Abeng

Religion is a major theme in the book, mirroring the central role it plays in European and Jamaican cultures. However, the narrator expresses an ambivalent attitude towards Christianity.

On the one hand, religion serves as a source of spiritual succor for poor Jamaicans, especially women. Their faith gives Black women a buffer against the suffering and unhappiness caused by their poverty, mistreatment by men and white people, and continuous struggle to provide for their children and relatives.

On the other hand, combined with the lack of social mobility, the Black population’s attitude that their life is “just a gateway to the life everlasting” and that the only way to escape from reality is to wait for the afterlife makes it difficult for them to strive for or dream about a better existence (10). Their faith, in a way, becomes a self-imposed subjugation and paralyzes any attempts at political activism. Additionally, Christianity has served, historically, as an excuse for the persecution of various groups, such as the Jews. Its militarized version, as preached at the John Knox Church, serves as the moral underpinning of European exploration and expansion: colonizing other peoples is not only profitable, but it is also a sacred duty, as it is the way to spread the Lord’s word to the rest of the world.