To discern the concepts and dynamics of the postmodern Caribbean experience, one

must first grasp the historical and social motivations of modern Caribbean society; only then can
one, according to Hillman and D'Agostino (2003,
p.1), “…liberate themselves from the structures, and exploitations of colonialism, slavery,
imperialism, neo-colonialism and dependency.” The novel 'Through It All' by Giselle Mills held
true to this notion. Set on the Leeward island of Saint Kitts, this fictional piece delved into the
lives of the Afro-Caribbean D’Averette family as they navigated through myriad internal and
external events which were catalysed by their concerns, and most notably, their ways of thinking.
It tackled issues of masculinity, the perceptions of race, and it also gave an account of the
struggles Caribbean men and women face in the family and in the workforce. The subject of the
book was not specific to main characters such and Andreide and Rose Marie because in
discerning truths of society other characters like Charles, Victor and Dominick took precedence.
The issue of colonialism translated into perceptions of race and class, religion, education, the
problematic allocative nature of gender roles as well as the eclectic forces that influenced the
development of one’s identity. This piece will attempt to explore these elements under the
historical lens of colonialism.
Caribbean society is profoundly diverse because of the historical movements of differing
demographics of people resulting in a range of socioeconomic distributions. The Lower Middle
class D'Averette family comprised of writer, Rose Marie who was married to Charles, a
landscaper, and their children, Omarion, Andreide and Marques. Peripheral
characters included Keisha Taylor, Harietta Green and Alisa Bretford. In contrast, the High class
elites resided in upscale neighbourhoods like the Carlston family, the Michaels
family, and Jean Chang and Victor Wilson who were Rose Marie’s wealthy
publicist and executive editor respectively, with other supporting characters such as Prakash, the
Michaels’ family driver and Señora Vega, their housekeeper. The existence of the latter
characters can be interpreted under the historical immigrant indentured labour scheme where
labourers were imported from Madeira, China, and India. The diversity of differing ethnic groups
created stereotypical perceptions of race that were evident in the novel.
The common mentality among the girls of St George’s High school was that their black
skin was not 'good enough' for dating white boys. Keisha commented to Shauna that no white
desired her "...ole black ass self"(Mills, p. 93) in which Shauna responded with an even more
racially degrading remark. The reader was able to interpret the effects of slavery on race relations
in Caribbean society. The inferior mentality of young black girls toward their own race stemmed
from the history of African slavery. Additionally, Charles was wrongfully accused of theft
because of his race and had been fired receiving no remorseful compensation for the injustice.
This spoke heavily to the history of abolition where British colonials received grievances to
replace the income that they no longer gained from slavery. In contrast, Charles did not
experience this.
Additionally, the effects of the education and religion system of colonial days can be
seen throughout the novel within the D’Averette family and the wider society. The historical
framework of religion was to create a homogenous, Eurocentric civilisation. This involved
indoctrination of ex slaves into Christianity as seen fit by colonial conquerors, thereby teaching
religious ideologies central in building a “better colonial society”. Marriage, going to Mass and
practicing morality would ensure social order and respectability (Campbell, Unit 7 p. 5) in
society. One should note that “women were the majority of the church-going population in
colonial Jamaica, with special target to make them into decent, respectable, God-fearing wives
and mothers." (Brereton,2013 p. 8). The dialogue between Chrystal and Andreide where Chrystal
lectures her about not skipping Mass to go out with her boyfriend (Mills, p. 297) emphasizes
this.
Conversely, the church scene illustrated the contrasting notions of religious sanctity
between Rose Marie and Eugenia Richardson, a seemingly devoted and condescending church
goer when she arrives late to Mass. Rose Marie expressed her attitudes by saying,
“…I do expect that such a spiritually devoted woman like you would know that there are other
acceptable means of receiving religious guidance than by attending weekly or daily mass.”
(Mills, p. 58)
Arriving late to church was regarded as disrespectful in Caribbean societies which stemmed from
the colonial cultures of Britain.
