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Shu Yi
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Foreign Soil, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Place
The Limitations of Hope
Communication and Misunderstanding
Solidarity vs. Prejudice
Summary
Analysis
Railton Road is a squatting place for England’s rebellious Black youths, the Railton Road Panthers. There’s a shop downstairs whose printing press runs day and night. Police repeatedly harass and threaten to evict the youths who live at Railton Road. They repeatedly arrest Railton Road Panthers for squatting, yet the squatters always make their way back to the place when they get out of jail.
The British Black Panthers were inspired by the U.S. Black Panther Party and fought to achieve rights for Black people and other minorities. From the start, it’s clear that Railton Road is an underground oasis for those who mainstream society has deemed outsiders.
Themes
One day, the BBC records Railton Road’s landlord outside the building as he angrily complains about “attending court to get these hooligans evicted.” In the middle of filming, a young Black woman, Liv, pokes her head out an upstairs window to heckle the landlord. Solomon, who is in the middle of teaching a Black History lesson, urges her to stay inside.
The landlord’s use of the word “hooligans” might be compared to contemporary usage of the word “thugs” to describe people of color (that is, it’s derogatory and racist). Regardless, the landlord’s incensed language further positions Railton Road’s inhabitants as outsiders who exist at the margins of society.
Themes
Solomon muses about “the Railton Road rebel women,” who have a “fire” that comes through in their velour T-shirts, African jewelry, and demeanor. But Olivia—Liv—is beautiful: she has a “cheeky sass,” and she’s physically stunning too. Solomon writes the chapter number of the sermon he’s been teaching on the board (Genesis nine, 20-27) and puts his chalk down. Then he turns to face his students. The class falls silent as Solomon begins to read about Noah “[standing] on the fertile African soil of the border between Libya and Algeria.” Solomon then describes Noah looking across the Egyptian desert at Afghanistan, Jordan, and Iran.
Not much is known of the story’s main character, Solomon, at this point, but that he values Liv’s daring personality at least as much as her physical beauty suggests that he’s deeply invested in the Panther movement and the changes it strives to bring about. In addition, Solomon’s lesson, with its focus on “the fertile African soil of the border between Libya and Algeria,” brings ideas of place and borders at the forefront of the story. In particular, Solomon’s lesson emphasizes the central role that Africa plays in biblical stories, thus recasting himself, his students, and other people of color at the center of such influential cultural/religious works as the Bible. In contemporary life, they might exist at the margins of society, but the implication is that it shouldn’t be that way.
Themes
As Solomon expected, the students love the sermon, which is so unlike everything they’ve heard at church with their families. “Dis man im prophet, praised de Lawd!” a Bajan girl cries approvingly. Now that Solomon has the class’s attention, he plows forward. He describes Noah as he is about to place a “voodoo hex on his son Ham, through his grandson Canaan.” Solomon asks the class what Noah said to Ham, and the young Bajan woman delivers Ham’s answer for all to hear: “Let your bloodline be cursed with servitude, for you betrayed me, son.” Solomon repeats the line, but with a slight change: “Let your bloodline be cursed with slavery…” He explains that these are the words that antiabolitionists forced on them.
Solomon’s sermon goes over so well because it recasts people of color as central players in biblical lore rather than ancillary supporting characters. He also takes away the euphemistic term, “servitude,” that his students have most likely heard in Bible translations their churches use, replacing it with the harsher—but more brutally honest—term “slavery.” He then places the biblical story in a modern context, comparing Noah to pro-slavery authority figures of the modern era.
Themes
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Solomon’s lecture has clearly excited his students, but he has more pressing concerns on his mind: De Frankie from the Black House on Holiday Road is paying Railton Road a visit. Solomon has held a job teaching Black History classes at Railton Road for 20 months now, thanks to his modern history degree. But there are rumors that De Frankie is coming to see if Solomon would be a good candidate for Minister for Culture for the London Panthers. De Frankie is from “the Old World,” from Port of Spain, Trinidad. He’s been in prison for a lot of serious crimes, including drug charges, attempted murder, and rape—though it’s not clear how legitimate all these charges are. He’s crossed paths with Malcolm X and boasts John Lennon and Yoko Ono among his avowed supporters.
De Frankie exists at the margins of society in ways that Solomon does not. Though it’s not totally clear where Solomon is from, he was educated at a British university and thus has grown up within the system—he’s upheld the status quo of completing school, finding a job, and staying out of legal trouble. De Frankie, by contrast, is from Trinidad, which was a British colony until it was granted independence in 1962, and he has some serious charges on his record. De Frankie seems steadfastly to believe that real change for people of color won’t happen by playing by the rules—it will take brute force.
