P.S. Be Eleven

“I’m gonna beat the Oakland out of you. I tell you NOT to go out there in public stirring up a grand Negro spectacle and you make it your business to do exactly that. Don’t you know the world’s got its eyes on you?”

Big Ma’s promise of harsh punishment comes from two sources—her belief in the importance of Black respectability and her rejection of the Black Power politics that her granddaughters learned in Oakland. Her beliefs become an ongoing source of conflict for Delphine in the novel. In this passage, the author deliberately employs outdated language about race to convey the historical time frame in which the novel is set.

“Don’t concern yourself with old things. Concern yourself with finding your own thing. But don’t rush. Listen to Billie sing, ‘God bless the child who has her own.’ Enjoy the time it takes to find your own. Study hard.

Your Mother.

Cecile.

P.S. Be eleven.”

Cecile’s repeated advice to Delphine is that she be 11, and with this pointed repetition, she implies that her daughter should relinquish the seriousness of her current demeanor and enjoy her childhood while she can. Cecile offers this advice because a major part of Delphine’s identity revolves around being a child who bears adult responsibilities. Her mother believes that this form of identity causes her daughter to miss essential experiences that all children should be having.

“I was tired of staring down every other girl in my grade who snickered at my pleated wool skirts and Peter Pan collars. All I wanted was to look like everyone else. Wasn’t fighting with immature boys in the school yard more than enough to bear?”

As a girl who is nearing adolescence, Delphine wants to fit in with her peers to avoid ridicule and carve out a safe space for herself in the public setting of school. Here, she expresses her irritation with the clothing choices that Big Ma makes for her. As in many scenes throughout the novel, Big Ma demonstrates her more conservative approach to what is appropriate for her granddaughter. This passage makes it clear that Delphine feels misunderstood and oppressed by her grandmother’s choices.

“Lucy Raleigh was one of my oldest friends, but she could also snicker at me with the best of the snickerers. We ran hot, warm, and cold with each other. I always adjusted my friendliness to meet hers.”

Another source of conflict for Delphine is her relationship with her peers. Delphine’s relationship with Lucy is typical in that it brings just as much comfort as it does discomfort. In this quote, Delphine describes one of the ways in which children deal with fraught friendships—by doing what it takes to fit in and maintain such friendships. However, Delphine’s caution around Lucy also establishes the fact that she does not feel fully safe, even among her friends, and she is constantly on the alert for situations that may lead to bullying or humiliation.

“Our television screen didn’t seem big enough for all those Jacksons. Afros bopping, arms swinging, and feet stepping and spinning in sync. And they wore wide bell-bottoms like crazy! The voices in the back were smooth and together. And the little boy singer let out his lungs like James Brown and Jackie Wilson rolled into one.”

One external force that influences Delphine’s self-identity is the growing presence of popular culture. This passage captures her delight upon seeing the Jackson Five on television, as she is excited to embrace the music of the young, all-Black group. The broadcast also gives Delphine insight into the world beyond the conservative restrictions of the Gaither household. The television is frequently a source of information about external events and aspects of culture that affect daily life inside the Gaither home, and the meteoric rise of the Jackson Five galvanizes the three Gaither sisters, who are happy to see young, successful Black people in the realm of popular culture.

“They showed a lot on the news: Dead soldiers. Prisoners of war. Wailing children, broken old people, bombing, and blood all came in sharp enough in black-and-white. The news anchor always said, ‘Parents, send the children out of the room if they’re nearby.’ I was the only child in the room but I watched anyway.”

Not all the information that comes through the television is good, as this passage demonstrates. Delphine’s interest in the news about the Vietnam War is far from neutral, as her uncle is fighting in the war represented in these news stories. Her concern about what she sees reflects the fact that external events have a profound impact on what happens in the Gaither home. Delphine’s access to information that is likely not age appropriate reflects her father and grandmother’s tendency to treat her as a younger adult rather than a child.

“I was only glad Miss Hendrix wasn’t around to smile and say, ‘You see, Delphine. You were the oppressor. You tried to keep your sisters down.’”

Earlier in the novel, Marva advises Delphine that her habit of being responsible for her sisters’ well-being and behavior prevents her sisters from learning responsibility. Delphine is initially not sure if she agrees with Marva, but she comes to accept Marva’s advice after she frames her relationship with her sisters in terms of her knowledge of Black Power politics. Thus, Delphine uses ideas external to the family and the home to understand relationships within the home, and her grudging acceptance of Marva’s advice reflects her growing willingness to trust her and include her as part of the family.

