crusoe as Adam is seen most in Pantomime through the concept of naming. He is a beachcomber because I have imagined him as one of those figures of adolescent literature. pointing) Masz! (Stamping the floor) Zohgoooor! (Rests his snoring head on his closed palms) . the pioneers of our public literature have expressed themselves in prose. can be seen in Pantomime. . predominantly those of Adam. . which was the day I saved his life. and our literature. "the first inhabitant[s] of a second paradise. because he is to Friday. The effect that tourism usually has of exploiting natural beauty can be seen as another form of roleplaying which is exemplified by Harry's attempts at entertainment for his future guests. In Pantomime. One remembers in Robinson Crusoe how the castaway. because the journal of Crusoe. Pauses. . I did what you did. that was my pantomime. indeed. "You never called anything by the same name twice.looking skyward. But the shadow don't stop. shot and killed one of the kids. Every movement you made your shadow copied . and that is the power and black magic of the shadow . sahib . no matter if the child stop playing that pantomime. until it is the shadow that start dominating the child. Perhaps naïvely. . that is too much obedience. and you smiled at me as a child does smile at his shadow's helpless obedience . it is the servant that start dominating the master . effendi. He did not see the kid I had shot at. Crusoe falls into the role of God or Godhead. Crusoe tells how Friday makes "all the signs to me of subjection. And they go keep driving you cry till . This allows Harry to bring everything into perspective by stating "I'll tell you one thing. embracing my knees. servitude. and submission imaginable. bacra. no matter what. when he turn round frighten. bwana.Oma! Omaaaa! (Kneels. . The poor creature. through threat of violence. reminding the audience that all is artifice. seen me kill the savage. And that is why all them Pakistani and West Indians in England. He cannot get rid of it. his enemy. . which is presented by Jackson with brutal honesty: For three hundred years I served you. boss. If you want me to learn your language. in that sun that never set on your empire I was your shadow. trembled and shook. boss. in my white jacket on a white veranda. Friday enters into a life of servitude. but I could easily see that the meaning was to pray me not to kill him. friend. asking "What's a table?" (117) Jackson's only response is "I forget" (117). said a great many things I did not understand. Friday is at Crusoe's side for the rest of his life. Three hundred years I served you breakfast in . you'd better have a gun" (117). and. the shadow turn round too. who had at a distance. . boss. bacra. and looked so amazed that I thought he would have sunk down. Harry has outlined the power of force that the colonizer holds over the colonized. (205) Thus. He rises) (116) Harry quickly puts an end to Jackson's naming scheme. and the shadow does follow the child everywhere. the shadow hiding too. . But after a while the child does get frighten of the shadow he make. but ripped up his waistcoat to feel if he was not wounded. and a life debt of sorts. The power of the firearm is evident in Robinson Crusoe as well: I presented my piece. was sensibly surprised. all them immigrant Fridays driving all you so crazy. as Walcott explained. . . He say to himself. Here. for he came and kneeled down to me and. and that is the victory of the shadow. when he hide under the sheet. . bwana. effendi. but did not know or could not imagine how it was done. sahib . . when he praying. to let me know how he would serve me as long as he lived" (200). Silence. or perceive I had killed it. thought I was resolved to kill him. ." he says. the shadow pray too. Walcott works with this idea in Pantomime with the image of shadows. . eyes closed) Boora! Boora! (Meaning the world. I better hads stop. . as I found presently. . very complicated. This cannibal. about . but when the improvisation reaches the topic of religion he suddenly cannot process the idea anymore: He comes across this naked white cannibal called Thursday. you know. . The idea of cannibalism awakens "so much abhorrence at the very thought of it. In that sun that never set. especially not one observed by "brutish and barbarous savages" (211). (Pantomime 126) . well. on the other hand. . despite the natural beauty surrounding him he only pines for his homeland. Was all . . Jackson gives to Friday feelings of social revolution and aspiration. who will rescue me from this complete desolation?" (142). who is Christian. would have to start unlearning Christianity. you can't shake them off. (112-13) The shadow is an effective image because it invokes darkness and an imprisoning attachment. Barbarous. . Crusoe cannot accept any religion besides his own. you know. he'd have to be taught by this . you know. He would have to start to . . but when he attempts to describe the religion of his people. for nearly two thousand years . Jackson prophesies that the man will come to fear his shadow. wrong. Crusoe begins by asking Friday of his practices. Harry romantically holds to his notion of Crusoe as the lonely colonizer with such lines as "O silent sea. . . . was . The third way in which Crusoe dominates Friday is through religion. that the social roles will be turned around. and I suppose ultimately it would be very boring. . . horrible. Walcott expertly allows the audience to understand his characters' positions by watching the way that they act the roles. that Crusoe feels he must convert this savage who seems genteel in every other way. Crusoe's main concern is to convert Friday from cannibalism to Christianity. . . Harry projects upon Crusoe the stereotypical view of the colonizer. they's your shadow. I mean . and told him that the pretence of their old men going up the mountains to say O to their god Benamuckee was a cheat" (211). and what we would have on our hands would be . he'd have to. as a missionary. He would have to be taught . /With Crusoe the slave and Friday the boss" (117). Crusoe dismisses the ideas immediately: "I endeavoured to clear up this fraud to my man Friday. sorry . And Crusoe would then have to teach him things like. . I mean. just as they are reversed in their pantomime. . . Jackson's song. . . . . O wondrous sunset that I've gazed on ten thousand times. . .. I mean. that