gender
...ell as their shacks and dress--is very different. She has crossed over, but in the end, of course, she cannot, nor can Leopold--the mixed race son of the relationship. There are sharp contrasts, as well, between country and city life and between affluence and poverty which also have clear class and cultural implications. b. Education: informing and enabling. Jose is blessed with two kinds of education. Medouze and Amantine seem to convey values, wisdom, direction, history, culture. They give Jose an education in how to live, an education about his own past and people. Ma Tine also sees that he receives a more formal education in school. She is determined that he will escape the fate of most of the others--a life of labor in the sugar cane fields. School opens the second door to freedom. For the farm workers, the first door, the end of slavery, has meant almost nothing. c. Politics and culture. The film portrays Matinique during the period of French colonialism. Slavery ended in the 1840s on Martinique, but the island did not achieve status as a "department" of France (a form of self-government and presumed equality) until 1946. Even after that, there was an evolution toward greater local authority over island affairs. The economic disparities and class structure is quite clear. No serious resistance or rebellion on the part of the workers is portrayed. They do mock and ridicule their superiors. They sing to witness their opposition to the treatment of Leopold. One man pees on the job. There is a strong...