Reflection paper 1 Mellin
Samantha Mellin
CLP0220: Caribbean Lit & Culture
January 31, 2015 When most people think about the Caribbean’s they think of it as a get away from reality to have sunshine and fun. What most people don’t understand is that the Caribbean has a huge hybridity of people that live on this Island and they have a true understanding of what the Caribbean life has to offer. After reading many of the Caribbean Short Stories I was able to see many of the issues Caribbean people are faced with daily. The stories that will be discussed in more detail include; Leaving this Island place, In foreign parts, Mammie’s form at the post office, My Brother’s keeper, This old men used to dance, and lastly To Da-Duh in Memoriam. In each of these short stories the main topic that will be focused on will be migration and immigration in and out of the Caribbean’s, and the struggles that the people faced. I also will include my end perception of the stories. Starting with Leaving this Island place by Austin Clarke. Just from the title you have an understanding of the central theme of what the story is about. The Author Austin Clarke has a way writing this story that make it seem as though the characters are connected to the island making them feel as they are imprisoned you can see this when Cynthia the girlfriend of the narrator say “this island stifles me …Sometimes I feel like a crab in a crab hole with a pile o sand in front.” Just a brief overview of what the story is about. Its starts off with this young man and he’s off to go and visit his father to say his good byes because he’s leaving to attend school in Canada. The young man discovers that his father health is not in the best shape. Here in the story is where I realize that not only is the title about the son but I believe that it is also for shadowing that the father also will be leaving the island place just in a different form. When the father states ‘Son, do not leave before you get someone to say a prayer for
CLP0220: Caribbean Lit & Culture
January 31, 2015 When most people think about the Caribbean’s they think of it as a get away from reality to have sunshine and fun. What most people don’t understand is that the Caribbean has a huge hybridity of people that live on this Island and they have a true understanding of what the Caribbean life has to offer. After reading many of the Caribbean Short Stories I was able to see many of the issues Caribbean people are faced with daily. The stories that will be discussed in more detail include; Leaving this Island place, In foreign parts, Mammie’s form at the post office, My Brother’s keeper, This old men used to dance, and lastly To Da-Duh in Memoriam. In each of these short stories the main topic that will be focused on will be migration and immigration in and out of the Caribbean’s, and the struggles that the people faced. I also will include my end perception of the stories. Starting with Leaving this Island place by Austin Clarke. Just from the title you have an understanding of the central theme of what the story is about. The Author Austin Clarke has a way writing this story that make it seem as though the characters are connected to the island making them feel as they are imprisoned you can see this when Cynthia the girlfriend of the narrator say “this island stifles me …Sometimes I feel like a crab in a crab hole with a pile o sand in front.” Just a brief overview of what the story is about. Its starts off with this young man and he’s off to go and visit his father to say his good byes because he’s leaving to attend school in Canada. The young man discovers that his father health is not in the best shape. Here in the story is where I realize that not only is the title about the son but I believe that it is also for shadowing that the father also will be leaving the island place just in a different form. When the father states ‘Son, do not leave before you get someone to say a prayer for
Cited: Brown, Stewart, and John Wickham. The Oxford Book of Caribbean Short Stories. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1999. Print.