Lotus Bloom and the Afro Revolution

Central to Lotus’s growth throughout the novel is her love and passion for music. Initially, she is portrayed as somewhat immature, focusing on her music as the only important thing in her life. She ignores Rebel and her teachers when they try to get her interested in Black history, while also avoiding Rebel’s efforts to get her to help join in her protests. However, throughout the text Lotus learns the importance of using music as a tool for expression—rather than as the center of her life. When Fabiola asks her, “Do you want to be a professional musician your whole life?,” Lotus realizes that she has “no answer,” as the “truth is, I’ve never really thought about it. I’m good at music. […] But the rest of my life?” (167). In this way, Lotus learns the importance of caring about other things in her life—while continuing to use her musical ability as a tool for expression.

Throughout the novel, Lotus uses music in her personal life as an important tool to handle difficult situations. She uses it to gauge how she feels, to cope, and to express her feelings. For example, when she thinks of Mrs. Cortez and her anger, she thinks of the Jaws soundtrack. Then, when she considers how stressed she is about her upcoming performance, she thinks how “somewhere deep inside [her], a kettle drum booms its throaty rhythm” (95). The recurring motif of music highlights the theme of music in personal expression. When she is unable to find words to say how she feels or process her feelings, she turns to music to help her understand her situation.

In the novel’s climax, Lotus turns to music in order to make her voice heard at the board meeting. As she explains, “the whole room is erupting into ugliness. Voices raised. Threats launched like grenades. My heart pounds its bassoon thrum in my ears” (243). As the meeting breaks out into argument, anger, and chaos and loses sight of the end goal, Lotus goes to the front of the room and pulls out her violin. She thinks how, “My most important tool, I tell myself, is my music. No matter what, music lives inside me, grows in my soul. No one can take that away” (243). As a result of the music, the board meeting immediately calms down. In particular, the song that Lotus chooses to play, Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On?,” is representative of what she feels in the moment. Gaye wrote the song in response to the Civil Rights protests in the 1970s, choosing to highlight the discord, unrest, and chaos of the time. Among many things, it “questioned the Vietnam War, highlighted environmental degradation, and pointed to systemic racism and economic disparities. The masterwork captures the spirit of the early 1970s, highlighting a period marked by activism, civil unrest, and a passionate call for change” (Russell, Melody. “The Enduring Meaning Behind Marvin Gaye’s Signature Hit ‘What’s Going On?’” American Songwriter, 21 Aug. 2023). In this way, the song reflects the situation that Lotus finds herself in. While her community is fighting for equality and change, they also find themselves thrown into turmoil and chaos. Instead of fixing the community, Lotus sees that the board, Rebel, and the racial tension are tearing their community apart. Just as Gaye’s music helped call attention to the turmoil of his era, Lotus uses her music for political expression to bring about change.