Gorilla My Love Diction Analysis (Essay Example)

Gorilla, My Love is a novel by Toni Cade Bambara filled with a series of stories, which teach specific lessons. In the book, parts of life like betrayal, coming of age, and heartbreak are portrayed. She uses a number of literary elements to build plots in the novel, for example diction. In Gorilla, My Love Toni Cade uses to diction portray the development of characters and affect the tone when conflicts in the plot take place..

In one of the beginning chapters, which is titled “Gorilla, My Love” the protagonist, Hazel, is on her way to a movie with her grandfather, uncle, and cousin. Her diction involves words that give structure to the tension of the chapter and also give insight to her character. While at the screening of the movie Hazel uses phrases such as “I thinks so,” “So we all go wild. Yellin, booin, stompin, and carryin on,” and “anybody in my family is better than this god they talkin about”(Bambara). The language which she uses shows she is poorly educated due to her southern dialect and poor grammar when it comes to her speech (Ellis). Also the phrases help to portray Hazel’s immature and quite emotional attitude. Her emotional attitude is later seen in the chapter when a conflict rises between Hazel and her uncle which she refers to as “Hunca Bubba.” (Bamara). The cause of their dispute is the marriage of “Hunca Bubba” and his lover, which Hazel is jealous of. In the heat of the situation the diction of the main character escalates to phrases like “Well, you said it, didnt you,” “I am screamin,” and “You a lyin dawg”  (Bambara). As the tension between the two rises, the sloppier and more disrespectful Hazel’s words become. Hunca Bubba responds by saying, “I was just teasin” (Bambara). These words lead to Hazel breaking down into tears realizing the person she loved will not be with her. Hazel’s strong language in the story shows her bitter emotions to “Hunca Bubba” for disregarding her feelings and treating her like a child (Ellis).

Later the novel transitions to a chapter titled “The Hammer Man'.” In this chapter the main character is an unnamed little girl, who in her younger years gets into many fights, although the story specifically focuses on one conflict she has with a child named Manny. The main character disrespects his mother. As a result Manny waits outside of her house to settle the issue physically. After a while of the main character barricading herself inside the house, he leaves. After this altercation, she does not see Manny for a while. The diction used in this chapter shows character development when it comes to maturity. It also gives representation of how black people in poverty were not respected. During this conflict, the main character says phrases to Manny that can be seen as immature and hurtful. For example, she says “you got no sense of humor, that's your trouble” ( Bambara), after Manny comes to her porch to fight over her disrespectful language. Analyzing the way she speaks about the situation it is apparent that she is immature and unable to fully indicate the hurt her words may cause. Later in the chapter, after some time passes, a change is seen when she is in the park confronting the police about the way they are treating Manny. She says, “Manny don’t take no mess from no cops. He ain’t bothering nobody. He’s gonna be Mister Basketball when he grows up. Just trying to get a little practice in before the softball season starts” (Bambara). While this display of unity is going on, the officers are using words against them which can be seen as belittling or degrading. For example, “little girl” and “little black boy” There is an obvious change in maturity. Instead of taking physical action against the police she defends for Manny verbally. The main character also acknowledges their position as two black children against two white policemen, they were in danger of being unfairly arrested or killed (Lind). 

The novel then moves into the chapter “Mississippi Ham Rider”. This story follows a girl named “Inez” whose task is to get a musician named Ham to New York City. The company she works for wants him to sing and record records for profit. Diction in this chapter is used to show the importance of black culture, from aspects like food to music. To begin with, for southern black people, food is a part of the soul food culture. In the book a restaurant owner known as Mama Teddy says, “Most people don’t know how to cook nohow, ‘specifically you northerners” (Bambara). Following this Ham Rider also states, “That’s the south boy” after Inez’s coworkers ask what that smell is (Bambara). By the tone of their words they are addressing the preparation of food as a serious topic, in which great pride is taken. After the meal, Ham Rider and Inez start discussing business for music. Ham abruptly changes the mood when he says, “I don’t sing no cotton songs, sister” (Bambara). By his way of speech it’s fair to say he does not have the highest education, but he does know the way of the music business when it comes to black people. Ham does not want to be taken advantage of or used to portray his people in a harmful way. By also referring to Inez as “sister,” Ham feels that he can trust her as another black person working alongside him. African American or black culture can be depicted in ways such as food, dialect, or music. These elements helped build a strong and trusting connection between Ham and Inez (Lind).

In conclusion, Toni Cade Bambara uses diction in her novel Gorilla, My Love to develop characters and affect the tone when conflicts in the plot take place. She uses it to explain different scenarios, such as young heartbreak, police injustice, and black culture. Most of the diction helps build a personality for the characters as well as understand the situation that they must struggle through as African Americans. Gorilla, My Love is an informative novel that contains a lot of depth and criticizes societal norms.