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= Gender Theory in Gardening in the Tropics = It is important to look at Gardening in the Tropics through a gendered lens, as it helps to better understand the harsh social realities faced by women and men in Senior's collection of poetry.

Brief Background of Text
Gardening in the Tropics by Olive Senior is a poetry collection published in 1994 by Insomniac Press. The collection received a positive reception from critics and subsequently won the F.G. Bressani Literary Prize in 1995. Senior’s work has been relished, and has become integrated into the Caribbean teaching-learning process, as Gardening in the Tropics was introduced to the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) in 2005.

Brief Background of Author
''Why do I write?... I have finally accepted the fact that, yes,''

writing is what I am suppose to do with my life; it is the way I affirm myself.

— Olive Senior, Interview in Callaloo, 1988

Olive Senior was an acclaimed poet and author born in 1841, and Gardening in the Tropics and her other published short stories and poems were inspired by the socio-historical context of the Caribbean during this time. Senior started writing early, however she started quietly publishing her work in the 1970s, as for her, initially, writing was only a means of escape, from her own reality and to experience the realities of others in her society. As a native of Jamaica, Senior expressed the complex socio-cultural aspects of the island, and the wider Caribbean, which she saw as her inheritance. Senior was raised in the Cockpit Country located in Trelawny, Jamaica and lived in this rural area of Jamaica with her stay at home mother and her farmer father. She grew up with a detailed understanding of the ecology of the Cockpit Country and the Caribbean and displayed this understanding through her pieces in the Gardening in the Tropics collection. Senior grew up with a mixed heritage, which was as a result of her multiracial ethnicity. Though this is so, Senior was not born wealthy and was not treated differently by the villagers. In interviews, Senior stated that race is important, but social class is far more important in determining your place in the complicated web of the social hierarchy of Jamaica. She stated that she became cognizant of racial discrimination after she left her childhood home, through how she was treated in an interview with the Jamaican Gleaner in 2004. Senior also recalled of childhood memories of her being shuffled between her isolated down to earth in the mountains, and the material wealth of her maternal great uncle and aunt who had no problem flaunting their affluence and class. It was through the consistent periods of travel between these two realities and her subsequent travels and migrations that Senior began to understand the realities and plight of migrant minorities. With the research she engaged in throughout her career on the many socio-cultural realities faced by her people, Senior published her last piece of extensive literary work (Gardening in the Tropics) which gives way for a complex discussion of these class, race and gender issues, with varying representations of the related concepts.

Plot Summary
Olive Senior’s Gardening in the Tropics was created by collaborating the experiences of multiple individuals between the 15th and the 20th century. The collection is divided into four sections, namely Travellers’ Tales, Nature Studies, Gardening in the Tropics, and Mystery, each containing twelve poems. In Travellers’ Tales, Senior explores the realities of migration and its aftermath by assessing the emotional state of both those left behind, and those who migrate. Nature Studies highlights the central theme of gardening and explores the various flora and fauna found in the Caribbean. Additionally, Gardening in the Tropics delves into the various socio-historical, cultural, and political realities faced by people in the Caribbean, with a particular focus on women. And finally, the section of Mystery subtitled "African Gods in the New World" explores African cultural retention and evokes various representations of West African deities.

Representations of Womanhood
Throughout the text, Senior introduces various feminine tropes. These women challenge the often subvert, traditional representations of womanhood, as they display an urgency to help themselves. Senior attempts to provide an alternative historical narrative to the traditional view of Caribbean womanhood, thus, the women displayed in Senior’s text actively challenge the patriarchal system.

Meditation on Red
The first poem that actively challenged representations of womanhood was the poem "Meditation on Red". The poem was addressed to Dominican-born writer, Jean Rhys (1890-1979) by an unknown narrator. The poem describes the life of Rhys and highlights the positives and negatives of being a migrant woman, a life Senior herself knows much about, having travelled and migrated to various places. Rhys is described as a literary foremother, which Senior herself has confirmed in interviews. One of Rhys’ greatest contributions to Caribbean literature, which is the poem ‘Wide Sargasso Sea’, is referenced several times in the poem "Mediation on Red". The poem speaks to Rhys exposure to racial prejudice, with the analogy of dark voyager while referencing her critical contributions to Caribbean literature, with Senior writing: you launched

is so seaworthy

. ..

dark voyagers

like me

can feel free

to sail. (lines 241-243; 246-248). The poem also speaks to the tenacity of Rhys, particularly in the more difficult parts of her life, and introduces Rhys to the difficulties of the reality of black migrant women.

