Ruair Moore EH4007

In "Concerning Violence", the opening chapter to his definitive work The Wretched of the Earth, Frantz Fanon writes of a form of necessary, structural violence inherent to the cause of the oppressed releasing themselves from bonds that are established by this same violence. The native who decides to put the program into practice, and to become its moving force, is ready for violence at all times. From birth it is clear to him that this narrow world, strewn with prohibitions, can only be called in question by absolute violence. (Fanon 37). In doing so he draws a definitive line between the oppressor and the oppressed, suggesting that theirs are not worlds that can intermingle, but rather balance one another in polarity, their only exchange lying in opposition and perhaps eventually one replacing the other. The zone where the natives live is not complementary to the zone inhabited by the settlers. The two zones are opposed, but not in the service of a higher unity. Obedient to the rules of pure Aristotelian logic, they both follow the principle of reciprocal exclusivity. No conciliation is possible, for of the two terms, one is superfluous. (Fanon 38-39). It will be the purpose of this essay to analyse these claims alongside a reading of Duiker's Thirteen Cents, with the intention of showing that this Manichean model does not apply to the relationship between the oppressor and the oppressed in Duiker's Cape Town . Characters such as Gerald and Azure blur the lines between the two, and we will map Azure's journey towards self-recognition, and whether or not it is achieved through the same violence as Fanon's native. The first stumbling block towards the application of Fanon's theory to a text set in postcolonial, post-apartheid South Africa is the question of context. Fanon's "Concerning Violence" is a treatment on colonial power structures, particularly the relationship between the two antagonistic groups that Fanon dubs the settler and the native. Though South Africa is clearly no longer a colonized country at the time of Duiker's novel, the essence of Fanon's theory concerns systems of violence used to dehumanize and oppress others, and how these same tactics are essential to freeing oneself from this same oppression. The position of violence as a tool inherent in sustaining the status quo is established early on in the novel, perhaps most notably in Azure's vicious beating on Gerald's orders for his momentary

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failure to recognize Gerald's superiority to other "common" blacks such as Sealy. In fact, it is Gerald's sheer capacity for violence and his willingness to use it both to elevate himself and to dehumanize those around him that establish him as a colonial-type figure in the novel; as with Fanon's military being the only face of power the colonized ever see, Gerald's image to those he lords over is one of undisputable, violent force. "'That guy is heavy, he'll destroy you. People talk of the devil. The devil is nothing. I've seen him and he was nothing like T-Rex. You say why am I out here and you in there? Because T-Rex put me in here.'" (Duiker 47). Just as Fanon's colonists use "rifle butts and napalm" to keep the natives down, reputation and the threat of violence alone often prove more than enough to ward off thoughts of rebellion in Duiker's Cape Town. (Fanon 38). "If they say Jump, you must jump. If they say Sit, you must sit. Otherwise they will fuck you up nicely. They always do if you don't do like they say. You must do like Gerald says, I tell myself." (Duiker 52). It is not only this structural violence that marks Gerald out as an oppressive figure similar to that of Fanon's colonists. Gerald and the other resident crime lords of Cape Town also foster dependence among those they oppress, simultaneously providing for them even as they deprive them of any other source for these necessities. For example, Gerald provides Azure with shoes, necessary for mobility in an area of Cape Town that is littered with broken bottles, sewage and debris, but also gathers them as trophies of his dominance, depriving their owners of the freedom to run from his grasp. He also grants Azure a new identity as "Blue", one that Azure dislikes but most adopt in order to remain under Gerald's protection, creating a Hegelian inter-dependence between oppressor and oppressed, the former unable to elevate himself without subjects to stand over, the latter providing this submission and receiving patronage in turn. However, Gerald's relationship with the under-classes of Cape Town, Azure in particular, is not quite so Manichean as Fanon's dynamic between the oppressor and the oppressed, and perhaps suggests a more blurred line between the two. The interesting aspect of viewing Gerald in a colonial sense lies in the fact that he himself is a coloured man who desperately wishes to be white. Where Fanon depicts a clear-cut struggle between the native and the settler, Gerald is arguably as native to South Africa as any, simply adopting colonial trappings in an attempt to pass." 'Fuck, you know how 2

