Characterisation of Jocie

Jocie is the protagonist of the short story “Streamlining” by Muli Amaye; the narration follows her point of view and explores her conflicts with her family.

Outer characterisation

Jocie’s outer characterisation informs us that she is a British woman of African descent, aged 32 (ll. 8-9). She has a brother and a mother, and her father left them when she was 12 years old. In the present, she works as the head of a creative team in a company, where she is good at her job (l. 83).

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Inner characterisation

Jocie’s inner characterisation presents her as a successful career woman, but who is deeply frustrated with her family which makes her feel like a failure.

Firstly, it is revealed that although Jocie cares about her brother, she is also frustrated because he is their mother’s favourite child and because he is irresponsible: “Her brother wasn’t a bad person. He just didn’t know he was irresponsible; the word wasn’t in his vocabulary.” (ll. 26-27)

From their interactions, it becomes clear that Jocie believes that she is more responsible and mature than her brother and that she is frustrated that he can get away with being immature so easily, simply because he is a man: “Maybe she should resent her brother, but she couldn’t. It wasn’t his fault he’d been born with a penis.” (ll. 30-31); “Seriously, he just said that - like he’s a teenager from the ghetto! For God’s sake, he’s thirty-one and has a job in insurance.” (ll. 47-48)

Jocie’s real issue and conflict are with her mother, whom she blames for raising Brandon to be irresponsible and favouring him all the time: “It was all Mother’s fault. Jocie pulled herself upright. She’d thought it. Now she had to deal with that word. Fault.” (ll. 48-49)

Throughout the narrative, Jocie’s attitude suggests that she resents her mother for being constantly critical of her: “…even thinking the word “mother” filled Jocie with dread. It was ridiculous. She’d left home when she was seventeen for God’s sake. Fifteen years ago.” (ll. 8-9); “Her earliest memories were about being responsible: for waking up Brandon with her crying; for giving Mummy a headache with all her chatter; for making Daddy leave because she was always naughty.” (ll. 28-30)

The fact that Jocie has to go to therapy and yoga to deal with her past (her father leaving and her mother constantly criticising her) suggests that the actions of both her parents have left deep psychological scars on Jocie.

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