“I knew what he was doing. The Black Panthers warned us about this in summer camp. Divide and conquer. Separate the people and make one side think they are different or better than the other. But girls were better than boys.”

Delphine also uses Black Power politics to understand how groups of people interact in public settings as well. Here, she thinks about the separation between boys and girls as one that doesn’t benefit students, who are, she imagines, oppressed by teachers like Mr. Mwile. Despite her belief in Black Power politics, Delphine still believes that girls are better than boys, an attitude that is more characteristic of childhood than of adolescence. Her belief in this regard shows that she is still a child but also that she can criticize Black Power politics when it comes to gender.

“For now, walking with my family, I felt good and selfish, which was how Cecile told me to be, one night in Oakland. I enjoyed having my uncle, my father, my grandmother, and my sisters all to myself. I enjoyed the way it used to be in our house on Herkimer Street.”

Delphine is wistful in this quote as her family experiences a rare moment of togetherness during the trip to retrieve Darnell. Her wish that things could go back to the way they were is an acknowledgement that family relationships are shifting rapidly under her feet, and her thoughts also reflect that despite her growing maturity, her wish for impossible things proves that she is still a child in many ways. The Importance of Family Relationships and the fluctuations of family dynamics mark the primary sources of conflict in the novel.

“‘Vietnam’s shooting him.’ She said, ‘Be at nam.’”

Fern, the youngest Gaither, makes this insightful comment about what is happening to Darnell, who is in a sense still being shot by Vietnam because he bears the lingering psychological scars of war. Fern has this conversation because she is frightened by the noise that her uncle makes during his nightmares about the war. Delphine sees it as her responsibility to protect her little sister, whose innocence is made apparent by the mispronunciation of “Vietnam.”

“When I finished crying, I knew I had to do like Fern had done with Miss Patty Cake. I had to leave Miss Merriam Webster and all my pictures of her behind.”

This quote comes after the scene in which Delphine realizes she was mistaken in her assumption that a woman wrote the dictionary. Her disillusionment is a blow to her sense that women can be masters of language. This moment marks a turning point in her perception of her identity. The comparison between the dictionary and her sister’s doll, Miss Patty Cake, which Fern abandoned in Oakland, is designed to show that just like her sister, Delphine must abandon a childish misconception in order to advance into the realm of adolescence.

“‘You say, “I hear a voice,” then I say, “The princess is crying. The princess is crying.” Then you say, “Who will save the princess in the red castle?” Then I say, “We will save the princess in the red castle.” Then we charge to her rescue.’

‘Right, right,’ Uncle said, but I doubted he really remembered. Or maybe his mind was somewhere else.”

One indication that Darnell has been changed by war is his inability to create fairytales for his nieces. The war has changed his relationship to his family, and the scene also demonstrates that fairytales and fantasies are important motifs that underscore The Importance of Family Relationships and The Transition From Childhood to Adolescence.

“This isn’t a punishment, Michael. It’s an opportunity.”

Mr. Mwile’s take on forcing everyone to do double math to punish one student’s misbehavior highlights the divide between adults and children in the novel. His students see his choice as an arbitrary decision to assert his power over the children. His choice also shows one of the challenges that Delphine must navigate as she comes to the end of her childhood, as she must learn to meet the expectations of a more demanding educational system.

“I felt like my mind had grown to catch up with the rest of me. It wasn’t the sort of thing I’d tell Frieda or Lucy or my sisters, but I was dying to tell someone. Pa spent more time with Miss Marva Hendrix than he spent at home. And I couldn’t imagine telling Big Ma her Bible and a book by a Nigerian writer had something in common. Uncle Darnell was always either out walking or lying on his bed.”

This quote captures Delphine’s intellectual growth as she matures to arrive at adolescence. It also shows how fragmented the relationships within the Gaither family have become and foreshadows additional fractures in the family’s bonds. Delphine’s anticipation that Big Ma wouldn’t appreciate her insight reflects her growing awareness that what she learns in school has an impact on how she sees her family. Her appreciation of these distinctions proves that she has embraced a more nuanced view of the world.

“And they shook the mummy jar with all of my money in it and sang, ‘The giant is dead, the giant is dead, the giant is dead.’”

