To Da-duh in Memoriam

by Paule Marshall

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Discussion Topic

"To Da-duh in Memoriam" Setting and Mid-Story Events

Summary:

"To Da-duh in Memoriam," set in 1937 Barbados, highlights cultural contrasts between the narrator's life in Brooklyn and her grandmother Da-duh's traditional Barbados. The story unfolds through a visit where the young narrator and Da-duh engage in playful banter, each extolling the virtues of their respective environments—Barbados' natural beauty versus Brooklyn's modernity. This exchange underscores generational and cultural differences, with Da-duh aiming to instill pride in her granddaughter's heritage amid the backdrop of British colonial rule.

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What is the setting of "To Da-duh in Memoriam"?

The setting of Paule Marshall's "To Da-Duh, In Memoriam" is the island of Barbados in 1937, when it was still under British control. Marshall wrote the story as a memoir of her late grandmother, who she both respected and competed with, as Marshall was part of a younger generation who was brought up in the starkly different setting of Brooklyn, New York. In her memoriam, Marshall describes a visit she had with her 80-year-old grandmother when she was just 9 years old. During the visit, she recalls a back-and-forth dialogue in which her grandmother boasts about life in Barbados and challenges her to describe how things are bigger or better in Brooklyn. For example, when she shows her granddaughter the tallest palm tree on the island and asks her if she's ever seen anything so tall, her granddaughter tops her with the Empire State Building. The purpose of this setting is to compare and contrast the difference in culture and upbringing between the two very strong-willed, proud women from different generations.

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What is the setting of "To Da-duh in Memoriam"?

To Da-duh in Memoriam” takes place on the island of Barbados in 1937.  The young narrator, Da-duh’s granddaughter, has traveled to Barbados from Brooklyn, New York to visit her grandmother and other relatives.  Barbados is still an English colony and became an independent country in 1966.  Barbados, at the time of the story, is a third world country without modern conveniences like electricity, cars, and tall buildings. The narrator teaches Da-duh all about the modern conveniences found in other parts of the world. At the end of the story, British airplanes fly low over Barbados and Da-duh’s property exerting their power to keep any sort of uprising or rebellion against the English government’s control over the island down.  The short story is about the differences in culture and how time moves on for generations of the same family.

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What events occur in the middle of "To Da-duh in Memoriam"?

In the rising action or middle of the short story, Da-duh and her granddaughter are bantering back and forth about their home environments and whose is best.  Da-duh wants to convince her “fierce” granddaughter to embrace the culture and traditions of Barbados.  As the matriarch of the family, she wants to instill a sense of pride in where her granddaughter’s family originates.  Da-duh shows her granddaughter the sugar cane fields that surround her home and the tall palm trees in the grove. She brags that there is nothing like them anywhere else trying to convince her granddaughter of the importance of Barbados in her life.  The granddaughter, however, tries to convince Da-duh that her environment in which she lives is beautiful, too.  The granddaughter comes from New York City and describes to Da-duh the skyscrapers and busy streets.  It is a totally different landscape and lifestyle than Barbados, and the granddaughter represents how the family has moved on to a more modern world. 

So, the middle of the story shows the relationship between the two and how they bicker and try to “one up” each other in trying to explain and convince the other that the different lifestyles they live are something each should embrace. 

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