Swing Time

Part 3 of Swing Time explores issues of control and power. Subtitled “Intermission,” evoking audiences in a theater waiting for the next act to begin, this period in the narrator’s life is a time of stagnation. The narrator waits for the next chapter of her life to start, assuming that someone else is writing the script, just as a theater audience is only an observer of a playwright’s work. The narrator has lost the agency to propel herself forward.

In one of this section’s discussions of power, Smith proposes that one’s belief in whether change is best created by government intervention or individual capacity is based on privilege. As Black women living in a racist and sexist society, the narrator and her mother lack individual power, so they look for institutional support, such as shifts in policies or more representation in parliament. But Aimee, a white, famous, and wealthy woman believes that only individuals can be the change they want to see in the world. This is because her privilege allows her to literally do whatever she wants—she can advocate for change with her fans, or use her money to build schools. But Aimee’s perspective is blinkered: Because she doesn’t see power as systemic, she doesn’t realize that one more school in West Africa won’t change the world. Aimee’s individual power makes her believe in her individual influence, but it blocks her from understanding how the world functions. Aimee’s engagements with charity are superficial; they cannot get to the root of an issue. The novel makes a strong case that the less privileged must rely on governments and institutions because they lack resources.

The narrator’s mother sees Aimee as a clueless white savior: As a white woman from Australia, what exactly does Aimee know about any African country? While the narrator’s mother has actively studied international poverty, Aimee can’t articulate why she wants to set up a foundation. This suggests that Aimee is interested in charity for her public image, relying on other people to do the research and development, while she acts as the face of goodwill.

The narrator’s job explores another paradox of control. Though the job allows her to be a free spirit, traveling around the world and never calling one place home, her mother notes that her job is like slavery, or at least self-denying servitude. Because the narrator is so busy meeting Aimee’s needs, the narrator can’t think about her own life. She has no friends and has not developed any goals or ambitions. Meanwhile, Aimee is so oblivious to the narrator that she even forgets the narrator’s birthday. When the narrator confides in Aimee about her conflict with Tracey, Aimee pretends she wants to offer guidance, but then just dismisses the narrator’s problem, proving that Aimee only asks the narrator questions about her personal life to feel like a wise and cool leader. Being a personal assistant to Aimee is wasting the narrator’s potential. This self-lessening is another parallel to the narrator’s friendship with Tracey, for whom she similarly gave up power.

The narrator does briefly seize control and power when she sings in the piano bar, losing herself in the power of her body. She sings when Aimee is not around, signifying that the narrator could be empowered if she weren’t under Aimee’s control. Furthermore, the narrator sings “Black Classical Music,” reclaiming a genre typically associated with 17th-19th-century white composers and performers, and thus centering rather than excluding the Black experience. Classical music is typically seen as the foundation of Western music. Therefore, the narrator connects to her own culture and history through embracing what is canonical, foundational, and formative for Black culture. By singing Black Classical Music, the narrator reclaims pride in her identity as a Black woman.

The final and crucial revelation about power and control is Tracey’s betrayal. Tracey’s claim to have slept with the narrator’s father recalls the child Tracey’s attraction to the narrator’s father as an important and admirable male figure. Tracey’s adult desire for this man transforms Tracey’s fatherlessness into the ultimate power move, effectively destroying the narrator’s perceptions of her beloved father.