In the Castle of My Skin

Despite being written in first- and third-person perspectives, In the Castle of My Skin eschews individual consciousness in favor of collective consciousness. Because of this, G.’s village becomes “the Village,” a central character with a lifeforce all its own. As Lamming himself says,

 It is the collective human substance of the Village itself which commands our attention. The Village, you might say, is the central character. When we see the Village as collective character, we perceive another dimension to the individual wretchedness of daily living. (xxxvi)

 Examples of this abound in the first chapter alone. The communal song that G.’s mother initiates draws not only on the collective response of oral tradition but also on the collective response to suffering. Though the village is flooding and G. feels that his birthday is ruined, the song connects the villagers and transforms individual wretchedness into communal energy. Lamming writes,

 It is the dimension of energy, force, a quickening capacity for survival. The Village sings, the Village dances; and since the word is their only rescue, all the resources of a vital oral folk tradition are summoned to bear witness to the essential humanity which rebukes the wretchedness of their predicament. (xxxvi)

 Moreover, the use of different perspectives and different settings throughout the