Midnight Robber

“You know the way a shadow is a dark version of the real thing, the dub side? Well, New Half-Way Tree is a dub version of Toussaint, hanging like a ripe maami apple in one fold of a dimension veil.”

This description of the two planets comes from the house eshu, which is speaking to Tan-Tan’s unborn child. Riding Granny Nanny, the A.I. has crossed to New Half-Way Tree, moving from the idyllic technologically advanced society to the prison planet of hard physical labor. The simile of the apple adds to the motif of the Edenic Tree of Knowledge. However, at this point, the reader only knows this is a description of setting; the identities of the eshu and child are not revealed until the end of the novel.

“Private messages! Privacy! The most precious commodity of any Marryshevite.”

One result of the technological advancements on Toussaint—the planet populated by the diasporic Marryshevites—is the omnipresence of Granny Nanny. Privacy is only granted to those who can sing nannysong, the language of the A.I. and world(s) wide web, like the pedicab runners. This surveillance state does not exist on the prison planet of New Half-Way Tree, allowing for more privacy.

“Jonkanoo Season [...] Time to give thanks to Granny Nanny for the Leaving Times, for her care, for life in this land, free from downpression and botheration.”

Granny Nanny is like a deity to the Marryshevites, enabling them to escape the oppression and slavery of old earth. The festival seasons speak to a blending of Catholic and West African spiritual traditions. Jonkanoo references an actual celebration, Junkanoo, focused on freedom from slavery in the Caribbean.