Julia Shi

Professor Salois

ENG 3038

Understanding the historical context in Hungry Ghosts (Trinidad in the 1940s) helps us ground a larger discussion about privilege and how it shapes character psychology. Marlee and Hans are lovers who arrive from two different walks of life–one affluent, the other living in the barracks–and their relationship is crucial for this novel’s thematic progression.

Marlee’s flashback chapter, “A Small Sacrifice”, mentions the goings-on of WW2, namely, the arrival of American troops on Trinidadian soil.  Trinidad played a significant role in the Battle of the Atlantic, which the Allies could not afford to lose, by having a number of crucial naval bases. The brothel that Marlee worked at as a youth received many American soldiers; to her, they represented the Western fantasy of freedom.  She “…admired the American officers, sometimes to the point of jealousy.  The fact that they could break free from the land and be guided with the wind and the stars” (Hosein 86).  Ironically, before she married into Changoor’s wealth, Trinidian boys were “mangy” and “a barnacle upon the bow of a retired schooner” (Hosein 87).  Having grown up in poverty, she is desperate to escape it, which she does so physically but also emotionally–she shuns away anything associated with her childhood.

Even the name that she’s given herself is a product of escapism; she is dead set on becoming the classic American girl, and that means taking the name from an American soldier’s postcard.  Renaming and refashioning herself is necessary for becoming “the nose-pierced, neck-powdered, kohl-eyed Marlee Changoor, the jewel of the land” (94).

Hans comes from a line of indentured Indian laborers who were brought over to Trinidad and Tobago in 1845 by the British.  He is a Hindu, which the state historically considered a second-class citizen.  Like Marlee, Hans understands what it’s like to grow up in poverty; like her, he wants badly to break free, “I want to be baptized!  Start fresh!” (Hosein 171).  The word choice ‘baptize’ is interesting here, as this is Christian terminology, not Hindu.  The sovereignty of Christianity over Hinduism is a colonial legacy, one that Hans begins buying into more and more.  The more he fuses into Marlee’s lifestyle, the further he distances himself from his prior beliefs and family values. Marlee tells him that she can baptize him, and in a way, she does: she introduces him to her life of privilege, albeit in small glimpses, but it is enough for him to be enamored to the point of infidelity.  For her, he does not have to work in the canefields ‘nor take up any other job, a luxury he would never be able to afford with Shweta.

On the other hand, Hans is the classic ‘Trinidian boy’ whom Marlee had sworn never to fall in love with because he was not a ticket out of poverty. Now that she’s rich, however, he represents an unabashed novelty, a man for whom she does not have to play the perfect doll. 

Ultimately, both characters desire what they cannot have.  “You aint never know what you want, Hans. You always look all over the place lookin for it,” (Hosein 219) are Shweta’s words, applicable to also Marlee.  Marlee had acquired the dream she always wanted, but eventually finds it stifling, and sees her escape in Hans. Hans, while having a loving wife and son, cannot resist the appeal of a double life, after slaving for his entire life.