have.

Such critics would argue that, essentially, Phillips takes original material but doesn’t actually do anything with it, except present it in a different context. All that we're left with in the final analysis is a kind of impersonal patchwork that has very little, if any contemporary value, because the author isn't using the material in such a way as to say something with which we can identify.

In the context of this question, a work of pastiche is a literary piece consisting of motifs similar to other sources than the author’s sole creativity. It is an imitation of the style of previous work. By way of further clarification, an imitated work with the addition of irony would be a parody. A pastiche is a combination of various distinct styles that are combined to form a contiguous piece of literature where the author copies the style used from other literary publications. Cambridge by Caryl Phillips clearly qualifies as such a literary work.

Cambridge is the fictional story of protagonist Emily Cartwright, a Puritan Englishwoman, and the title character of the book, a slave owned by Emily’s father. The novel is written from two diverse points of view. Emily travels to the West Indies to visit a sugar plantation owned by her father. She records journal entries about her experiences along the way. These entries form her perspective as the story unfolds. While she views her ocean voyage as uncomfortable and unpleasant, her trip is described quite differently by the author from the experiences of the slave Cambridge, who is exposed to actual suffering.

The reader understands that Emily has not previously encountered the life circumstances of slaves in the nineteenth-century Caribbean. She comes across as superficial and ignorant of the reality of slavery. However, once exposed to the horrors of slavery, readers can identify how her newfound knowledge of the institution has impacted her forever. In the end, the wealthy Englishwoman loses her life to the previously unknown new world in which she finds herself. Cambridge is taught social graces and converts to Christianity. He is newly enlightened: “Truly I was now an Englishman, albeit a little smudgy of complexion!” He loses his life to racial prejudice and a hangman’s noose. Phillips juxtaposes the journeys of the two main characters, but binds them together through their unfortunate destinies.

A prime example of Cambridge as a work of pastiche is seen through a comparison of Toni Morrison’s Beloved. Morrison also writes her novel on two planes. First, Sethe, a former slave, recalls experiences with life as a slave on a plantation in Kentucky and then the action slips back to present-day Ohio in the post-slavery era. Morrison’s tale presents typical torturous experiences, as well as more humane scenes.

Both Cambridge and Beloved demonstrate the emotional and physical destruction caused by slavery, which is inescapable for slaves and those connected with the institution. Whites and Blacks lose their identities. Both novels present tragedy. Cambridge a pastiche work that uses themes and motifs found in several novels. The key to further investigation on this subject is to draw scenes from several slavery novels in search of similarities that are less-than-creative compositions in an attempt to form a new story, rather than a new idea.