Abeng

The different shades of skin color are a prevalent theme in the novel. Each character is either explicitly described as lighter- or darker-skinned or implicitly relegated to the white or Black social groups, based on their financial situation. The community considers British people the ideal and deems anyone who is slightly darker or has curly hair as lower on the social hierarchy. Consequently, white people can be short on funds, as in the case of Clare’s father, but the community never treats them as poor. Black people are assumed to be poor and, usually, have no way of escaping poverty. If someone who is dark-skinned owns property, it is usually because they come from a mixed family, as in the case of Miss Mattie. In this way, skin color and social status become almost synonymous and one serves to reinforce the other. As a result, everyone attempts to preserve their whiteness or the perception of whiteness. In such a situation, darkness is the worst thing that can happen to a person; it is feared and despised. However, after several centuries, the entire population of Jamaica is mixed to a greater or lesser extent, which means that everyone is afraid of, and hates, a part of themselves and of their heritage.