Mosquito

Gayl Jones. Mosquito. Boston: Beacon P, 1999. 616 pp. $28.50.

Several times throughout her narrative, Mosquito mentions signifying and specifying, language games both the narrator and the author perform throughout the novel. Specifying and signifying are traditional African American modes of verbal play that allow speakers to communicate indirectly, symbolically, or metaphorically to a targeted audience while simultaneously preventing others from understanding underlying messages. Whereas signifying traditionally is considered an African American male ritual, specifying is its female counterpart. Mosquito reveals a complex web, in which Jones builds upon specifying to blur lines between signifier and signified. In fact, unlike mainstream sanctuary organizations, the sanctuary movement in which Mosquito participates is itself a metaphor for specifying. Also, sometimes Mosquito announces that she is specifying when she may not be; other times she specifies unadmittedly. One of the most clever ways Mosquito specifies is when she enrolls in a class to become a hidden agend a conspiracy specialist so she can learn to decode texts that relate to the sanctuary movement. The codes become quite complex when Mosquito realizes that what appears to be symbolic may be literal and visa versa. In this way, signifying and specifying become self-reflexive and add yet another layer of signifying to both Mosquito's story and Jones's novel. The verbal game playing is not only funny and entertaining, but it also illustrates important political and social statements about race and gender.Language leaps from the page and transforms from written to oral narrative throughout Gayl Jones's Mosquito. The black narrator, Sojourner Nadine Jane Johnson, makes a grand entrance by speaking directly to her audience and establishing that the story she will unfold is set in a South Texas border town. Nicknamed Mosquito, the narrator uses a natural voice with a bit of Texas twang that intrigues her audience.Mosquito is funny, heartwarming, and thought-provoking. When you finish the last of its over 600 pages, you will wish Mosquito were still sitting beside you in Delgadina's bar, Bud Light in hand, describing her adventures, her hopes and dreams, and most importantly, her culture. And in some ways she will continue to sit beside us, for oral narrative is part of a tradition that depends upon repetition to shape history from perspectives that allow a voice to those traditionally denied opportunities to inscribe their histories. Like the many texts to which it pays tribute, Mosquito is sure to become a classic American novel.Names of characters as well as names of objects are also signified. Mosquito was given her nickname as a child when she experienced an allergic reaction to a mosquito bite. She is by standard definitions of "beauty" a big woman, and she points out the irony of being called a little mosquito. Ironically, the movie star for whom Monkey Bread works refuses to refer to her by her nickname so she calls her by yet another nickname. Mosquito pretends to be married to one Ray so she can evade border patrols, yet she is in love, which she also defines as a code, with another Ray. However, the signifying of names does not deny characters their identities. In fact, the story reveals Mosquito's discovery of identity and her acknowledgment that her goal is to conquer her own ignorance, a real strength given that the novel points out that only the truly naive do not recognize their own ignorance. People who fail to recognize their own ignorance, usually the empowered, generally promote sexism and racism.The novel concerns Mosquito's involvement with the new underground railroad, a sanctuary movement for Mexican immigrants. Although her affiliation with the movement establishes a context for Mosquito's narrative, the more important story is told in-between incidents that move the plot forward. For example, Mosquito boldly announces her political and social views throughout the novel, but she does so in a way that is extremely inviting and entertaining. Although Mosquito claims that she is somewhat uneducated, she speaks powerful words that celebrate her African American and female identity.Mosquito drives a truck to deliver industrial detergents and frequents a local bar where her Chicana friend Delgadina works. The novel centers on Mosquito, Delgadina, and Mosquito's childhood friend, Monkey Bread, who works as a personal assistant for a famous movie star in California. The characterizations of the three women represent one of many ways the novel defies stereotypes: They are depicted as strong, intelligent, and independent. Other characters also challenge stereotypes, and the narrator often speaks directly to readers about ways minorities are stereotyped.

Mosquito is funny, heartwarming, and thought-provoking. When you finish the last of its over 600 pages, you will wish Mosquito were still sitting beside you in Delgadina's bar, Bud Light in hand, describing her adventures, her hopes and dreams, and most importantly, her culture. And in some ways she will continue to sit beside us, for oral narrative is part of a tradition that depends upon repetition to shape history from perspectives that allow a voice to those traditionally denied opportunities to inscribe their histories. Like the many texts to which it pays tribute, Mosquito is sure to become a classic American novel.