AP Lit Podcast "Reconnecting"

Marcus, a character in the novel Homegoing by God Jesse, struggles to write about his connection to the convict leasing system and his grandfather's involvement in it. He realizes that he cannot talk about this without addressing systemic racism and the slave trade. Marcus meets Marjorie, his generational partner in the book, and they travel to Pratt City and then Ghana together. In Ghana, they visit a castle where Marcus feels uneasy standing where his ancestors were tortured. Marjorie gives Marcus a black stone necklace, symbolizing a connection to heritage. The chapter explores the importance of reconnecting with one's roots and the limited knowledge people have about their ancestors. It emphasizes the significance of understanding history and one's identity. Hi, my name is Olivia Stewart and on this episode Reconnecting of my podcast we'll be talking about Marcus's chapter in the novel home going by God Jesse Marcus lives in California and attends Stanford He is attempting to write about the convict leasing system and his grandpa H's connection to it However, it is not going well because he can't talk about that one thing without talking about all the other aspects of systemic racism He meets Marjorie his generational partner in the book Marjorie goes to Pratt City with Marcus for further research and then they agree to go to Ghana together in Ghana They tour the castle and at the end Marjorie gives Marcus her necklace and says welcome home The main theme of this chapter is reconnecting with heritage The novel overall covers the theme of heritage and connection with your family and for some the lack of it in Marcus's chapter we see this displayed clearly for example Marcus wants to be able to write about his grandfather age But he finds it difficult to write about one specific thing without talking about his many other ancestors affected by racism and the slave trade What Marcus wants to capture with this project is the feeling of time of having been a part of something that stretched so far back Was so impossibly large that it was easy to forget that he and everyone else existed in it Not apart from it, but inside of it He then talks about how he struggles with this because all he has heard about his ancestors are from stories and in reality he really doesn't know that much about his family his ancestors had been products of their time and Marcus was an accumulation of these times Marcus also tries to imagine how his life would have been different if his ancestral past had been different He imagines a different room and a fuller family Referring to a family that could have been but isn't when Marcus goes to Ghana with Marjorie They are going back to their roots where everything started They visit the castle and Marcus feels uneasy standing in the place where his ancestors were tortured Marcus runs out of the castle and visits where the fire met the water at the end of the chapter Marjorie gives him her necklace Which has been passed down from Athia's side of the family Says Effie lost her stone and never got passed down to Marcus when he put the necklace on He felt the stone hit his chest hard and hot before finding its way up to the surface again He touched it surprised by his weight when Marjorie gives Marcus the necklace the two families reconnect where the story started Marcus's chapter also uses a lot of symbols Water is a significant symbol throughout the novel, but it's especially important to Marcus's chapter Marcus describes that his father told him that black people didn't like water because they were brought over on slave ships Wasn't a black man wants to swim for the ocean was already littered with black men Marcus is not necessarily afraid of the water itself But more the history and the meaning it holds The black stone necklace that has been passed from generation to generation on Athia's side of the family is also an Important symbol in this chapter when Marjorie gives him the stone at the end of the chapter She says have it she lifted the stone from her neck and placed it around Marcus's Welcome home The stone represents a connection to heritage and the lack of that connection on Marcus's side of the family When Marjorie gives him the stone she connects both sides of the family again The organization of Marcus's chapter is a significant part of the story at the beginning of the novel Athia and Essie both start at home in Ghana They are inverses of each other. Athia grows up in a bad situation But ends up living a decent life whereas Essie grows up with a good family and ends up a slave Likewise Marjorie and Marcus have some opposite traits as well. Marjorie is afraid of fire while Marcus is afraid of water Marcus's chapter comes full circle and reunites the two sides of the family where the entire book started in Ghana Ultimately, this chapter is so important because it shows the readers the significance of reconnecting with their heritage People have very limited knowledge of who their ancestors were. They hear stories, but they don't really know them Reconnecting with your roots is an opportunity to learn more about your history where you came from and who you are