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that nigger hates black people (...) He thinks he's white because he's got straight hair and a light skin.'" (Duiker 23-24) . For example where Fanon, discussing the various levels of compartmentalization in colonial society, suggests a reciprocal relation between being wealthy and being accepted as white, Gerald is caught between possessing wealth that gives him power over other coloureds and blacks, and never quite being able to access white society because of his status as a coloured criminal. "Thing is the guy is loaded but he can't spend his money and he knows it. You know how that would fuck with anyone. I mean, imagine being worth a lot of money. I mean, I don't know how much money Gerald has. Maybe millions and he can't spend it because of the shit he's into." (Duiker 46) This double-consciousness of Gerald's also expresses itself in other ways; while Azure is constantly warned that his blue eyes are a subject of intense jealousy for Gerald because they hint at a bloodline "more white" than his own and Gerald does demand that Azure suppress these traits (for example commanding him never to wear the colonial Dutch colours), Gerald also seems to deny the impermeable nature of their relationship as claimed by Fanon and tries to win Azure over to his point of view. In a pivotal scene where Gerald forces Azure to question what he knows of his parents, he urges Azure to let go of his past and embrace the new identity given to him. "You must let your mother go (...) Do you know who you are?" (Duiker 55). Azure, by extension, provides an even more interesting example of this blurring of the lines between colonized and colonizer. Though seeing himself as little above the bottom rung of society, Azure is reminded time and time again of his difference, the blue eyes that are a subject of both admiration and hatred for those he encounters. This constant reference to Azure's sight as well as his comfort at "Sea" Point highlight his purgatorial position in society, his skin-colour relegating him to the submissive role of turning tricks while his eyes act to distinguish him even from this crowd; Azure sees the fallacy behind these social roles, to him white men acting not as objects of envy but rather potential targets, benefactors whose desires must be endured in order for him to maintain what independence he can. The purchase of Azure's reversible jacket, allowing Azure to display black or orange as he chooses, provides a lasting image to dispute Fanon's Manichean settler and native. "It is

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hot. I open my jacket. No, fuck him. Fuck Gerald, I say and take off my jacket. I turn it inside out and wear the orange colour on top." (Duiker 83). Azure's journey from a marginalised boy to the total outsider we see by novel's end begins with his eagerness to turn thirteen so he can finally wield the power over his life that a "grown-up", an image he associates with Allen, Vincent or Gerald, would. This concept of a grown-up informs much of his decision-making throughout the novel, as Azure accepts the subjugation and violence that is his lot as the oppressed because he believes they will make him stronger. Grown-ups, this is how they teach me to be strong. (...) Maybe tomorrow I'll be lucky and they'll let me go, I say but not with too much hope. I say it because that's what a grown-up would say if a grown-up was in my shoes. (Duiker 34-37) This faith in enduring his lot in order to become a grown-up is reinforced by the image of the seagulls scattering the pigeons, one that is repeated time and time again through the text. While Azure pities the pigeons it is truly the seagulls he wishes to be like, noting that "After a while I start to feel sorry for the pigeons. They're not strong like seagulls. (...) But they're stupid for not living like seagulls." (Duiker 39). This notion of emulating those who oppress him parallels Fanon's idea of the native's envy for the oppressor, and this reminder is reinforced when Azure regularly hears the flapping of seagulls while enduring particularly demeaning experiences the he tells himself will make him stronger and bring him closer to being a grown-up, such as being forced to perform fellatio on Richard and his friends. (Duiker 41). However, through his experiences following his subjugation by Gerald, Azure's faith in grown-ups and in the freedom being one will provide him begins to wane, the departure of his only friend Vincent acting as the final nail in the coffin as Azure learns to refuse the lot doled out to him. "No thank you, Gerald. No thank you. I must learn this. I must understand what it means. No thank you. The grown-ups want me to understand this. When I do I will survive." (Duiker 53).

