Perspectives from Inner Windows

Cheryl Albury in the book” Perspectives from Inner Windows,” reveals many of the social problems that we face in Bahamian society. In her stories “Waiting for Love” and “Pot of Gold” she uses them to reflect on some of the characteristics of Bahamian Men. From these two stories Albury portrays men as manipulative and selfish. In “Waiting for love” we are introduced to the relationship of Stafford and Phyllis a young couple from Exuma. Stafford, evil in his ways, preys on naïve Phyllis, coaxing her mind of dreams he had for them. He courted her around town and found an opportunity to rob her of her innocence. Although she loved him, she knew something wasn’t right about their relationship, because ever since he had asked her to elope she felt a “sense of foreboding and uneasiness” to the matter. He deceived her in believing they would elope and start a family, by him not doing this he betrayed her trust and left her waiting on love. In “Pot of Gold” best friends Cyril and Jacob are both family men with minimum paying jobs. They, influenced by the hard times, robbed the local hardware store of a large sum of cash and walked free. It was not until Cyril’s unknowingly told his girlfriend that they were found guilty. Because of their selfish ways it caused them to jeopardize their relationships with their family and to deceive the trust of their wives. After being imprisoned, Jacob tried to regain their treasure but a building was constructed on it, but in the end they learnt that true happiness does not come from being selfish. In conclusion, Albury in these stories uses the technique of dialect and imagery to help her readers understand her point more. Also I believe that Albury shows a true reflection of Bahamian men. She uses real life situations to bring her point across that most Bahamian men are selfish and manipulative.