The McCoy Game Reflection

The Good in Secrets.

    Alston begins this narrative by establishing that the narrator's grandfather, Big Mac, was an, "...old dude [who] loved his secrets," and in a way preserved the past in upholding this value (Alston 38). This idea is manifested throughout the entirety of this passage with the interactions between the narrator, Jamal, and his cousin, Dre. To keep a secret is to withhold information from others, only letting those who you trust in on the details. Secrets can be precious, lethal in their power if their truth is exposed. They can be used as agents of manipulation to obtain power, be the tip-off of someone's downfall, or they can be used as a way to keep people united under the obligation of sworn confidentiality and a shared understanding of respect. In Alston's The McCoy Game, the latter idea comes to fruition. Big Mac's secrets about his assets ultimately brought Jamal and Dre back to each other, restoring their relationship through forcing them to draw upon their shared ancestry and heritage to conquer the challenges that they faced in their late grandfather's home. 

    This is best examined when Jamal and Dre encounter the breathworm, drawing upon the stories that Big Mac used to tell them in private to seize their opportunity for escape. Jamal remembered one of the stories about the breathworm that he was told about when he was younger and had visited his grandfather in the summertime. Long ago, Big Mac gave the answer to Jamal and Dre's present problem, saying that, "...music soothes the savage beast...[and] ain't no music more soothing than some classic Motown," (Alston 52). Not only was Big Mac letting his grandchildren in on secret anecdotes from his life experience in encountering extraterrestrial creatures, but he was also providing them with advice that would help them in the future. Even Dre, who had given up visiting his grandad in the summertime to pursue his passion for basketball, drew upon the secrets lodged deep within his memory to aid his escape. As a result of this, both Jamal and Dre began to sing lyrics from classic Motown songs in order to stun the creature and give themselves some time to book it out of the basement. In doing so, not only were they able to use their shared ancestry and heritage lodged within those secrets to defeat the creature and persevere, but their bond was also restored through the shared recognition of valuing those secrets. 

    While the idea of secrecy has a typically negative connotation, it can be used for good given the right circumstance. For Jamal and Dre in particular, they used their knowledge about their grandad's secrets to help get them out of harm's way and restore the path between each other. In this case, secrets were used to build and repair rather than to deconstruct. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Adeyemi 2nd Weekly Reflection

  Joshua Singh Dr. Ellis EN 376 Second Adeyemi Reflection One of the benefits the novel’s structure serves is that each chapter follows the perspective of a singular character. This can also highlight the parallels between different characters' realizations of what is happening around them as well as how this realization compares to what they have been taught growing up. More specifically, Amari and Inan’s internal conflictedness stands at odds with their father’s teaching, and their maturation is seen through how they define themselves against him. For example, Amari does not want to emulate her father’s violence and cruelty, nor does she want to continue in the path of violence and destruction that he has shown her since the beginning of his reign. After she kills one of the captains, the spectators of Orisha applaud them and call Amari “Lionare.” Rather than feeling honored by this, Amari rebukes any of the glorification that would usually accompany being cheered on with a t...
Read more

Afrofuturism and The McCoy Game

  The concept of traveling with niche coordinates only a select few can understand parallels “A Map to the Next World.” The idea of life after death and never truly dying; the person lives on as long as their memory is alive. There being a family secret parallels Na Viro. The impossible becoming possible; the concept of people thinking that someone's heritage is myth (p.40). The idea that you must take action rather than being a viewer. Jamal and Andre being foils of the importance of knowing vs money (capitalism); the spoken poem about sisterhood. The jetbacks being compared to swimming on air parallels Na Viro’s wave finding the ocean is similar to navigating space. Additionally, Jamal being more interested in space and him bringing -encouraging- Andre to explore space parallels Na Viro when the sisters guided each other through understanding and returning to parts of their dual heritage. Furthermore, saving family despite the differences and fear parallels Tia saving her sister ...
Read more

Na Viro Reflection

Dani’s humanity rapidly decreases and it is clear that although the Academy had ill intentions, Dani took the agenda to the extremes. She did not have any genuine- familial reactions when it was  a possibility that Leilani was dead and she was willing to choke Tia to death if it meant getting the probe (240; 322-325) . That is mind boggling to me because what level of selfishness, greed and hatred does a human being have to reach in order to view their family as an obstacle/ disposable? On the topic of the Academy, Leilani shocked me in the best way possible! (254-257)  I like how both sisters reject Dani’s views, but that they did it in opposite ways. Both had the same goal, but different ways of achieving it. Tia was more apparent and actively denouncing the Academy, while Leilani decided to be more active in preventing the Academy in causing further-overall- harm. Since Tia was only focused on saving Earth, she never considered that other planets could face the same fate as...
Read more