All Clear 1928
Similarly, the poem "All Clear 1928" speaks of migration and alludes to the migration of black Jamaican men to Panama to work on the Panama Canal, many of whom did not return. The poem critically examines the repercussions of such actions from the perspective of the women and children left behind. The poem’s persona, Esmie, found herself in a position where her husband had left to work on the canal in an attempt to better the lives of their family. Esmie expressed her feelings in the poem in the lines 46-47:"“All, all the men went with our dreams our hopes, our prayers.'"Several of the men, including Esmie’s husband, never returned, and consequently, abandoned their families. The poem uniquely explores this aspect of the Jamaican socio-economic history from the perspective of a woman who was left behind. Esmie, to protect and feed her children, entered a marital arrangement with a carpenter, which is a common traditional practice for women in the Caribbean. At the beginning of the 19th century in the Caribbean, women entered monogamous unions and marriages to counteract the harsh economic reality that they were subjected to in the worst and lowest-paid jobs in the workforce. These unions provided the stability and protection they could no longer provide for themselves. These unions contributed to the cultural practice of Caribbean women staying home and receiving income from their significant other. The writer highlights that Esmie's decision was practical and functional for both her and her children, given the socio-economic context of the Caribbean at the time.

Tropic Love (Part 1)
The poem "Tropic Love" is another representation of women's strength, as well as desire for independence. It opens with an unnamed narrator overhearing a conversation between a woman and her male paramour. The conversation hints that their relationship is a serious long-term affair with her explaining that they have children. The tradition of women seeking financial assistance from their male counterparts can also be seen in this poem, however the narrator speaks of this woman being able to satisfy with what she has. Senior highlights this in the lines "I'm a woman with heavy responsibilities. With my lot I'm prepared to be contented" (lines 13-14). She is not longing for a man's timely return, but would rather take the man's traditional role and work for what she and her family need.

What can also be seen in this poem is the act of oral tradition being passed on by women. Historically, black women in both Western and African societies have been the practitioners of oral tradition, and have used it as a way to communicate their cultural and social realities to their children for them to understand and interpret in their own ways. The persona says "Gardening in the Tropics you hear poetry in some unexpected places" (lines 1-2), as she is eavesdropping in a conversation between two lovers. Through this scenario, Senior shows women in the Caribbean who use stories to represent their reality and the reality of others, through showcasing the plight of the female lover. Because folktales are an integral part of Jamaican society, it can be seen that woman play a strong role in keeping the cultural identity of Caribbean societies alive, though done through less than honorable means.

Amazon Women
“Amazon Women” is a feminist poem with a tongue in cheek sense of humour. The poem opens with the persona narrating her version of the origins of the Amazons. The narrator highlights the popular folktale of the Amazons being an all-female community. The Amazonians in the poem are reminiscent of Greek mythological figures who were a society of warlike women who were known for their courage, pride, and riding skills. These women were known to live on the outskirts of unknown territories. Senior utilizes the representations of these women as a vehicle to explore history through the perspective of Caribbean women who challenge traditional ideas of western femininity. Examples of such are observed throughout the poem, such as “Nanny the Maroon queen mother” (line 73), “the fair Anacaona: Taino chieftainess” (line 74-76), and finally, “the Carib women whom the said Colón relied on for navigation through the islands” (lines 76-79). Senior uses these examples of powerful, Amazonian-like Caribbean women to establish historical continuities between these powerful South African Amazons and modern Caribbean women who display a tremendous amount of strength and tenacity in the face of adversity. Senior achieves this by constantly drawing attention to the more sensational aspects of the myths of the South American Amazonian women, then recalibrating and re-examining these said aspects. In addition, Senior highlights the importance of these alternative versions of femininity by displaying examples of Caribbean women like this.

