An American Marriage, By Tayari Jones. An Analysis

1RespondingtoaLetterTheideaofbeingcutof ffromtheworldisunimaginabletotheaverageperson.T ayariJones,authorofAnAmericanMarriage,discussesthepainofincarcerationinherNewY orkT imesOp-EdtitledWhatNelsonMandelaLost.Thearticlediscussesoneofthemostchallengingaspectsoftheprisonsystem:thelackofcommunicationbetweenprisonersandtheoutsideworld.ThearticlefocusesonthelifeofNelsonMandelaandhisstruggleswithcommunicationwhileinprison.JonesAnAmericanMarriagesharesasimilartonethroughitsmaincharacters,RoyandCelestial,acoupleseparatedduetoRoy simprisonment.IbelievethatJonesuseoftheLovelettersinherstoryishertranslationofthemodernstrugglethatprisonerslikeMandelafacewhencommunicatingwiththeoutsideworld.Eventhemostfamousandrevolutionaryindividualscansuf ferfromalackofcommunicationinsideprison.JailedforhisroleintheAfricanNationalCongressduringSouthAfricanapartheid,Mandelaservedalmostthirtyyearsinprison.Mandelawrotehundredsofletterswhileimprisoned.Jonesdiscusses,inbroaderterms,thestruggleofprisonersworldwideandtheirconstantneedtosendletters,oneoftheironlymeansofcommunication.Jones sanalysisofthesocialdeprivationthatprisonerslikeMandelafacestrikesanyreader'sheart.Shediscussestheprisoner sneedforoutsidecommunicationandtheimportanceofrespondingtotheletters.AswriterNikkiGiovannitoldJonesinthesameNYT imesarticle,Y oudon tknowhowmuchmailmeanstopeopleinprison(Jones,Mandela).Jonesconsiderstheimportanceofmail,incorporatingtheelementofmailintoAnAmericanMarriage.2InAnAmericanMarriage,thecharactersRoyandCelestialfacethesameissuesofprisoncommunicationthatfighterslikeMandelafaced.Throughoutthesecondhalfofthefirstbook,CelestialandRoyencounteredstresssurroundingtheletter -writingprocess.Theissuewasn'twiththelettersbutratherthelackofcommunicationatsomepoints,specificallyonpage88,wherethedelayinRoy sresponsecausesnotabletensionbetweenthemarriedcouple.Jones suseofthiselementinhernovelisimportantbecauseithighlightstheactualstrugglethatprisonersfaceovertime.Thisalsoshowsthatprisoncommunicationisuniqueanddif ferentfromanyotherscenario.Atonepointinthefirstbook,RoystopsansweringCelestial'sletters.ThiscomesafterRoyformallydiscontinuedtheirrelationship.ThelackofaresponsefromanyofCelestial'sletterscausedCelestialtohurt.Celestial'sonlyresponseaftercountlesslettersissimply ,Itisunkindthatyouwouldcutmeof fbecauseIcan'tbeexactlythewayyouwant(Jones,AnAmericanMarriage,88).Jonesinspirationbehindthisparticularquoteisevidentinthereal-lifestrugglethatprisonsface.ThestrugglesthatafictionalcouplelikeRoyandCelestialfacedrawinspirationfromtheharshreality .ProfessorBruceW estern,ProfessorofSociologyatPrincetonUniversity ,wroteareportontheef fectsofincarcerationonmarriagethatechoesthethemesfoundinJonesnovel.W estern sreport,titledIncar ceration,Marriage,andFamilyLife,coverstheef fectsthatincarcerationhasonamarriageandthewholefamily .W esternexplainsthatmenbehindbarscannotfullyplaytheroleoffatherandhusband(W estern2004,12).ThisprisonelementringsfaithfultoJonesnovelasRoycannotsupportCelestial scareerandcelebratehervictories.AnotheraspectofincarcerationthatismentionedinW estern sreportisthatofdivorce.AccordingtoW estern,themarriagebetweentwopeoplebecomesmostsevereduring3imprisonment.Thedivorceratewhilethefatherisimprisonedcorrelateswiththenumberofyearsmarried,soacouplewhohasbeenmarriedforfiveyearswouldfacea15%greaterchanceofdivorcethananon-incarceratedcouple(W estern2004,23-24).W esternalsonotesthatacouple sdivorcecanoccurduetothewife schangeinromanticinterest(withanotherman)(W estern2004,23).ThestatisticsshownbyW esternonlyfurthermypointonwhereAnAmericanMarriagegotitsinspiration.Theef fectsoflackofcommunicationonprisonmarriages,asindicatedbytheinformationprovidedbyW estern,areverymuchprevalentthroughoutthelovelettersceneofthebook.WhileJonesdoesnotnecessarilyuseW esternasasourceforherbook,sheconveysmanyoftheemotionsdescribedbyW esterninAnAmericanMarriage.HavingaperspectivefrombothW esternandMandelaallowsustotrulyunderstandthepainfeltbyRoyandCelestialduringRoy ssentence.W ecanunderstandthatactionslikeCelestial sdecisiontocutthemarriageof fareexpectedbecauseofthestatisticsprovidedbyW estern.W ecanalsounderstandthetensionformedaroundalackofcommunicationbecauseofhowMandelafeltduringprison.Jonesincorporatedwell-researchedelementsofrealityintothedysfunctionalbondsharedbyRoyandCelestial.ThefictionalmarriageofRoyandCelestialdrawsfromtheharshrealitiesofprison.Jones suseofthemarriageofRoyandCelestialisbasedonreality .Jonesportrayalofthecharactersissimilar ,ifnotidentical,tohowrealcouplesmightbehaveinthissituation.IbelievethatJonesusedelementsfromsourceslikeMandela slettersandW esternreportstoportraytheef fectsofprisononone smarriage.Jonesusestheseelementstodeliverastorylinethatisn'tfarfromthetruth.JugglingmarriageandincarcerationisachallengethatRoyandCelestialface,a4challengethattheyfailwhenCelestialcallsforadivorce.Whileonecanbeshockedaboutthisturnofevents,onemustunderstandhowincarcerationworks.Whenlettersaretheonlymeansofcommunicationsomebodygetsfromtheoutsideworld,itcancausealotofemotionstobewrappeduponthatoneend.Unfortunately ,whenafamilymemberisabsentfromlifeforsolong,tensioncanbuild,andtherelationshipcanfall.CitationsJones,T ayari.WhatMandelaLost.TheNewY orkT imes,TheNewY orkT imes,6July2018,www .nytimes.com/2018/07/06/opinion/sunday/nelson-mandela-tayari-jones-prison-letters.html?register=google.Jones,T ayari.AnAmericanMarriage:aNovel.ThorndikePress/GaleCengageCo.,2018.W estern,Bruce,etal.Incarceration,Marriage,andFamilyLife.RussellSageFoundation,Sept.2004,www .russellsage.or g/sites/all/files/u4/W estern_Incarceration,Marriage,&FamilyLife.pdf.