Marcus Garvey's Ghost Book Report

Reading Garvey’s Ghost opened my heart to the importance of history, origin and culture. Garvey’s Ghost is a well written novel by Geoffrey Philp. Geoffrey was born in Jamaica and currently resides in Miami, Florida. In the novel, Geoffrey introduces the reader to a young Jamaican mother named Kathryn, who lives in Miami, Florida with her daughter, Jasmine. As the reader continues to emerge themselves in the book, they’ll soon realize how conflicted the characters are. Jasmine goes missing and just like her mother, finds herself rootless and insecure. All the characters in the book connect somehow and join forces to find jasmine. The novel opens eyes to the audience by introducing Garveyism, reggae, diverse cultures, language and Rastafarianism. In the book the teachings of Marcus Garvey help the characters understand and find their true identity. Marcus Garvey quoted, “ A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots.” It’s easy to apply this quote to Kathryn's character in the book because she lacks knowledge of Jamaica’s history, origin and culture.
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As many read Garvey’s Ghost, they’ll understand and relate to Kathryn's character in the novel just as I did. I quickly made a strong connection to her since I too at times feel lost and rootless like a tree without roots. I feel that I neither belong in the country I was born nor in the country my mother was born. It’s interesting how the novel touches heart and soul by questioning self identity and many other important matters. It makes the reader aware of who Marcus Garvey is and gives insight of his intentions and accomplishments. It not only awakens the audience to to Jamaica’s history and language, but also highlights unity within diverse