I, Tituba by Maryse Conde Book Analysis

📌Category: Books
📌Words: 454
📌Pages: 2
📌Published: 16 February 2022

The last line before Tituba’s death in Maryse Conde’s I, Tituba oddly uses the word “bristling”: “All around me strange trees were bristling with strange fruit,” (Conde 172). “Bristling” is the adjective form of the verb bristle. “Bristle” has multiple meanings including: a short or spikey hair, [fur] standing upright especially in fear, or to be covered or abundant in. The sentence from I, Tituba is using the third definition. 

“Bristling” is an odd choice for this line; its connotation lends itself to something covered in spikes, like a porcupine, not a tree. The word “overflowing” could have been used instead to create a less confusing image of the tree. “Overflowing” alludes to liquid, although it can be used in other connotations. Neither “overflowing” nor “bristling” are commonly used to describe a tree; however, the word “overflowing” could describe a tree overflowing with fruit without sounding out of place. 

The choice to use “bristling” paints an image of a tree with spikes of fruit pointing out in all directions. The only time “bristling” would possibly be used to describe a tree would be when discussing a pine tree or similar evergreens. Additionally, Tituba’s death scene takes place in Barbados, which is not a place where evergreens normally grow or are found. “Bristling” makes the concept of strange fruit and strange trees impossible to be interpreted literally. 

If it is impossible to be interpreted literally, another meaning must have been intended by Conde. Strange fruit is potentially an allusion to the popular 20th century song of the same name. The song uses the term “strange fruit” as a metaphor for dead bodies that have been lynched. If this is the meaning intended by Conde, it gives the sentence a darker connotation. However, trees “bristling” with dead bodies is an unusual image on its own, but can be explained by strange trees being a metaphor for gallows. The sentence could refer to gallows bristling with bodies, a more sinister explanation for an easily overlooked statement. Interestingly, “bristle” comes from the Old English “byrst”, meaning loss or injury. As a result, “bristling” could also refer to the loss of life. The use of “bristling” is more powerful when referring to the loss of lives among the gallows than strange trees spiked with strange fruit. 

I, Tituba walks the line between truth and fantasy, stepping off only in certain moments. The story is both based on the real Tituba and filling in the gaps that no one knows. The language shrouded the entire novel in mystery about what actually happened and what did not. Conde knowingly used “bristling” despite it not belonging. Intentionally using  “bristling” solidifies the end of Tituba’s story as dark and mysterious. The point of I, Tituba is to tell a forgotten story; if the moment had made perfect sense, it would be too clear. The ending is supposed to be up in the air, and like Tituba, the truth has been lost to time.

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