# Brother Man

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{{short description|1954 novel by Roger Mais}}
{{other uses|Brotherman (disambiguation)}}

{{infobox book | <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject Novels or Wikipedia:WikiProject Books -->
| name          = Brother Man
| title_orig    = 
| translator    = 
| image         = File:BrotherMan.jpg
| caption       = First edition
| author        = [Roger Mais](/source/Roger_Mais)
| illustrator   = 
| cover_artist  = 
| country       = [Jamaica](/source/Jamaica)
| language      = English
| series        = 
| genre         = 
| publisher     = [Jonathan Cape](/source/Jonathan_Cape)
| release_date  = 1954
| english_release_date =
| media_type    = Print ([Paperback](/source/Paperback))
| pages         = 191 pp
| preceded_by   = 
| followed_by   = 
}}

'''''Brother Man''''' (1954) is a novel by Jamaican author and journalist [Roger Mais](/source/Roger_Mais), about a Christ-like wise-man and folk [Rastafarian](/source/Rastafarian) healer, 'Bra' Man' (in dialect) John Power. The book is significant as the first serious representation of the [Rastafari movement](/source/Rastafari_movement) in literature. Mais foresaw the defining power of the Rasta movement to Jamaican society 20 years before the era of [Bob Marley](/source/Bob_Marley) and [Reggae](/source/Reggae) mainstream.<ref>[http://jahworks.org/dubwise63/roger-mais-brother-man-knotty-dread-steps-forward-again/#.VvgwE_t97aY "Roger Mais 'Brother Man' Knotty Dread steps forward"], Jah Works</ref>
 
It is also significant as an exploration of life in the [ghetto](/source/ghetto) of [Kingston](/source/Kingston%2C_Jamaica). It shows how the people relate to leaders, seeing them as God-like or magic depending on their own views, but not hesitating to be overcome by mass bias and discrimination if they believe a leader has failed in any way.
The novel is written in prose with a layout that is seemingly cinematic and episodic; little is done to describe the environment beyond the claustrophobic ghetto of 'The Lane' in the slums of Kingston, Jamaica.<ref name="imani">[https://imani.wordpress.com/2007/01/02/brother-man-part-ii/ "Brother Man Part ii"], Imani blog, 2 January 2007</ref>

==Plot summary==
The plot follows the superstructure of [Christ](/source/Christ)'s story, with other characters resembling [Mary Magdalene](/source/Mary_Magdalene) and other figures from his life. It uses this to explore conditions in the black ghetto of Kingston and the growth of the [Rastafari movement](/source/Rastafari_movement).

==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Authority control}}

Category:1954 novels
Category:Jamaican novels
Category:Novels set in Jamaica
Category:Jonathan Cape books

{{1950s-novel-stub}}

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Brother Man](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brother_Man) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brother_Man?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.