If I Survive You

The question of cultural identity, which takes place in the context of immigration, touches all the main characters of this series of short stories. Trelawny is this collection’s protagonist; his search for identity features most prominently in almost all of its stories. However, Escoffery also allows the reader a glimpse into how immigration has affected Topper’s and Delano’s sense of cultural identification and identity development. As this collection of stories is character driven, this theme—like the other themes—plays out largely within the space of character development and interpersonal interaction.

As the son of Jamaican immigrants, Trelawny spends his childhood in a series of near-constant negotiations between American and Jamaican cultural identification. His parents, his father in particular, would like him to retain a connection to their cultural past; Topper in particular is chagrined to see his son mimicking the affect and mannerisms of his African American classmates. Topper strictly differentiates between Jamaican and African American identity, and does not want to see Trelawny aligned with the habits and customs of a group of people for whom he has very little respect. However, Trelawny has few options available. His desire to identify with the African American students at his school stems largely from the lack of acceptance offered by any other groups: He is “too Black” for the Hispanic students; not Jamaican enough for his brother’s Jamaican friends; and confusing to white students, who tend to place him among African Americans despite his light skin.