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73 pages 2 hours read

Kwame Mbalia

Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2019

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Symbols & Motifs

Eddie’s Journal

Eddie’s journal is one the central objects of power in the novel, and it symbolizes the power of storytelling and memory in Black American culture. Eddie created the journal before the events of the novel and used it to collect folktales from knowledgeable storytellers like Nana Strong. This personal project became the basis for the friendship between Eddie and Tristan, making it a key connection between Tristan’s past and present as he navigates life into the dangerous world of Alke. The journal rescues Tristan when it assumes the form of Eddie as a paper giant; this is the first indication of the protective power of stories when people confront life-threatening situations.

Having only part of the story or having one’s story in control of another can be a danger, however, a truth that becomes clear once Uncle C begins using Tristan’s story to consolidate his power and overwhelm the gods of MidPass. The resolution of the conflict between the Maafa and the people of MidPass comes only once Tristan agrees to tell the truth about the Maafa’s dark, painful past and once Tristan unmasks the role of Uncle Cotton in the corruption of storytelling. This outcome shows that storytelling can be healing on an individual and societal scale, while unmasking untruths can help society reconcile itself to the ugliest parts of its history.

Boxing

Boxing is a motif in the novel that is associated with resilience in the face of challenges and underscores the theme of Tristan’s journey to Black heroism. Boxing also serves to connect Tristan to his identity as a Strong, a family that prides itself on its boxing championships, and other boxers like Muhammed Ali, who embodied Black male defiance and resistance in the face of racism.

The motif first appears in the boxing match that Tristan loses before the events of the novel. Already feeling low because of Eddie’s death, Tristan gives up and is not able to land his punches because he is unable to come to terms with his grief. Tristan boxes again with Gum Baby in the struggle over the journal, and his careless actions almost leads to the destruction of MidPass, the Ridge, and Alke. The outcome of this bout of boxing shows that lack of forethought about consequences can interfere with one’s ability to withstand challenges.

Over the course of the novel, Tristan begins to learn when to box and when to rely on his words through storytelling. His fight with the fetterlings fails to free Brer Fox because Tristan has not thought through the priority of getting everyone to the Thicket. However, Tristan chooses to fight to defend the Thicket with the help of John Henry, who reminds him of the importance of focus and gives him the help he needs with the gloves and his belief in Tristan to be a successful fighter.

Tristan uses his boxing skills in many of the battles that he fights throughout the rest of the novel, but less so as he comes to recognize that thinking through situations and his words, in the form of stories and persuasive arguments, generally serve him better as tools for survival. By the end of the novel, Tristan becomes a stronger person because boxing is one among many tools he uses.

The Maafa

The Maafa is a creature who symbolizes the pain and trauma of the Middle Passage, the second leg of the triangular trade that brought people of African descent to the Americas as slaves. The Maafa takes the form of a slave ship, a point made obvious because of its dark hold and that its tools for domination are made of the fetters used to chain enslaved people in the holds of slave ships. The Middle Passage is a cloudy part of Black American history because much of what happened during the journeys almost never appeared in historical accounts during all of slavery. The trade only documented the lives of enslaved Black people as products instead of human beings. The moment when the Maafa came into being coincides with the moment when the folktales, forming into the gods of MidPass, arose and banished the Maafa to the Burning Sea. This history shows that so long as Black Americans attempt to hide from this painful history, they will not be free of this pain.

The Story Box

The Story Box refers to a powerful object that Anansi attempts to use to collect all the stories across worlds, making it an important symbol of the power of stories. There are other Story Boxes, including ones in the Ridge and another in the Golden Crescent, and each one has an appearance that reflects the culture of those who own it. The presence of these several Story Boxes makes the point that every culture has its unique storytelling traditions, and that these traditions help to define the values of the culture. Story Boxes also shape themselves to fit the expectations of those who possess them, as when the box transforms into a bookbag for Tristan, a schoolboy, and transforms into a treasure chest for Uncle C, a greedy man who only wants to possess it for his own selfish goals. Story Boxes ultimately reflect the values of those who create the stories that fill them.

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