Williams-Garcia uses the motif of the fairytale to show how Delphine’s self-identity as a child with adult responsibilities leads to negative consequences for her, especially in terms of her relationship with her sisters. The song that the girls sing also shows that children understand more than adults realize about the issues of power and oppression, even when these forces originate within the family.

“I refused to look at Highlights for Children because I was now twelve. Instead, I planted myself before the four teen magazines that Mr. Mack’s Candy Store carried. Seventeen, ’Teen, Young Miss, and Tiger Beat. Magazines that talked about first dates, the right clothes, teenage TV stars, singing groups, and acne cream, although I didn’t have a need for acne cream.”

Delphine’s desire to read teen magazines is driven by her sense that being closer to adulthood is a positive development. Teen magazines are also an important part of popular culture: one that helps Delphine learn about the world beyond her family. However, the fact that Delphine has no need for acne cream shows that she has not even truly reached adolescence.

“After the assassination, Big Ma told Pa not to waste his vote on the Democrats. Instead of fixing things for the Negro race, Richard Nixon would win the war in Vietnam, clean up the country of its long-haired, drug-smoking hippies, and get those black militants […] in line. He would make America great.”

Robert Kennedy is a former attorney general and brother to President John Kennedy, who died by assassination. Just like his brother, Robert was also assassinated. The event occurred in 1968, so it would be fresh in the minds of the Gaither family. Williams-Garcia uses details like these to establish the historical context of the novel. Likewise, Big Ma’s judgmental and outdated language shows that she is a flawed adult in Delphine’s world. Big Ma also fears change, which explains her repressive style of guiding her granddaughters.

“I’d never seen a lady lawyer, but I knew what she meant about having a loud mouth. Like Angela Davis had a loud mouth. And Kathleen Cleaver had a loud mouth. She was talking about people who weren’t afraid to say things.”

The women with “loud mouths” are all feminists, while Davis and Cleaver are Black women associated with the Black Panther Party. Delphine’s admiration for both women helps her make the leap to seeing a female president as a real possibility. This conversation represents The Influence of Black Power Politics on Delphine’s identity.

“I think love wears out.”

Delphine comes to this morose conclusion after Pa fails to give Darnell more time to heal. Pa’s decision is a failure of empathy that makes Delphine uncomfortable because she realizes that her father is flawed and that the family love she assumed was indestructible can vanish at any moment. In this moment, Delphine realizes how fragmented her family really is.

“Her love was like her hate. It was true-blue. Big Ma would never love my mother. Even though my sisters and I came from Cecile and looked like her in different ways. Big Ma would not love Cecile, but she would love us, even when she was whipping us. Even when she was calling us a bunch of untrained chimps.”

Delphine realizes that Big Ma’s love can be expressed conditionally, but her love for the girls is unquestioned. Here, Delphine recognizes that because people are flawed, their love can be an important part of family and still be flawed as well. The passage also implies that Delphine depends on her grandmother as a source of stability.

“Was it real power, like the Black Panthers mean power, or was it just a taste of power? Like Vonetta being the saver. Vonetta was doing a good job, but it didn’t mean everything had changed. She washed dishes and tried to scrub the bathtub, but I still had to get after her to hang up her school clothes instead of throwing them on the floor.”

This quote captures Delphine extending and critiquing her understanding of Black Power politics as a force for change. She is thinking over whether the election of Shirley Chisolm within the political system is meaningful. Such thoughts show that Delphine accepts that Black Power politics can explain some but not all of what she encounters as she matures.

“‘I need you to hear what I’m saying even if you’re too young to understand. You can’t have everything in life that you want. Some things are meant for you. Some things just aren’t.’

What did being young have to do with—‘But what about working hard, Pa?’ I said. I’m no back-talker but my mouth opened. With my sisters crying, I became one of those loudmouths […] I couldn’t stop.”

Delphine connects several strands of her identity here. She is a big sister, a child who believes in the lessons of Black Power politics, and a daughter who no longer sees her father as perfect. This quote therefore reflects the profound internal changes in Delphine’s identity over the course of the novel.

“Twelve makes you know better than to wish for things that only eleven would wish hard for.”

Delphine’s statement here also shows the shift in her identity. Turning 12 marks her turn from childhood fantasies to a more serious understanding of her family life and herself. The tone in this quote is sober, reflecting the difficult experiences that Delphine has come through to gain this wisdom, even as the sharp distinction she makes between being 11 and being 12 underscores the fact that she still has a long journey ahead before she reaches full maturity.