Ti-Jean and his Brothers doesn't immediately grab the reader as being anti-feminist however there are several sexist references I found to be a little insensitive to the feminist cause. The quote by Ti-Jeans' mother, "A woman's life is so. Watching and losing", in the beginning of Scene One was a little irresponsible of the playwright Derek Walcott. This small quote almost set the theme of the entire play in a different direction. Since 'mother's' part was so small, I think the reader overlooked this. (I did at first!) Only after reviewing the story did I uncover how this play could be compared to "Trifles". In Trifles, the women waited around for the men to do their "official" investigation. In "Ti-Jean and his Brothers", the mother waited around while two-thirds of her children were killed. These women from both plays were sitting around and waiting instead of taking action! In both plays, the outcome would have been drastically different if these powerful women would have spoken out. Actually Ti-Jean asked his mother for advice which was one of the actions that saved his life. Imagine if she gave advice to all her sons...it would have been a very different play. However, I don't fault these women for not speaking up. This male driven culture, especially when these plays were set would not have tolerated an 'opinionated' woman. Just look how long it took for blacks to start speaking out against their oppressors; it can be a very intimidating thing to speak up, or speak out against "The Man"!!!
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