Face (Benjamin Zephaniah)

infobox Book | | name = Face


image_caption = Face book cover.
author = Benjamin Zephaniah
country = United Kingdom
language = English
classification = Fiction
publisher = flagicon|USA Farrar, Straus and Giroux
flagicon|UK Bloomsbury
release_date = 9 July, 1999
media_type = Print (Paperback)
pages = 208 pages
isbn = ISBN 0-747-54154-X

"Face" is the award-winning 1999 novel by British Rastafarian writer and dub poet Benjamin Zephaniah, who also wrote "Refugee Boy" and "Gangsta Rap".

Plot

The main character is Martin Turner. He's the leader of the Gang of Three, and a classroom joker. His friends are Marcus Thorpe and Matthew (surname is unknown throughout). He lives in the 'new East End' where there is a difficult brew of white, Caribbean, African and Asian families. The community lies in sensitive balance in reference to the relationships between the neighbors. Martin claims he isn't particularly racist once saying: "I ain't got nothing against blacks, they're just different, they dance different and everything."

To Martin's surprise, he finds himself rather enjoying himself at a rap club one night. Leaving the club later, Martin is offered a ride home by someone he knows vaguely from school, Peter Mosley, and the driver, Graham Fisher (also called Apache). Martin doesn't know the car is stolen though, and the ride becomes a ride to self-destruction. In the inevitable accident Martin suffers terrible burns to his face. Meanwhile, Peter Mosley is killed, Mark starts limping and Apache vomits onto the floor of the police car.

Martin Turner wakes up in Newham Parkside Hospital with his parents visible. He's still a bit unconscious but slowly wakes up normally.

As Martin slowly comes to consciousness he checks his body. Everything seems to be in order from this perspective until a Dr. Owens explains to him that "You can't feel anything. That is because many of the nerve cells have been destroyed." Martin can't really feel the damage because of painkillers in his system.

Customary with hospital time, Martin does a lot of thinking. He tries to come to terms with his new and damaged face. His friends have to come to terms with his new face. Martin is unable to speak fluently because there are swellings on his cheeks that to him: "Look like mountains".

Martin has to begin to deal with the different reactions of people who come to visit him in the hospital. On the receiving end of other's prejudices, he has mixed feelings. At one point, Martin asks someone to retrieve him a mirror and when he looks into it, he is horrified by what he sees. Then he sobs himself to sleep.

A few days later, Martin has his first bath since he arrived and is embarrassed to be naked in front of the nurses. By now, his hospital room became his private home. There is fruit on the table beside his bed, gifts everywhere and he starts to speak fluently again.

Martin eventually undergoes a skin graft and is furious when he sees his new face. Five days later, he is able to go home but is stopped by two policemen. They tell him they need an account, and Martin answers them. DI Byrd tells him that Apache will be serving a life sentence for dangerous driving. Throughout the rest of the book, Martin's face recovers and things start to return to normal. But the Gang of Three's relationships begin to falter. The crash remains in the headlines. Martin does increasingly well as the skin graft fades away and his face is back to how it was before the crash. But a few children call him ugly and he goes home and covers his head with his pillow. Later, he goes into the "Winter Friendlies" and attempts to win them. Kirton High wins instead and Martin describes them as "crap". Martin states that "I'm the winner".

Characters

Major characters

*Martin Turner - main character, leader of the Gang of Three and the classroom joker.
*Mark Thorpe - Martin's friend and copycat.
*Matthew Penn - more laid-back than the other two, prefers to do things himself.
*Natalie Hepburn - Martin's girlfriend, who initially suggest rap music to him.

upporting characters

*Clive Turner - Martin's father.
*Wendy Turner - Martin's mother.
*Graham Fisher (Apache) - reckless joyrider who kills Pete Mosley, and injures Martin and Marcus.
*Peter Mosley - tricks Martin and Mark into the car and dies after Apache crashes it.
*Dr. Janet Owens - Martin's doctor who performs the skin graft.
*Alan Green - Martin's counselor.

Locations in "Face"

Throughout the various chapters and quotes in "Face", a number of recurring locations also appear. Prominent locations are listed here in rough order of appearance. The order in which some of these locations appear in the book (including returns) depends upon the sequence in which the plot progresses.
*Eastmorelands School
*Green Street
*Dancemania
*Newham Parkside Hospital
*The Sport Centre

Gangs of "Face"

"Face" features a myriad of fictional gangs and criminal organizations of various ethnicities, histories and activities, which have served as both primary and secondly vehicles in the book's plot points, as well as allies or foes of the book's characters.
*The Gang of Three - Martin, Mark and Matthew's own gang.
*Big Six - a group of six schwul of the most respected and feared people in East London.
*The "Big E" Posse - an alliance of East End gangs who once fought each other.
*The Tigers and the Dread Lions - affiliated to the "Big E".
*Stokie Crew - a North London gang who attempted to pick on some girls from the "Big E".
*The Raiders Posse - Apache's gang before the car crash.
*White Knights - Mark forms this gang when he deserts Martin and Matthew.

Criticism

Many readers say that this is the best book by Zephaniah, while others don't. On Amazon.com, it has a total score of 4 stars.

References

Many of the locations in "Face" can be seen in Zephaniah's later books, including "Gangsta Rap" amongst others. There is also a Martin in "Refugee Boy", although the connection between the two Martins is currently disputed.

External links

* [http://www.benjaminzephaniah.com/content/203.php Face official homepage]
* [http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/z/benjamin-zephaniah/face.htm Face] at Fantastic Fiction
* [http://www.ciao.co.uk/Face_Benjamin_Zephaniah__6084526 Face] at Ciao
* [http://www.amazon.com/Face-Benjamin-Zephaniah/dp/1582347743 Face] at Amazon.com