What does Samuel Selvon show us about the people living in las lamos?

Answer 1

What does the writer show us about the people living in Las Lamos?

By Abdul Ahad Lockhart

Greed, thirst, poverty devastating the poor scorched people of Las Lamos. The poor roasting village in the heart of the Caribbean. And how is life? How do the people portray their poor penniless creation? Their emotions? Their grief? Their worry?

Samuel Selvon author of a drink of water portrays a scene of devastation and the characteristics it brings out on the natives.

The Trinidadian born writer sets the scene by describing the minute village, using the 5 senses he illustrates. 'The time when the rains didn't come, and the sun was a yellow furnace in the sky'. In this example the author uses the sense of touch to help us to imagine a hot furnace blistering our hands.

Samuel Selvon portrays each character as having a particular role in the anecdotes establishment.

Manko is a hard working farmer, the writer explains, 'he was burnt from years of working on the field'. He was a also religious man with optimism. When a ravine was discovered he told his son, 'see how blessing doesn't only come from the sky it comes from the earth too'.

In this tale his morels are challenged when death nearly overcomes his loving wife Rannie, he has to change his morels and he has to choose his wife or his principles.

Rannie is Manko wife, she loves her only child with all her heart saving day by day for his academic studies due to her loss of education, the writer says, 'saving in hope of sending him to school 'and 'we poor' which shows she is less educated.

In this story she gets extremely ill which triggers a domino fall of events.

Sunny is the son of Manko and Rannie, he is the apple of their eyes the writer says, 'and Manko proud of his son used to boast that one day sunny would become a lawyer or a doctor'. He loves both his parents the writer says, 'Sunny put his arm under his dad and helped him up'. He will do anything for his parents safety the writer says, 'the man stealing the water was sunny'.

Rampersad is a hard worker, the writer says, 'he had been digging for weeks' he is also a charitable man after he struck water, 'that day everyone drank to their fill', but easily diverted in matters of importance, 'that night his wife said he was a fool to give them for nothing'. He plays the role of the diligent farmer which struck water but ends up selling it due to his crafty wife.

Rampersads wife is a sly cruel individual; she plays the role of the devious spouse, in a time of poverty and mortality. She seeks the money of the peasants this triggers the main event in the story the writer says, and 'Rampersads wife was a selfish crafty woman. She evilly persuades Rampersad, 'you was a fool to give them the water for free', she greedily thinks of profit while her neighbours waste away beside her, 'we make plenty money and become rich.

The writer emphasis how poverty changes a character in different ways for the good the person, he starts to become optimistic and generous he starts to want good for others like they say the less you have the more you want to give .But the opposite is true too if the person has more it can be a source of corruptness, a person starts to become pessimistic and wants to make money from other peoples deprivation.

I think the writer is successful in showing us this emphasis fully describing the character change in great detail.