If I Survive You

Race is a major focal point within this collection. Trelawny, his family members, and even his friends and fellow students wrestle with questions of race, ethnicity, and belonging in each of the book’s eight linked stories. For Trelawny in particular, race is inextricably linked to questions of identity and belonging. Trelawny struggles to find a concrete sense of identity and belonging in part because so many other people are unsure how to categorize him. The book establishes the stakes of this search in its very first lines: “It begins with: What are you? Hollered from the perimeter of your front yard when you’re nine—younger, probably. You’ll be asked again throughout junior high and high school, then out in the world” (3).

The issue of categorization captured in this repeated question, with its inherent pressure to “fit,” follows Trelawny throughout the stories. He does not feel at home within his nuclear family, his peer groups at the various schools he attends, in his birthplace (the United States), or in the birthplace of his parents (Jamaica). This sense of isolation is in part because of his skin color and in part because of his personality, intellect, interests, and mannerisms. Trelawny is a light-skinned Jamaican.