Building Character in Monsoon Mansion

     One of the things I was most struck by in Cinelle Barnes's Monsoon Mansion is the way in which she uses time and space. We briefly discussed last class how characters live and move in their spac and the objects they key reveals key character traits without being overt. While reading, I couldn't stop thinking about this idea, especially since the space -- the mansion -- is so monstrous and all encompassing, even when it isn't present (like in Abra).
     From the very start we know that the mansion is the emblem of status. It is larger than life and at first, our narrator moves as such. She's a small girl, mesmerized by the vastness. Her innocence is on full display as she plucks crystals from the ceiling by stacking mismatched objects together for a ladder. The mansion is pristine, kept up; it houses staff and the rest of Cinelle's family -- a mother, father, brother. But just beyond the border lays conflict in the middle east that'll eventually destroy the nuclear family. We watch (or read) as the Cinelle's world begins to break down and the mansion provides a concrete reflection of the intangible (the middle east conflict).
     The mansion's breakdown also serves as a sort of sharpening block for our narrator. The more it breaks down, the harder Cinelle becomes. Of course this is a memoir, so we know that there is some level of fiction, some level of truth to the details included by the author, but what Barnes chooses to include is where the character development comes from. As previously mentioned, the crystals and our narrator's curiosity of them are signs of her innocence. Fast forward and contrast this moment with Cinelle's curiosity of Diyosas's room after Diyosas leaves. There's still an air of curiosity present in our narrator, but in between the years, she's grown much like the mansion, weather beaten. Once she realises Diyosas's smell is gone, she leaves, too. She doesn't bother with trying to find Diyosas, the only character in ages who's shown her any affection; she gives up. But think about the objects that Cinelle includes in her descriptions of Diyosas, the ones Cinelle fingers before she realises she's alone once more. A tin filled with makeup, some name brand, but most handmade all makeup the things that this young prostitute have held onto, that Cinelle has even used and they're markers, reminders that Cinelle is becoming a young woman in the midst of this chaos. She must rely on a more than likely underage sex worker to find a way to womanhood.
     Books are another way in which Barnes's shows our narrator's growth (or decent, hardening, etc). More towards the middle of the book, around page 146, we see how literature/books functions as reflection. Now alone fully, Cinelle relies on books, including A Little Princess and To Kill a Mockingbird. These books reflect the narrator's innermost wants and give the reader a frame of reference for the world in which she's in.
     Outside of the narrator, we can also see characterisation through objects in how 'Mama' acts. How as the situation inside the mansion becomes more desperate, what she's willing to give up - and has to give up - grows. At first she fights with papa about losing her necessities -- handmade designer clothes, a chauffeur, brand new cars -- to forgoing showers, but holding onto Hermes shoes. She essentially barters with her own children for money, power, etc. We see a woman unhinged, but it's all in the details the narrator choses to include.