Characters (Leave Taking)

This section explores the characters in Leave Taking by Winsome Pinnock. Leave Taking by Winsome Pinnock is a powerful exploration of the experiences of a Caribbean immigrant family in Britain. The play focuses on the family dynamics between a mother, Enid, and her two daughters, Del and Viv, as they struggle with identity, cultural conflict, and the effects of migration. Each character in the play is carefully crafted to represent different aspects of the immigrant experience and the challenges of adapting to life in a foreign country.

Enid (The Mother)

Role in the Play: Enid is the matriarch of the family, a first-generation immigrant from Jamaica who is determined to give her daughters a better life in Britain. As a single mother, she works hard to provide for her children and raise them with values that she believes will help them succeed.

Enid’s Character Traits: Enid is strong-willed, hardworking, and deeply rooted in her Jamaican heritage. She is proud of her culture and maintains many of her traditions, but she also carries the emotional weight of migration and the sacrifices she has made for her children. She can be stern, even strict, as she believes discipline is necessary for her daughters to navigate the challenges they face.

Conflict: Enid’s strictness leads to conflict with her daughters, who feel stifled by her traditional values and expectations. The generational and cultural gap between Enid and her daughters creates tension, particularly as they do not fully understand the hardships she has endured. Enid also feels a deep sense of guilt and failure: despite her efforts, she fears she is losing her daughters to a culture that she does not fully understand.

Key Themes: Enid embodies the themes of sacrifice, cultural displacement, and motherhood. Her character represents the struggle of immigrants trying to reconcile their cultural heritage with their new environment.

Del (The Elder Daughter)

Role in the Play: Del, Enid’s elder daughter, is rebellious and struggling with her identity. She feels disconnected from her mother’s Jamaican culture and is frustrated by the expectations placed on her, both at home and in British society. Del’s anger and disillusionment are central to her character.

Del’s Character Traits: Del is outspoken, frustrated, and often confrontational. She resents her mother’s strictness and the pressure to succeed academically in a society that she feels does not accept her. Del is deeply affected by the racism she experiences in Britain, which exacerbates her feelings of alienation. Her rebellion is a way of expressing her dissatisfaction with both her home life and the world around her.

Conflict: The main conflict for Del is her relationship with her mother, Enid. She feels misunderstood and rejected by her mother, believing that Enid does not care about her struggles. Del also grapples with her place in society, as she feels that she does not belong in either the Jamaican or British worlds. Her anger leads her to question her identity and where she fits in.

Key Themes: Del’s character explores the themes of alienation, identity crisis, and racism. She represents the second-generation immigrant experience, where the younger generation feels caught between the culture of their parents and the society they live in.

Viv (The Younger Daughter)

Role in the Play: Viv is the younger daughter of Enid and the more obedient of the two sisters. She is more reserved and academically focused, attempting to fulfil her mother’s wishes and live up to her expectations. However, despite her outward compliance, Viv is also grappling with her identity and feelings of displacement.

Viv’s Character Traits: Viv is intelligent, thoughtful, and more cautious than her sister Del. She appears to be the "good" daughter, trying to bridge the gap between her mother’s values and the modern world she is growing up in. However, underneath her calm exterior, Viv also experiences feelings of confusion and isolation, though she expresses them less openly than Del.

Conflict: Viv’s internal conflict centres around her attempts to please her mother while also navigating her own sense of self. She feels the weight of her mother’s expectations, yet she is aware of the racism and societal barriers she faces in Britain. Unlike Del, who externalises her anger, Viv’s struggles are more internalised, which creates a different kind of tension within the family.

Key Themes: Viv’s character deals with the themes of conformity, internal conflict, and belonging. She represents those who try to balance their parents’ expectations with the reality of growing up in a different culture.

Mai (The Spiritual Healer)

Role in the Play: Mai is a spiritual healer that Enid turns to for help when she feels that her daughters, particularly Del, are drifting away from her. Mai represents the connection to traditional Caribbean spirituality and cultural roots. Her role in the play is symbolic of the old-world practices that Enid clings to in an attempt to reconnect with her past and her daughters.

Mai’s Character Traits: Mai is calm, wise, and spiritual. She provides a sense of hope and comfort for Enid, offering her a way to connect with her daughters through spiritual means. However, her presence also raises questions about whether traditional beliefs and practices can truly offer solutions in a foreign land.

Conflict: Mai’s character does not experience direct conflict, but her involvement in the family highlights the tension between modern life in Britain and the traditional beliefs of Caribbean culture. While Enid believes that Mai’s spiritual guidance will help her daughters, Del and Viv are more sceptical of her methods.

Key Themes: Mai embodies the theme of spirituality and healing. She represents the cultural heritage that Enid tries to hold onto and pass down to her daughters, despite their reluctance to embrace it.

Broderick (Absent Father)

Role in the Play: Although Broderick does not appear on stage, his absence is felt throughout the play. He is Enid’s estranged husband and the father of Del and Viv. His abandonment of the family has a significant emotional impact, particularly on Del, who feels the pain of his absence most acutely.

Broderick’s Character Traits: Broderick is depicted as unreliable and emotionally distant, having left the family to fend for themselves. His absence represents the failure of fatherhood and the additional burden placed on Enid as a single mother.

Conflict: The absence of a father figure in the family creates conflict, particularly in Del, who feels a deep sense of rejection. This absence also fuels the tension between Del and Enid, as Del blames her mother for driving her father away.

Key Themes: Broderick’s absence highlights the themes of fatherhood, abandonment, and the struggles of single-parent families. His character underscores the emotional toll that migration and broken family structures can have on children.

Conclusion

The characters in Leave Taking are central to exploring the complex themes of identity, migration, and family dynamics. Each character embodies different aspects of the immigrant experience, from Enid’s struggles to hold onto her cultural roots while raising her daughters in Britain, to Del and Viv’s search for belonging in a society that often marginalises them. Through these characters, Winsome Pinnock provides a rich and nuanced portrayal of the challenges faced by Caribbean immigrant families, particularly in relation to cultural displacement, generational conflict, and the quest for identity.