While the intricacy of language employed by both Gilroy and Roach in their respective books leaves me with as many questions as answers, upon first reading I was immediately drawn to the shared use of the phrase “double consciousness” in the first paragraph of each author’s introduction. Despite the intersection of topics discussed by the two authors, their individual understandings of double consciousness do not entirely align. My interpretation of the ways in which Gilroy and Roach approach double consciousness prompts me to consider how Theo, a child meddling between two distinct cultures, experiences this form of doubleness throughout her development.
As a naive seven-year-old, Theo has a strong sense of identity that we, as readers, gain access to through her inner monologue. This confidence is juxtaposed by strangers’ confusion regarding Theo’s appearance, seen through her experience with being called names like “mongrel” by onlookers who cannot seem to decipher her identity (Corthron, 18). This division between Theo’s identity and image corresponds to Gilroy’s portrayal of double consciousness, or doubleness, as a distinction between one’s individual existence and their existence in the eyes of others. Theo is not bothered by her perceived doubleness, however, as she is confident in her identity as a mutt and is not disturbed by the remarks of Nativists.
Theo’s identity remains strong and steadfast throughout her adolescence, but with age and experience she assumes new roles in both her family and society at large. The dissonance between Theo’s identity within her Irish family and her role as an abolitionist becomes apparent upon her learning that her relatives complete work for companies that enable the continuation of slavery. In the eyes of her Cahill family, Theo is a child with as many privileges as other Irish children in the Five Points District. As an African American, however, Theo assumes the role of an aspiring abolitionist, refusing to support any systems that promote the enslavement of her people. This division between Theo’s perceived identity and her self-assumed role connects to Roach’s definition of double consciousness as “the self-reflexive interaction of identity and role” that engenders “demanding psychological obligations” (Roach, 1). Growing up as a mixed child in two families of different racial and cultural backgrounds becomes more of an issue as Theo gains an understanding of her ability to serve as an abolitionist, and this coming-of-age experience is complicated by the Cahill family’s late acknowledgement of the importance of race in Theo’s life.
I think this emphasizes a really important part of multicultural families. Mixed children tend to occupy a space different from both of their cultures. They are not 50% of one or the other and they become part of a blend.