The Role of Christophine

DISCLAIMER: My book is a different edition than the one Mr. Mitchell has in class, so the page numbers may be a bit disorientated. Sorry ‘bout it.

As we’ve begun to flesh out all the characters we’ve been introduced to in the first part of Wild Sargasso Sea, one character that has stuck out to me is Christophine and her relationship to Antoinette. To everyone who doesn’t live in the Cosway house, Christophine is this intimidating figure that is able to convince/ force people to do things without lifting a finger or even providing payment. “The girls from the bayside who sometimes helped with the washing and cleaning were terrified of her. That, I soon discovered, was why they came at all--for she never paid them. Yet they brought presents of fruit and vegetables and after dark I often heard low voices from the kitchen” (12). These girls still bring stuff to the house, even though they are not being paid or anything. Some force within Christophine makes them come back. They would never say anything about it in front of Christophine, but they definitely talk about it when she’s not there. (Antoinette probably even overhears their conversation from time to time).

Other than her seemingly stern and asserting personality, one of the main reasons why people tend to find Christophine so terrifying, is because of her religious practice: Obeah. According to Wikipedia, Obeah is a term used in the West Indies to refer to folk magic and sorcery. In our area, it is most commonly known as voodoo. Obviously, this is a huge religious aspect in Christophine’s life, but it also has some stereotypes associated with it, such as sticking pins in voodoo dolls in order to inflict pain upon others. This and many other assumptions are seemingly why many people fear Christophine and don’t wish to have any conflict with her.

But, it’s interesting to see why people don’t like Christophine. I’ll bet not many people outside of the Cosway family have gotten to know Christophine very well, so they only judge her on her religious practices. They associate the evils of obeah with her, and therefore fear and avoid conflict with her at all possible times. But Antoinette is different. She has spent enough time with Christophine to know that she isn’t fearful, but a rather nurturing figure in her life. At home, Antoinette has been born into a life of loneliness from the lack of her father and being constantly pushed away by her mother. So, Christophine steps in to fill both the maternal and paternal figures Antoinette’s life. Christophine keeps Antoinette safe by being stern and protective (like a paternal figure), while also singing her songs and watching over her in the house (like a maternal figure). Christophine has basically been Antoinette’s whole cultural and individual reference throughout her life as we’ve seen it. Antoinette isn’t getting much reference from her mother because she isn’t allowed to bond with her much, and so she is instead growing up under the influence of Christophine, which honestly, doesn’t sound too bad since Christophine seems to be able to hold her own in life.

Because of this strong bond Antoinette has to Christophine, she has a different view of her than the other villagers. Antoinette does see obeah as a nightmarish thing, as seen when she approaches Christophine’s dark room and becomes scared at what might be in it, but she doesn’t connect that intimidation factor to Christophine. Antoinette doesn’t connect the “evils” of obeah to Christophine because she sees her as a positive and protective figure in her life. This type of disconnect makes Antoinette seem more mature than most people in this book because it shows how she doesn’t judge Christophine’s character from her beliefs; she is able to look past them and forget her worries (or at least make herself do it) because of how positive of an impact Christophine has had on her.

It will be interesting to see how Christophine’s role in Antoinette’s life will either strengthen or weaken as the mother remarries and becomes momentarily happier than before, while also bringing in a new paternal role into her life.