What Be the Meaning O' These Colors?

Ahoy!

Welcome me hearties, aboard the Jar of Dirt for yet another journey on the high seas of world literature! It's time to weigh anchor for it seems we have found the tradewinds of Helen Oyeyemi's The Icarus Girl!

While this route can lead to many places, I've got one particular port in mind.

So...

What be the meaning o' these colors?

That is to say, what does the title mean?

The Icarus Girl...

Well, to really answer that question, we need to go back far beyond the Golden Age of Piracy.

Icarus is a figure from Greek mythology.
He was the son Daedalus, the Athenian craftsman hired by King Minos of Crete. Daedalus' job was to build the Labyrinth to house the Minotaur. When Daedalus helped King Minos' daughter aid Theseus in defeating the Minotaur, the King imprisoned the craftsman and his son, Icarus. In order to escape, Daedalus fashioned wings from wax and feathers. When giving Icarus his pair of wings, Daedalus imparted a single warning; do not fly to close to the sun. Caught up in the freedom of flight, Icarus neglected to heed his fathers words. The sun melted the wax of his wings, and Icarus plummeted to his death.

Now, what on earth does this story have to do with the tale of a young girl who meets an evil twin spirit?

Well...

In The Icarus Girl, we are introduced to Jessamy, a girl of mixed English and Yoruba heritage who is having trouble finding her place in the world, and TillyTilly, a twin spirit.

After reading The Icarus Girl, I have come to the conclusion that TillyTilly is the Icarus Girl referred to in the novel's title.

I began to suspect this as, throughout the novel, TillyTilly repeatedly asks Jess questions like, "Oi, d'you still want to be able to do the things I can?" She goes so far as to reassure Jess that it will be "only for a little, little while," and that it wouldn't hurt at all. TillyTilly goes on to explain that switching means that "you'll be me for a little bit...and I'm going to be you."

When the girls finally do "switch," several things are revealed.

One; TillyTilly's existence is not what one would call pleasant. Jess experiences what it is like to be a spirit like TillyTilly, discovering that the world has seemingly become to vast and open while simultaneously being far too cramped and cluttered. Jess also discovers the fact that TillyTilly (when not occupying Jess' body) is invisible to the world; when out of her body, Jess cannot be seen or heard by her mother or her father.

Two; TillyTilly is wiling to do whatever it takes to be alive. As revealed through Jess' out of body experience, TillyTilly is pure spirit, unable to be seen or heard. In order to escape the prison of her existence, she is willing to lie to the one person who could see her. She told Jess that their "switch" would only be temporary and that it wouldn't hurt. Jess finds out immediately that TillyTilly lied, the "switch" causing her excruciating pain. Eventually - after Jess' mother locks "Tilly-who-was-Jess" in the basement, TillyTilly finally "switches" back.

Later in the novel, when TillyTilly once again takes Jess' body - this time with no intention of ever "switching" back - Jess is trapped in "the bush," a sort of spiritual wasteland, a "wilderness of the mind," which is TillyTilly's home. This is the place that TillyTilly wanted to escape from, her true prison. It is only when Jess' body is injured in a car accident that TillyTilly's power over Jess is weakened enough for Jess to reclaim her own body.

So...

How does all of this make TillyTilly the Icarus Girl?

Well...

Like Icarus, TillyTilly is a prisoner. As Icarus was imprisoned because of the actions of his father, TillyTilly became a prisoner of the "wilderness of the mind" simply because she was a twin and she died. She craves freedom and wants nothing more than to escape her prison, her confinement. While Icarus simply had the means of reaching his freedom handed to him, TillyTilly had to struggle to escape, reaching the point where she would lie and trick her way into a body, forever pushing out its rightful inhabitant simply so she could have a chance at living.

Also like Icarus, TillyTilly does manage to escape. While Daedalus gave his son wings of wax and feather, TillyTilly reaches freedom through Jess. She uses Jess' body as a means of escaping from her prison, thus making Jess - in a way - TillyTilly's wings.

And finally, just like Icarus, TillyTilly falls. In both stories, a simple form of freedom was not enough; in both stories, greed for something greater, for something more led to a terrible downfall. While Icarus flew too close to the sun, his wings melting, TillyTilly stayed in Jess' body for too long. Her lust for life, for control, led her to steal Jess' body for too long, remaining inside when Jess' body is caught in a devastating car crash. As Jess' body was injured, weakened, so was TillyTilly's power. This lead to Jess once again fighting TillyTilly for her own body, a fight which eventualy ended in the apparent destruction of TillyTilly.

...

Well, it would appear that we have reached the end of yet another voyage! I hope that you found it to your liking, that the seas weren't too stormy, and (most of all) that a case o' scurvy hasn't set in!

So, until next time...

Fairwinds to you all!