Representations of Manhood
Senior's portrayal of men and masculinity in Gardening in the Tropics varies greatly from her portrayal of women. The men portrayed in the body of work are presented as irresponsible, unreliable, selfish, and in extreme instances, violent. Multiple poems in the collection portray women taking care of their children and households, while highlighting male absenteeism due to a myriad of socio-economic factors. This matrifocality is a central theme in Caribbean history, as the plantation society's slavery system did not facilitate fathers playing active roles in the lives of their families. Consequently, this matrifocality contributed to the belief by traditional Caribbean men that their presence was unwanted and unnecessary in the family. Documentation of the behavior of men in the slavery system revealed that men were stuck in a state of perpetual infanthood. Therefore, due to this behavior, men were not prepared to participate in parenting, as infants are not fit to manage families. Senior demonstrates this male absenteeism in several poems, such as "Hurricane Story 1988", where the female persona attempts to raise her children without male presence or assistance, and to a lesser extent, the poems "All Clear 1928" and "Tropic Love" similarly highlight matrifocal families paired with male absenteeism. Other poems, such as "Amazon Women", view and describe male presence as problematic and often results in violence, with Toeyza, whose affair with her lover, Walyarima, incited her husband to kill him as a lesson to all wives.

The Immovable Tenant
The poem "The Immovable Tenant" can be interpreted in one of two ways. Firstly, the poem examines male-female relationships and serves as a portrayal of patriarchy and the power that men hold over women. Black women in Caribbean societies have historically been placed at the bottom of the class system, with lighter skinned women, men and black men having greater power, privileges and independence over them in all spheres of life. The persona in the poem speaks of an old woman who is spirited and determined to warn others of the men who exploited her. She is powerless, and her exploitation was viewed as a consequence of her lack of economic independence. The lies she was told by these men is indicative of the power relations between men and women in Caribbean societies, with men having the upper-hand.

Additionally, the poem can be interpreted as a cautionary tale of Neo-colonial relationships. The antagonist is an arrogant man who does not show any concerns for the victims of his exploitation, and is content with amassing his fortune. This arrogant man can be seen as a representation of North American and European powers, who involve themselves in the affairs of the Caribbean. The persona in the poem stated in lines 75-81:

"He's spent a lot of money fixing up the place...to attract tourists, investors and extractors, for the garden is full of trees ripe for felling and the house of treasure priced for selling and there are minerals to be mined."

Foreign powers having control of assets in the Caribbean is not a thing of the past, as the term "Neocolonialism" rather than "Postcolonialism" suggests. The lines in the poem show that exploitation of the Caribbean took on a new form, and used tourism as the reason and means to do so. The persona in the poem seemed incognizant of the serious ramifications that this modern day colonialism could unearth, while the "crazy" old woman was all too wary. This form of patriarchy was traditional, with the white man amassing wealth and the African descendants losing their land. This poem follows Senior's intended portrayal of men in an all conquering light, and how this conquering translates itself into the international relations between the Caribbean and world powers, such as the United States.

Tropic Love (Part 2)
Senior also portrays her representation of men as absent, fleeting, and unreliable within her poem "Tropic Love". The conversation between the couple takes a turn when it is revealed that the man is failing in his duties as a partner and father. This is stated explicitly in the poem when Senior says "You don't bring me flowers anymore – or anything for the children" (lines 1-2). In the socio-historical context of the Caribbean, the absenteeism of the man is indicative of the mother financially supporting the family both socially and economically. The man in Tropic Love is consistent with the representations of Caribbean men throughout the collection who are described as hyper sexual and will pursue a woman for sexual favors with no interest in serious commitment.

Nature and Colonization
For Senior, as a Caribbean woman, she understands that her country's history and its landscape are inextricably intertwined, as like the people that suffered through centuries of slavery imposed by the plantocracy. Colonial expansion was based on the exploitation of non-European territories with the process of cultural and political assimilation and economic control exercised by the colonizer unto the colonized. Consequently, agriculture and scientific botanical gardens were implicated to control the colonies. Therefore, this makes the land and nature an important and critical site to create a new cultural identity and attempt to rewrite history. The gardening and digging trope that is littered throughout the collection functions as excavation to examine the past. This is seen in several poems, such as the poem "Meditation on Yellow" which fixes its attention on the Amerindian and African experiences during and after colonization. In the poem, the descendants of the native people and Africans demand to live on the land not as laborers or slaves or tenants but as owners. Throughout the poem, Senior meditates on nature, and this is especially evident in the section of "Gardening in the Tropics" in the poems of "Pawpaw", "Anatto and Guinep" and "Pineapple". Through these poems, Senior evokes Amerindian and West African nature mythology and folklore as a form of cultural retention, as much of this knowledge was erased from the general consciousness of the Caribbean during colonization. Because gardening has to do with mixing two very different things, like water and soil, to create something new, Senior attempts to reconcile the history of a harsh colonial past by using gardening as a means to negotiate the two experiences throughout the collection.