Themes
Solomon ends his lecture and dismisses his class. He thinks about De Frankie, who he’s convinced will “bring the revolution[.]” He thinks that his peers—children of immigrants born in “the New World”—grew up watching the older generations of immigrants and people of color give in to a “fear and wariness[.]” He thinks his parents’ generation is too permissive with the British forces that have colonized, enslaved, and otherwise exploited their ancestors. Solomon knows that England can sense “Black discontent.” And he can sense white opposition to it. He notices it in subtle ways, such as how “National Fronters” who pass him on the street will straighten their posture as they pass him.
Solomon may have grown up upholding the status quo, and certainly he learned this from his parents, but his admiration for De Frankie, and his belief that De Frankie will “bring the revolution” suggests that he’s no longer willing to stand on the sidelines and let white supremacy continue to exploit Black people and other people of color. “National Fronters” refers to followers of the National Front, a far-right political party. It was founded in 1967, around the time when this story takes place.
Themes
Solomon knows it’s just a matter of time before the Fronters “come for them[.]” All the rebels know it. But Solomon is sick of all “the sit-ins, the placards, the letter writing.” It feels like the world—“the brown world at least”—supports their cause. It’s even happening across the ocean in America, with people like King. Yet the anger persists—the air “fe[els] electric with it.”
Solomon is sick of peaceful protest—he thinks it’s not powerful enough to bring about lasting change when people of color are up against fringe groups like the National Front who are gearing up to “come for [Black rebels].” Put differently, he’s tired of people who hope for change and equality but aren’t willing to put their words to action. And “King” almost certainly refers to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., an instrumental figure in the fight for civil rights in the U.S.
Themes
Sometime later, Solomon is sitting across the table from De Frankie. They drink whiskey as De Frankie interviews Solomon. Solomon notes a “wildness” in De Frankie’s eyes and knows the man is “dangerous.” De Frankie looks over Solomon’s resume, noting his three years studying “white history.” Such an education, De Frankie muses, means that Solomon has been educated with “Babylon’s lies.” De Frankie asks Solomon why De Frankie should entrust “the culture of the movement” to Solomon. After a pause, Solomon replies that knowing the enemy’s story is essential to defeating them. Solomon is on his fourth whiskey, and he feels horribly drunk. He tells himself to stop drinking—that De Frankie is trying to get him drunk to get him off his game.
De Frankie seems “dangerous” to Solomon because he has always operated outside of the system—that is, mainstream, white supremacist Western society—from which Solomon has only recently broken free. Solomon seems to get a little guarded and defensive when De Frankie draws attention to Solomon’s permissiveness with mainstream society, mocking Solomon’s history degree as a degree in “white history” and accusing him of being indoctrinated with “Babylon’s lies.” Note that the term “Babylon” can be used derogatorily to refer to oppressive institutions, like the police, for example.
Themes
De Frankie grips Solomon’s hand suddenly and asks him what he believes in—and he wants Solomon to answer carefully, not just repeat the things he mentioned in the manifesto De Frankie asked him to write for this meeting. Solomon tells De Frankie that everything he believes in is in the manifesto. When De Frankie asks Solomon if he has any children, Solomon curses inwardly. De Frankie gives Solomon a bemused look and suggests that Solomon may have gotten a white woman pregnant. Solomon says nothing. He’s read about De Frankie’s opinion about interracial sex—he’s suggested that Black women who have sex with white men should be lynched for “making mockeries of black men.” This doesn’t really make much sense to Solomon, though, since it’s clear from De Frankie’s complexion that he’s biracial.
De Frankie’s vehement condemnation of interracial relations illustrates how extreme some of his views are. It calls into question when solidarity and devotion to a cause can go too far. And when Solomon meditates on the hypocrisy of De Frankie’s position that Black women who have sex with white men should be murdered—a position that doesn’t make much sense, since De Frankie himself is biracial—Solomon further calls into question De Frankie’s legitimacy.
Themes
Just then, Liv walks through the door. De Frankie yells at her that she should have knocked. As he yells, his eyes fixate on Liv’s underwear outline, which shows through her tight pants. As Liv leaves, De Frankie flashes an evil grin at Solomon and makes a suggestive remark about her. Solomon is furious but keeps it to himself.
It’s clear that Solomon’s admiration for De Frankie has started to wane somewhat. Still, it’s not for any reason related to the cause—it’s because he’s jealous or threatened by De Frankie ogling Liv. Solomon’s emotional response to De Frankie’s suggestive remark calls Solomon’s own commitment to the cause into question.
Themes
Sometime later, Solomon stands outside the Holloway Road tube station, waiting to carry out the test De Frankie has tasked him with. In the distance, Solomon can see De Frankie at the corner of Holloway and Francis. Just then, another brother appears at the tube entrance. He touches his right forefinger to his temple, signifying that it’s time to go. A woman (the kept woman) appears right when she’s supposed to. She walks toward the station entrance, distracted as she rummages through her bag to find something. De Frankie told Solomon that the Panthers have been tracking her for months and know that she’s in a relationship with a white man. Solomon doesn’t think she looks much like “a kept woman.” She’s quite unremarkable; she wears her hair in a natural Afro and is neither thin nor chubby. She reminds Solomon of his mom.
