Two-Way Monologues an Examination of Keneally's the Chant of Jimmy Blacksmith Through Friel's Translations

Two-Way Monologues

An examination of Keneally's The Chant of Jimmy Blacksmith through

Friel's Translations

If medium is the message, as suggested by Marshall McLuhan, much can be said about the difference between a novel and a play. As he explains, the medium is an extension of human facility, "The wheel...is an extension of the foot. The book is an extension of the eye... Clothing, an extension of the skin..." (McLuhan). Thomas Keneally's novel The Chant of Jimmy Blacksmith explains this phenomenon as Jimmy's chant. It is not only what drives Jimmy, but it is a manifestation of proven and perceived social malfunctions. This chant is an extension of Jimmy, and it is therefore his message. Where Keneally is able to flesh out a complex main character with intense actions and conflicting inner monologues in his novel, Brian Friel is restricted to the format of a play in Translations. Using this medium, Friel must elaborate different emotions through different characters, many of whom have attributes similar to Jimmy Blacksmith.

At their core, both stories are fictionalized accounts of true events. British imperialism is the similar theme in each, and both elaborate on the destruction of society and the reaction of the indigenous peoples. Translations illustrates the attempted dissolution of the Irish culture by British solders. Map makers are sent to survey and re-inscribe the entire island of Ireland. This is clearly an attempt at revising history, and erasure of the Irish's sense of the past. In this case, the existence of culture acts as the medium, and is an extension of their way of life. More specifically names of towns on the maps are quickly being translated from Irish to English, effectively changing both the medium, and the message. This cultural genocide is something that is comparable to the human genocide that prefaced The Chant of Jimmy Blacksmith.

After a large percentage of aboriginal tribes were destroyed by the British in Australia, the remaining natives were subject to horrible treatment; effectively killing their spirit and their history. The result of these actions are reflected upon Jimmy Blacksmith. He is pulled between different factions, but is truly guided by an ominous and treacherous voice. Keneally is able to develop an extremely complex character within the breadth of the novel, where as Friel had to work within the limits of writing a play. He is unable to express deep narration or inner monologues within the confines of a stage, so his solution is to represent different perspectives through naturally one sided characters. Many of these characters can be directly related to Jimmy and his evolution from reluctant Aborigine and pining white to savage killer, and finally to introspective prisoner.

A plot device employed by both authors is having characters speak in different languages. Jimmie converses in Mungindi with Aborigines and half-casts, and heavily colloquial English with the White characters. In Translations, the Irish characters speak Gaelic, Latin, and English through the play. There are points of confusion when bridging the language gap in both stories, further emphasizing how unique and frustratingly different cultures can truly be. In one such transaction, Jimmy Jack is misunderstood when speaking Latin to an English solider; "Nonne Latine loquitur? (Does he not speak Latin?)." To which the solider responds "I do not speak Gaelic, sir."

Painted as the polarized half-caste, Jimmy Blacksmith doesn't seem to mind when he and his relatives all receive Anglicized titles. Similarly, Friel shows Owen as reluctant to argue with his newly branded name Roland. Both examples are used to emphasize the effect a ruling class can have over the ruled. There is an inherent respect born out of fear as a result of occupation. Both Jimmy and Owen are torn between two cultures, and as a result, find it difficult to communicate completely with either. As the Englishman at the Department of Agriculture explains to Jimmy, "It's a hard country. Lower ways of life give way to higher." When a man is beaten down to the brim of death, his only way of identification is his name. Manus confronts Owen on his reluctance to correct the misspoken English soldiers, he sheepishly states, "Easy, man easy. Owen Ð'- Roland Ð'- what the hell. It's only a name. It's the same me, isn't it?" The true irony in this statement is that while it is physically still him, his identity is changed, and a part of him is lost forever. Jimmy Blacksmith, on the