Leaving Behind one Door and Opening Many Others

Leaving Behind one Door and Opening Many Others

In Nina Revoyr's novel, Southland she takes the reader on a journey of a young woman, Jackie who tries to solve the missing puzzle pieces to her family history. With an eager mind, Jackie strives to search for an answer to an unsolved murder case that involves her grandfather during the Watts riots. Along her journey to solving the puzzle, Jackie finds herself breaking out of her shell as she is portrayed as a bold, intelligent woman who is clean cut and often building up a wall from the outside world. Along the way she meets a man and a woman, James Lanier who helps her solve the unanswered murder case, and Rebecca her friend that she ends up falling in love with. As they spend time together, Jackie forms a relationship with Lanier and Rebecca creating a bond, which helps Jackie find her true identity as she is in the process of accepting the history behind her family roots.

Jackie, a young Japanese-African American woman raised in the downtown area of Little Tokyo where it is constantly busy with people everywhere finds more comfort and safety when she moves into an apartment in Gardena, a safe neighborhood. When Jackie finds out her grandfather passed away, she is forced to travel to the Crenshaw district where her grandfather was from and where his corner market was located. When Jackie goes to Crenshaw she feels uneasy and unsafe in an environment she is not familiar with. She only found herself driving through the city a couple times to avoid traffic and described it as a, "black ghetto" (pg. 20). After attending her grandmother's funeral in Gardena, being at her grandfather's funeral in Crenshaw Jackie was surprised as she looked around and saw that black people surrounded her where she felt embarrassed and out of place. "Driving into her garage that night, after spending the day with Lois, was like walking into open arms," (pg. 40) the place where Jackie felt the most comfort and ease. The one place that Jackie didn't feel like she had to watch her back or feel like she was out of place, was her very own apartment that she loved and felt protected in, blocking off the family problems that she didn't want to be a part of. When Jackie meets Lanier, even he notices the straight edge personality she had and depicted her to look like a "package wrapped tightly with a bright and colorful bow" (pg. 67). As Jackie spends time with Lanier, she slowly starts to bring down her walls that she builds up from the outside world.

A very big scene in Nina Revoyr's novel is when Jackie connects with Lanier on a whole new level where they both realize they made a huge mistake. When Lanier and Jackie are in the car, Lanier breaks down into tears and Jackie tries to comfort him. While Lanier is breaking down, Jackie "reaches over with both hands now, unbuckling her seatbelt, then his,