everything was wrong. and at the least appearance of it" (Defoe 202). and it would get very. was wrong. and so on . his culture. He is playing along with his idea of reversing the roles of Crusoe and Friday. his whatever. And then look at what would happen. would be a play and not a little pantomime. his gods. Harry Trewe turns out to have the same problem as Crusoe. Jackson's referral to the "sun that never sets" changes that metaphor from indicating the reach of the Empire to suggesting that there is no rest from the shadow.you go mad. that what he was doing . . The way in which Jackson and Harry interpret the situation indicates their feelings toward the colonial position. . Africa. ends with "But one day things bound to go in reverse.African . . That his civilization. and that with wonder. nay. The dash. the colonizer usually upsets much more than just two thousand years of organized religion. the same reason. He has. nuh! What you think you would say. but is not obvious in his disdain. eh? (pause) You. kneel down and eat this man. the same sense of gratitude. stated exactly what the British Empire has done to the people of many of its colonies. the same affections. the same sentiments of kindness and obligation. Friday. fidelity. he also develops a respect for him that goes beyond the usual idea of the master/slave relationship: This frequently gave me occasion to observe. kneel. Instead. yet that He has bestowed upon them the same powers. to teach you my faith. this Sunday morning on this tropical island. in His providence. However. in most cases. is not far from cannibalism. Eating the flesh and drinking the blood of Christ in the communion ceremony. and I turn to you. Well. and tangible pause. Walcott chooses to ignore elements of Crusoe's personality that do not fit the stereotype of the colonizer. the relationship between Crusoe and Friday is not as easily placed in a binary as it might seem initially. Although.Harry's broken speech shows the difficulty he is having in comprehending the entire scope of his reversal concept. that's cannibalism. more ready to apply them to the right uses for which they were bestowed than we are. to make explicit Harry's misconceptions he calls on that same European revulsion of cannibalism that Crusoe feels: Jackson: Supposing I wasn't a waiter. of course. Harry and Jackson act out the story of Crusoe and Friday because it represents all colonialism. "This moment that we are acting here is the history of imperialism" (125). (126) Jackson maneuvers Harry into labeling his own religion with that which he abhors. this white savage? Harry: No. Jackson is offended by Harry's pretentiousness. before Harry spits out the word "African" shows that he still falls into the colonizer pattern and believes himself superior. that however it had pleased God. and instead of breakfast I was serving you communion. and no one should ever be judged for their beliefs. and that when He pleases to offer to them occasions of exerting these. sincerity. and in the government of the works of His hands. Walcott makes a strong statement when Jackson states. they are as ready. on the literal level. By using this example Jackson reminds us that most religions seem strange when taken out of context. (Defoe 204) . What he does accomplish is demonstrating that the biases he denies having are actually there beneath the surface. the domination of master over slave. and all the capacities of doing good and receiving good that He has given to us. Although Crusoe does consider Friday his servant. the same passions and resentments of wrongs. to take from so great a part of the world of His creatures the best uses to which their faculties and the powers of their souls are adapted. and I tell you. and disapproves of Jackson's Calypso-Trinidadian acting styles. Pantomime uses Robinson Crusoe to bring Harry and Jackson to the realization of their differences. and the prejudices they hold. but because Walcott needs the castaway as an archetype. will the two be able to act together with integrity" (38). he has chosen to ignore those aspects of Crusoe which do not fit this model. Nevertheless. it is understood that to advance the action of the play to its conclusion. . Robinson Crusoe must be seen as the original imperialist. As Gilbert and Tompkins point out. Walcott's treatment of Robinson Crusoe. especially that of "the Spaniards. From the outset Harry has automatically assumed the position of director of the pantomime production. These biases are based on the binary of the master/slave relationship. and end. He sees his methods as correct. Acting and reversing the Crusoe and Friday roles allow the audience to see the true natures of the actors themselves. Crusoe even speaks out against colonialism. Although neither Harry nor Jackson portrays these elements of acceptance in Crusoe. Godhead and Missionary are all reflected in Pantomime. The roles Walcott sees Crusoe holding as Adam. Walcott's suggestion is that reconciliation lies in recognizing their differences and working from there. whose cruelties in America had been spread over the whole countries and were remembered by all nations from father to son" (210). compromise forms the essence of what Walcott believes to be the eventual solution to the divisions between colonizer and colonized. not with a perfect relationship. is effective in developing the relationship between Harry and Jackson. They begin as Crusoe and Friday. In this respect. public opinion works in Walcott's favor since most readers thinking back on the Robinson Crusoe story probably would not remember any of the castaway's non-imperial leanings.Crusoe goes against almost any colonial perspective in saying that these lower races are morally more capable of good then the Europeans. In the end. but with the start of new identities for both of them. and used by both Harry and Jackson in their portrayals. the new actors in the postcolonial world. Crusoe fits the figure of the European creating his own existence and converting the natural inhabitants to his ways. "It is only when Trewe accepts Phillip's art as valid and relinquishes the directorial role that he assumes. Harry and Jackson are working to reconcile their styles and create a new hybrid that combines elements of both. thus Walcott conveniently leaves out anything expressed by Crusoe that sets him outside his stereotyped role as colonial master. therefore.