No Telephone To Heaven Analysis

The Innateness of a Plural Identity: Michelle Cliff’s No Telephone to Heaven
Michelle Cliff’s novel No Telephone to Heaven is one part of a three novel series that follows the journey of multiple characters as they navigate through spaces they occupy in Jamaica and in between the various identities they take on simultaneously (Grimes “Michelle Cliff”). As a Jamaican-American author, many of Cliff’s works revolve around the plurality of identity as one’s interpretation of themselves through the lenses of colonialism and racism. In Cliff’s fictional novel, characters live as individuals within spaces undefined and in between the known and recorded social constructs. Cliff reproduces the experience of the pluralistic aspect behind these characters’ identities through the protagonist Clare Savage and, at times, her main foil: Christopher. Challenging the notion of a singular identity and instead championing the notion of multifaceted, ‘in between’ identities, Cliff constructs a compelling narrative through the use of simple and compound syntax, nonlinear narration, and a third …show more content…
Through the use of syntax variation, disjointed plot progression with character development, and a third person omniscient point of view, Michelle Cliff challenges the normative idea of a singular identity by using her characters as a mouthpiece for the experiences of those with multifaceted identities often labeled as ‘in between’ two commonly accepted ones. With the extended comparison of Clare Savage and Christopher via sentence structure and parallel background revelations, Cliff shows that one’s identity can be composed of multiple heritages, histories, and backgrounds. Additionally, the third person perspective of Clare’s journey to find and reclaim her identity emphasizes the great inner conflict that arises in when the inherent pluralism behind identity is