The religious system of colonial society also manifests its ideologies in the classroom of
St George’s High School. The feud between an outspoken Keisha and her conservative teacher,
Mrs. Smith radiates the differing roles of colonial education through generations. Keisha’s non-
conformist mindset created issues for her in the classroom dating back to colonialism when
expectations of authoritative groups for an oppressed group to be subservient to their “superiors”
in the days of Chattel slavery. This trickled into the education system seen in the teacher- student
role. Harietta and Alisa’s opinions of Keisha’s cousin, Jamila, was also a product of the religious
doctrines taught in the Church and in the school as Jamila is was thought of as “loose” and
inappropriately sexual which the other characters frowned upon. Additionally, the author
employed Andriede and Alisa to satirically comment on the post-colonial education system "the
finest institution in the world in which we learn all things righteous" (Mills, p. 26)
With religious monarchy of colonialism comes its deeply rooted ideological scopes of
gender roles in the Caribbean.. The reader observed Rose Marie and Charles' dysfunctional
marriage. Charles was described as a lazy dead-beat father and husband by his own family as all
he did was "...eat, sleep, watch television and read the newspaper" (Mills, p. 8) thus forcing Rose
Marie to assume a double shift of dependable care-giver while managing her occupational duties.
The social structure of the D’Averette family was divided because of the levels of income
attained by each parent. Rose Marie had more prestige and power in her occupation as an
academic scientific author than Charles did as a member of the blue-collar workforce. The
expectations of the D'Averette children, in particular the only female child, of what a father and
husband should have been can be discerned through historical ideologies of gender roles.
Masculinity in itself is not the simple state of being a male but the underlying social
conditions that compound the state such as having power, privilege and access in relation to
women in society which enters the domain of hegemonic masculinity that has been etched into
Caribbean society dating back to 19th century Victorian colonial period when men and women
were seen as different, and thus expected to follow their respective roles in society. Hughes
(2014) describes this as having two separate spheres in society; women allocated to domestic
responsibilities of reproduction and men inherited recreational and sexual freedom. This is
compounded by the persona of the hegemonic male as having power over women and other men
because of race, social class, power and sexual prowess.
Transcendentally, remnants of this paradigm were seen in the novel through Victor,
Dominick and Richard Carlston. Richard exerted his power over Andreide when he made
discriminatory and sexually charged comments to her. In turn, the scene in which Richard
violated Andriede resulted in Dominick’s exertion of his masculine dominance toward Richard.
While this was a heroic form of dominance, one should take note of the dangerous strongholds of
hegemonic masculinity the writer alluded to as seen with Alisa’s rape and penultimate pregnancy
which went unknown to her attacker, her friends and to official authorities. The shame she felt
after her rape denotes the conditioning of women as they ought to be pure and their lost sexual
innocence deemed them as ‘fallen women’. (Campbell, p 178)
The depiction of Victor and Dominick as two hegemonic males, compounded by their
highest positions on the social strata of society showcased the scopes of positive hegemonic
masculinity in the novel. With this in mind, it is questionable if a correlation exists between
gender roles and social class in the Caribbean. Victor possessed leadership qualities, fearlessness
and power in his personal and professional spaces as seen when he used his elite network of
businessmen to force Latricia Davis and her son out of the country and out of Rose Marie’s life.
Additionally, practices of etiquette were forms of prestige that compounded masculine
hegemony which both Victor and Dominick possessed but fell short in Charles’ behaviour as
depicted in the restaurant scene. The family was embarrassed by Charles’ abrupt urge to use the
restaurant restroom as the waiter brought the bill that created an awkward moment among Rose
Marie’s family and her elite work colleagues. Both Rose Marie and Andreide grew to resent
Charles because he did not fit these criteria. In the D'Averette family the reader saw that Charles
provided for his family but he was not emotionally present in familial relations. The issue of
masculinity in the family presented itself in many scenarios.
The writer responded to the paradigm of hegemonic masculinity in the novel when Rose
Marie questioned her husband on what constituted having a real job: was sitting by a desk all day
"...working for a fat man (Mills, p 109 )who was much higher up in the social construct or was
it an informal, work-from-home entrepreneurial means of income? The use of "fat man"
illustrated the normality of working for a man who was not only a man but one of great
masculine dominance and power by his physical appearance, but to question the basis of it in
understanding the history of gender roles in Caribbean society. A greater motive behind the
writer's characterization of Charles was to respond to the institutional stereotypes of masculine
hegemony in the Caribbean family and to question the reasoning behind a sole prescription of
what masculinity should be. It rallied against the ideals of teaching men to avoid feminine
behaviours and care giving.