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Azure's learning to say "No thank you" and his growing ability to shrug out of the roles assigned to him come initially from Gerald forcing Azure to recognize himself as something other than a slave. Indeed, Azure's first trip up the mountain incites dreams of Azure himself developing scales and becoming a "T-Rex" in his own right, foreshadowing Gerald's death. But this freedom from Gerald's oppression does not play out as Fanon would suggest in "Concerning Violence"; rather than coveting what his oppressor has, overthrowing him and taking his place, Azure only becomes further alienated from these ideals, seeing Sealy begin to transform into yet another Gerald and distancing himself from it. Just as Azure wouldn't trade his life for that of one of his wealthy clients if it meant being watched all the time, Azure comes to see through the notion that being "grown-up" will provide him with all the answers. Grown-ups are full of shit. They are evil. Why are they watching me? (...)Why must I always be in the middle? I didn't ask for trouble. Why do they want to fill my head with ugly things? (...)Must I become a stupid pigeon so that they can feel good about themselves? They are stupid. They are fucked up. They are crazy. (Duiker 118-119)

If Gerald and Azure's inability to fit neatly into either the category of the colonized or the colonizer somewhat distorts Fanon's view of the relationship, then how does his depiction of violence as integral to bucking the bonds of oppression fare alongside a reading of Thirteen Cents? We have already established that Gerald does indeed mirror the colonial power in suppressing the identities of those around him and delivering swift and crushing violence when opposed, and Azure's initial escape up the mountain culminates in a violent ritual that precedes Gerald's own death, though it is violence of a different kind. Whereas Fanon notes that "it is precisely at the moment he realizes his humanity that he begins to sharpen the weapons with which he will secure its victory" (Fanon 43), Azure's selfrecognition takes a different form, mainly in the realization that the social system into which he is trying to fit is warped, and the role assigned to him in it even more so. A boy? I'm not a boy. I've seen a woman being raped by policemen at night near the station. I've seen a white man let a boy Bafana's age get into his car. I've seen a couple drive over a street child and they still kept going. I've seen a woman give birth in Sea Point at the beach and throw it in the sea. A boy?

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Fuck off. They must leave me alone. I have seen enough rubbish to fill the sea. (Duiker 117) Azure's response is an almost cathartic violence, as he builds a fire and picks only branches that remind him of Gerald. "He thought he was going to destroy me. I'll give him fire. I'll give him destruction." (Duiker 87). Coming down from the mountain to find that Gerald has apparently committed suicide - stabbed with a lion claw, which, interestingly, is an image occasionally associated with Azure's clothes -, Azure soon finds that despite his ritual destruction of Gerald, the social structure itself remains. As Fanon notes, this removal of one oppressor "is quite simply the replacing of a certain species of men by another species of men", and seeing Sealy grow into much the same role Gerald once occupied, Azure exercises his newfound ability to say "no thank you" and returns to the mountaintop. (Fanon 35). The final destruction of Cape Town, whether symbolic or a literal cataclysm, is foreshadowed in Azure's affinity with the sea and his constant practice of gazing into the sun and turning the sunspots on his eyes to the destruction of those he looks upon. Though an ultimate, world-ending kind of violence, the book's ending calls into question Fanon's claims around violence; it is not the recognition of his own humanity that spurs Azure to bring this apocalypse (or at the very least to greet it's coming), nor is it a personal hatred for an oppressor of pure, Manichean evil that he has constructed from the dehumanization or demonization of his enemy, as Fanon's settler and native do. It is instead Azure's recognition of the inhumanity of the world in which he lives and the fallacy of the social structures to which he previously subscribed that awake his desire to cut all ties and step outside of the struggle altogether, emphasised in the repetition of his final mantra, "My mother is dead, my father is dead." It is only by disconnecting from the baggage of his past and constructs such as that of the oppressor versus the oppressed that Azure can hope to survive; looking on to see the destruction not only of the oppressing powers so that the way might be cleared for those would replace them, but the destruction of Fanon's paradigm altogether, Azure witnesses the creation of the ultimate tabula rasa in the destruction of black, coloured, white, and "all types of birds (...) I even see seagulls." (Duiker 134).

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Bibliography Duiker, Kabelo S. Thirteen Cents. Cape Town: David Phillip Publishers, 2005. Web. 27 Nov. 2012. <http://www.scribd.com/doc/103277698/Thirteen-Cents-New>. Fanon, Frantz. The Wretched of the Earth. New York: Grove Press, 1963. 35-106. Web. 2 Dec. 2012