Daughters of the Dust: Themes
The film, Daughters of the Dust, written and directed by Julie Dash, recounts the story of the Peazant family. They are members of the Gullah people, a tribe living on a group of islands off the coasts of Georgia and South Carolina in 1902 who are descended from slaves, but have still managed to keep much of their West African culture alive. The story begins as all the members of the Peazant family gather together for one final meal before half the family is to leave the islands and sail north to the mainland in search of a better life. Through this seemingly simple premise, a multitude of themes and stories of individual characters are woven together to create a picture of what life was like for these people and to send a definite message to the viewing audience. All the major characters in the film, including the family elder Nana Peazant, the family outcast Yellow Mary, Eli Peazant, Eli's Wife Eula, and their Unborn Child, have their own stories to tell but all relate to the same major themes of the movie. The major themes in this film include that of acceptance and tolerance, equality, a return to roots, connections back to life in Africa, and finally religion. One of the more dominant themes throughout the film is th
After Eli storms out of their house he seeks out Nana Peazant, who is at work pulling weeds in the family graveyard, for guidance. Their conversation first focuses on the family's impending move to the mainland, but is quickly shifted by Eli to the frustrations he is having with his wife. This is where Eli's story first relates to theme of returning to roots as Nana insists that he must call on his ancestors to resolve the trouble he has inside him. As she begins saying this, an African sounding song fades into the background, mixed with natural sounds of the wilderness. This technique coupled with her strong words seems to urge Eli to return to his roots to put his troubled mind at ease. As the music builds, Nana reaches out her hands and says that it will be his job to continue the traditions of their ancestors and to protect the children when they move to the mainland. As she does this, the music overpowers the sound and the picture fades into that of a group of Peazant children which, for a moment, appear through this fading technique to be resting in her hands. This shows that she is the current protector of their African faith, and of the children, and she is telling him that he will soon have to assume this responsibility. As the picture fades completely to the children at play, the music is at it's height as two teenage girls dance in a manner that seems reminiscent of African dancing. This provides another connection back to Africa. Nana Peazant goes on to remind him of the bottle tree, and how it holds the memory of the old souls which Eli must let back into his life. Her words seem to fall on deaf ears, as Eli is clearly too frustrated with his current situation, a situation that is causing him to lose his faith. Directly after this scene, Eli is taking out his frustrations by pounding out the metal on a smith's anvil outside his home as his wife looks sadly on from inside. As he pounds harder, the viewer can see his frustration begin to mount until he finally throws down the hammer, turns around and sees the bottle tree. By this time, Eli has reached his lowest and angriest point, taking up a large piece of wood and smashing the bottle tree again and again. The same music as before builds up here again and Eli is obviously screaming, although all that can be heard is the pulsing beat of the African music and the smashing of the glass jars. The tree represents the old African faith and the memory of the old souls which had always helped Eli before, but which he now no longer believes in. The story of Eli Peazant begins very early in the film as the voice of the Unborn Child of his wife, Eula, informs the audience of his initial conflict: The child that she is carrying is not his own. We first see Eli as he enters his home and then a room where his pregnant wife is staring out the window. He slowly approaches her and pleads with her in a voice that already shows signs of desperation to tell him who had raped her and whose child it was she was carrying saying, "Who's do
Some common words found in the essay are:
Unborn Child, Nana Peazant, Nana Christian, West African, Africa Eli, Yellow Mary, Peazant Christianity, Wanderer African, Soon Eli, Julie Dash, unborn child, nana peazant, peazant family, acceptance tolerance, major themes, return roots, bottle tree, eli peazant, connections africa, move mainland, bottle tree eli, story eli peazant, image unborn child, theme returning roots, peazant unborn child,
Approximate Word count = 2042
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)
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