Tension builds as the moment approaches for Solomon to prove his commitment to De Frankie and the Black Panther Party. It seems that Solomon will have to put his scholarly, theoretical ideas about Black empowerment into practice—and since readers know De Frankie has said Black women like the kept woman should be lynched, this is a tense and almost sickening moment. When Solomon sees his mom in the woman the Panthers have targeted, he familiarizes and humanizes her—and with this, it seems less likely that Solomon will be able to go through with whatever task De Frankie has assigned him to carry out.
Themes
Down the road, De Frankie is watching Solomon, “waiting on him to prove himself.” The woman (the kept woman) walks toward Solomon, acknowledges him, then carries on. Solomon thinks about the two thin, white English girls he met at polytechnic “whose bodies he’d known like he shouldn’t have.” One of them pulled him inside the freezer in a science classroom and forced him on her, as though she “expected, wanted savagery.” In time, Solomon came to feel “dissected, scalpel-carved” as though he were an object of anthropological study.
In the previous scene, Solomon’s commitment to the present mission—and to the cause at large—seemed to wane. Here, he reminds himself of the way two white English girls he had sex with objectified and exoticized his body, perhaps to re-engage his rage and recommit himself to De Frankie’s philosophy of absolute, unwavering solidarity to the cause of securing Black rights.
Themes
Back in the present, the Black woman (the kept woman) nears Solomon, who thinks about how she’s headed home to her rich white boyfriend. He calls out to her, “Miss, scuse me, miss?” just as he’s been instructed to do. Then De Frankie sneaks up behind the woman and places her neck in a chokehold. She struggles, but De Frankie succeeds in placing an iron collar around her neck; he snaps it shut and asks her, “Where your handsome white prince now?” The woman’s eyes are full of fear as she stares pleadingly at Solomon. But Solomon says nothing. The police approach, and De Frankie flees down an alley.
Solomon’s strategy of thinking about past experiences where white people dehumanized him appears to have worked: he distracts the woman, successfully carrying out at least his first responsibility in this mission. Still, Solomon’s fixation on the fear in the woman’s eyes suggests that he’s humanizing and sympathizing with her—which will make it hard for him to carry out whatever De Frankie expects him to do next.
Themes
Solomon takes the woman (the kept woman) down Francis Lane. He stares at her as she falls to her knees. She gasps for breath even though the collar is wide enough for her to breathe. Solomon hears a patrol car grow closer and knows that they’ll be here any minute—and if they see the woman, they’ll catch him too. But the patrol car passes them and continues down the road. Both Solomon and the woman sigh with relief. Then the woman demands to know why Solomon is doing this to her. She knows De Frankie’s been following her, and she calls him insane. She begs Solomon to remove the chain, but Solomon can’t: the Railton Road blacksmith made the slave collar so that a special key is required to open it, and Solomon doesn’t have it. Solomon hates the woman for wanting it off, and he hates himself for wanting the key.
Solomon hates himself because his sympathy for the woman contradicts his desire to be absolutely in solidarity with De Frankie and the Panther Party’s cause to achieve Black rights. When the woman calls radical De Frankie insane, she suggests that it’s De Frankie Solomon should be upset with, not himself—that De Frankie is the one with the problematic views, not Solomon. Solomon hates the woman and himself for the same reason: in wanting not to carry out De Frankie’s orders they’re both not committed enough to the cause—and therefore have aligned themselves with so-called “Babylon,” that is, with the white-supremacist society that exploits them. But is this true? Is there no room for nuance where solidarity is concerned?
Themes
Solomon imagines the woman (the kept woman) going to a hospital to have the collar removed. He imagines the doctors laughing at her, and then he hates her—and himself—some more. Solomon realizes that “De Frankie was right about him.” Though he has “the thirst” for rebellion, it’s not consistent: “it lulled and peaked,” until eventually, “Babylon [comes] a-calling.” Solomon leaves the woman and walks back down Francis Lane.
As Solomon imagines the woman going to the hospital—an institution, and therefore a symbol for institutional power in a broader sense—to have the collar removed, only to have the (white) doctors laugh at her, he is once more suggesting that the woman’s participation within mainstream society (dating a white man, believing that De Frankie’s views are too radical) is self-defeating: her participation only benefits the powerful people who exploit her and other people of color. But Solomon’s own wavering commitment to the revolution is more upsetting to him. In abandoning the woman and the mission, he proves that De Frankie was right about him: he’s been educated within and conditioned to uphold the status quo of mainstream society. Solomon delves into rebellion in an unserious manner, more like it’s a hobby to him. But when “Babylon [comes] a-calling,” that is, when De Frankie’s outsider tactics become too difficult or uncomfortable for Solomon to carry out and he longs to retreat to the comfortable place that is the moderate realm of mainstream society, he does just that.
Themes