One can say that the novel adopted a nuanced feminist perspective in its depiction of
family life. “… there is also a vibrant living tradition of female economic autonomy, of female
headed households, and family structures in which men are often marginal.” (qtd. in Mills,
Wanda). Charles' procurement of an 'illegitimate son" out of wedlock showed the effects of male
marginalization in the family. His economical capacity (Blank, p. 4) diminished his male
authority in his home and was reflected in the attitudes of his children. However, it is imperative
that the reader not see Charles as the antagonist because he, too, faced oppression in the
workforce and at home. Momsen's notion was facilitative in discerning the clear reaction by the
writer to the mentalities of historical gender role allocation and patriarchal ideologies of
femininity that manifest itself in 21st century Caribbean society.
The writer tackled her concerns with identity and the multi-faceted dimensions of what
constituted a Caribbean identity. Through the use of language, characterization and historical
reference, the reader was able to grasp her concerns. A comparison between Keisha Taylor,
Andreide and Dominick can be made to explore the developments of identity in the novel.
Keisha advocated for strong freedoms from post-colonial rule as seen in her interactions with her
teacher and her friends. She desired a collective consensus from all her peers for ‘pro-black’
acknowledgement and equality and to reject Eurocentric maxims that were enforced through
colonialism. Her “They think they still own us” (Mills, pg 14) rant morphed into an “Us versus
Them” rhetoric wherein the “Us” pronoun symbolized an Afro- Caribbean macrocosmic identity
that has been shaped by its colonial history. Keisha’s identity was formed as a response to her
encounters with existing social constructs of race, class and historical experiences of her
ancestors which according to Khan 1996 has shaped her collective dimension.
When race consciousness emerge issues of double consciousness emerged involuntarily. Keisha
was “a firm believer in equality and her African heritage” (Mills, pg 16). She recognized her
African ancestry and its historically coerced movement to the Caribbean which formed her dual
local identity.
Similarly, Andreide’s diasporic double consciousness was formed in her adoption of
two different cultures; one from Trinidad, her country of birth where she visited every year, and
Saint Kitts where she had resided for most of her life. Dominick’s multi-cultural sense
contributed to his diasporic double consciousness which was short lived as he resided in many
countries before moving to Saint Kitts. One should note, however, that Andreide’s mentalities
were rooted to an intrinsic sense of self that did not allow the conventions of society to control
her. Her personal dimension of ‘self-hood identity’ was shaped by her choices of morality, male
companion, fashion and her relationship with her mother. She found comfort in shopping with
her friend and wearing accessories that carry foreign brand names such as her Kipling bags and
her Tommy Hilfiger perfumes. This is in relation to the extent that US imperialism has
permeated the lives of Caribbean people and has created an outlet for reshaping one’s identity by
conforming to the imperialistic nature of foreign culture and ideology which was also seen at the
Duncan Academy party where Hip Hop music was played and during Jean and Rose Marie’s trip
to Miami where Jean commented “This isn’t Kitts, this is real world…. There are malls”. (Mills,
p. 249)
Khans’(1996) study of identity also points to a collective identity that involves a
shared objective within a group that concern the behaviour of said group which is distinguished
as a fact of identity. The writer manipulated this in the novel as seen during the match between
St. George’s High School and Duncan Academy. The students shared a common objective not
just to defeat their opponents and maintain their victorious reputation against Duncan Academy
but to ease the tensions of class and racial divides between each school. When they lost the
match there was also a collective silence of shock and disbelief shared among them.
By and large, the novel is a testament to the writer’s preoccupation with African-
European relations. Andreide’s romantic relationship with Dominick Michaels can be seen as the
catalyst that breaks boundaries of race and class differences which allowed the reader to question
at what point does love transcend race. The reader is also able to question if male
marginalization and female economic autonomy is a cyclical process of one leading to the other.
Certainly, society is faced with the challenge of unlearning behaviours that were engrained into
its foundations. At times, the writer may have simulated an oversimplified and stereotypical
depiction of race among darker-skinned characters. The remarks made by some characters about
dark skin in relation to Caucasians seemed like clichéd dialogue that was meant to spark
controversy. Despite this, the novel provided insight into the profound ways in which the past
has reproduced itself into the present society. Its title exemplifies a reflection of the trials and
circumstances of the characters parallel to that of Caribbean society. Surely, the work can be
utilized as a stepping stone to realizing this fact as Caribbean people forward in creating equality
by dismantling the foundations that enforce a colonial agenda of hierarchical racial inequality
and colourism.
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