Previous
Harlem’s Mum
In “Harlem Jones,” Toby is Harlem Jones’s friend. They attend a rally over the officer-involved shooting of Mark Duggan and throw Molotov cocktails, at which point the peaceful protest turns violent. Toby and Harlem, along with other Black youths, often clash with their elders, who do not see violent resistance as a productive means of addressing systemic injustices like police brutality.
Toby Quotes in Foreign Soil
The Foreign Soil quotes below are all either spoken by Toby or refer to Toby. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Harlem Jones Quotes
Harlem flicks the lighter on with his thumb, holds the flame up in front of his face. “My name,” he says, “is not son. My name, my fuckin’ name, is Harlem fuckin’ Jones.” Holding the neck of the Molotov, he touches the flame to it and quickly pulls back his arm.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Foreign Soil LitChart as a printable PDF.
"My students can't get enough of your charts and their results have gone through the roof." -Graham S.
Toby Character Timeline in Foreign Soil
The timeline below shows where the character Toby appears in Foreign Soil. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Harlem Jones
Despite his run-in with the police, Harlem still manages to reach Tottenham before Toby. Harlem sits down on the station steps and smokes as he waits for Toby, but...
(full context)
Toby runs up behind Harlem just then and apologizes for being late. They debate which way...
(full context)
...crowd. There are people holding handmade signs demanding an end to police brutality. Harlem and Toby push their way to the front of the crowd. They see lots of police wearing...
(full context)
...the police officers listening intently to their radios and knows that something is going on. Toby disappears into the crowd, and then Harlem hears the smashing sound of the Molotov exploding....
(full context)
