Escape to An Autumn Pavement

Escape to An Autumn Pavement is the second novel of Jamaican writer and journalist Andrew Salkey. It was first published in 1960, and narrates main character Johnnie Sobert's pursuit of cultural belonging.^[1] The novel was re-issued in 2009 as a Peepal Tree Caribbean Classic with an introduction by Thomas Glave, who foregrounds the novel's bold exploration of sexuality.^[2]

Though Salkey is likely better remembered for his contributions to literary culture than for his own writing, Escape to An Autumn Pavement has been discussed as an important contribution to both postcolonial and queer literary studies, with the interrelation of Johnnie's migrant and queer identities making him significant to theorists from both of these backgrounds.^[3]

Plot

Johnnie, a Jamaican exile, spends the novel immersing himself in the bohemian scene found in Soho as he struggles with his cultural belonging and identity. While living in a bedsit in Hempstead, he engages in an unfulfilling affair with his white landlady Fiona, and attraction to his white gay friend Dick, with each making him question where his true desires lie.^[2]

Major themes

Identity and Race

In Escape to An Autumn Pavement, the themes of identity and race are intertwined. The themes of race and colonialism are an undercurrent to that of homosexuality and the search for identity. Fiona and Dick, whilst initially seeming to present differing sexualities, both depict Johnnie's struggle against British colonization, as both aim "to possess Johnnie". In choosing between them, Johnnie realizes his sense of failure is tied to his identity, and he feels alien in both his Jamaican middle class setting, and his new life in London.^[4]

Furthermore, as Spencer Tricker writes, in their article "Respite on the Brink: Complicating the Crisis of Caribbean Identity in Andrew Salkey's Escape to an Autumn Pavement", the bildungsroman plot within the novel "is complicated by the love triangle that ensnares the protagonist".^[5] Both of these characters overt sexualization of Johnnie and reluctance to see him as anything else contributes to his identity crisis and reveals them to be representative of the British culture of Western imperialism that they appear to be above.

Masculinity

Like the aforementioned themes, masculinity ties into themes of race and identity, as both Boxill and Tricker agree. It is his alienation and unease surrounding his presence in London and in the relationships he finds himself in, that reveal Johnnie's insecurity surrounding his masculinity and his emasculation. Tricker relates this to Johnnie's having grown up without a father, noting that through his association of his father and a hurricane, "Johnnie underlines the threat of domination he continuously poses".^[5] The impact of Johnnie's father is what causes the guilt surrounding his masculinity and informs his relationships with love, relationships and, more broadly, his lifestyle. He lives in both contrast and imitation of his father's values. To escape the idea of his father, Johnnie must escape Jamaica. His attitude to his own racial identity is informed by a rejection of how his father was, and how his mother internalizes racist ideas, both suggesting Britain has a gentlemanly nature that, in their eyes, cannot be found as easily at home.