Brother Essay Questions

What is the significance of the book's prologue?

The prologue is important because it introduces symbolism that represents Michael and Francis's overall relationship. The short prologue depicts the time Francis showed his younger brother, Michael, how to climb a hydroelectricity pole in their neighborhood. Once at the top, the boys could have an unobstructed view of their city. However, Francis warns Michael of the dangers involved in the climb: one wrong foothold and Michael could become a conduit for the immense electric power surging around them, and thus be killed. In this lesson, Francis urges his little brother to closely follow his lead—a symbol for the mentorship and guidance Francis provides in all areas of life, filling in the void left by their absent father. As the book progresses, the reader comes to see how much Michael depends on his brother for leadership. When Francis dies, Michael suffers his own metaphorical death, any forward movement stalled by fear, uncertainty, and unexpressed grief.

Why is Michael reluctant to let Aisha remind Ruth of the past?

When Aisha returns to the Park after a decade away, she is eager to socialize with Ruth and reminisce about old times, when Francis was alive. From the outset, Michael reveals his resistance to Aisha's efforts by insisting that she must be careful not to upset Ruth, whom he believes is in too fragile a mental state to remember Francis's death, or even his life. Michael's reluctance, which erupts sometimes in anger, indicates his state of denial—one of the book's major themes. Following Francis's death, both Michael and Ruth become stuck in the denial stage of grief, which is characterized as an inability or unwillingness to admit the loss of Francis into their consciousness. Ruth's denial is evident in her dissociative behavior, which results in her occasionally dialing the operator on the phone and asking to speak with her dead son. Chariandy depicts Michael's denial more subtly; nonetheless, Michael's denial is evident in his inability to acknowledge for much of the book that Francis is "gone" because he is dead. It isn't until the novel's climax that Michael finally reveals in narration that Francis was shot by police. The trauma of this event is so strong that Michael and Ruth turn to denial as a defense mechanism that theoretically limits their exposure to the pain of reliving the day Francis died. However, as Chariandy shows, their denial only prolongs the grieving process, stretching the pain out over a decade as they try to avoid it.

What role does discrimination play in the novel?

As one of the book's major themes, discrimination plays a significant role in Brother. Defined as prejudicial treatment of people based on class, age, race, or gender, discrimination arises early in Michael's and Francis's lives when sensationalized media reports lead them to associate criminality with people of color. Despite not seeing themselves as criminals, the boys come to understand that, as young Black boys raised by an impoverished single mother, they fit the profile of the gangsters and thugs whose mugshots they see in newspaper boxes. The society-wide fear of young people of color influences Ruth as well, and she reacts in anger when she learns Francis is hanging out with other hip-hop enthusiasts at the barbershop—which Ruth believes to be a place for criminals to gather. While Francis seems to embrace people's fearful judgment of him, smiling after his mother slaps him and tells him to stay away from Desirea's, at the book's climax he reaches the limit of being discriminated against: As police swarm the barbershop in tactical gear, Francis refuses to obey their commands, insisting that he has done nothing to be held in such suspicion. Ultimately, Francis's moral stand fails to convince the police, who view him as a dangerous and belligerent young Black man, and therefore someone who they can kill in a "lawful" shooting. In this way, discrimination is at the heart of the conflict in Michael's life as he tries to put back together the pieces of his life and heal from the trauma of his brother's untimely death.

Why is Francis's attempt to protect Jelly from the police a gesture imbued with "history" to the people who know Francis?

During the book's climax, police storm Desirea's in response to a request for an ambulance to bring Francis—who earlier that day was beat up by bouncers—to the hospital. Suspecting the young people of color in the barbershop of criminal activity, the police enter the premises in tactical gear and full of a dangerous, fearful energy. While everyone obeys their orders to put up their hands and go against the wall, Francis refuses to accept their mistreatment, arguing accurately that they have done nothing wrong. In his likely concussed state, Francis isn't as careful as he would normally be around the police, and he reaches to "still" the hand of an officer who is reaching for his weapon in a manner Francis perceives as threatening. However, the police see Francis's attempt to protect Jelly as threatening to the officer, and they open fire, killing him on the spot. When recalling the traumatic scene, Michael notes how, to everyone who knew Francis, the gesture of stilling the policeman's hand was a gesture with "history." In this line, Michael is alluding to the time Francis grasped a bare blade to disarm a local tough who was trying to intimidate Michael. At the time, Francis showed his fierce protectiveness and willingness to sacrifice his own safety in defending someone weaker. He didn't turn the knife on the guy who wielded it; he merely held the blade until the other gave up. Because of this historical example, Michael knows Francis wasn't trying to take a policeman's gun, he was only trying to prevent the cop from harming his friend.

What role does grief play in Brother?

As one of the novel's most important themes, grief plays a major role in Brother. Defined as deep sorrow over the death or loss of someone or something, grief is the primary emotional state of Michael and Ruth throughout the book. Chariandy introduces the theme early in the novel by hinting at the "loss" of Francis but concealing the exact circumstances of his death. Through withholding this key piece of information, Chariandy emphasizes the difficulty Michael and Ruth have in processing their grief—a grief so great they cannot acknowledge it outright. Ten years after Francis's shooting, Michael and Ruth live stunted lives, unable to move on from what happened. For Michael, social isolation prevents him from having to talk about his feelings or getting too close to anyone, while Ruth spirals into dementia-like dissociative fugues. It is only with Aisha's return to the Park that Michael and Ruth finally begin to emerge from their grief and accept the pain of acknowledging what happened to Francis.