How many years before Barbados achieved independence was this novel published? (pub. 1953, 13 years before independence in 1966) What are some of its features which might have seemed startling/shocking at the time?
What are some qualities of his novel Lamming feels the need of explaining in his introduction? (its central character is the Village, more than any individual, x)
What has been its subject/focus of interest? (the poor, split consciousness of Barbadian people--their own reality contrasts with what they have learned about their relationship to white people and to Britain)
Of what have they been innocent? (what has been foisted on them, have been denied sense of pan-African race, xvi)
What should be their relationship to Africa? (need also to understand that although they are an African people, they are not still African, xiv)
What country's commercialism and values do they need to fear? (the United States, xix)
In concluding his introduction, what does Lamming believe is the battle of our time? (xxi, against poverty, ignorance, and fear) Is this still true?
What are some features of Lamming's style? (language, its dialect and rhythms, repetitions) Of the language he employs?
What are some features of the conversations? (often several speakers, mull over a topic together, often moderating their views after hearing others, pooling their several bits of information or inference)
What purpose is served by the sequence in which the separate chapters are introduced? (e. g., the house, the neighborhood, the school, the old couple, the expedition to the shore, etc.)
Are there similarities in the way each chapter is begun? (with descriptions, often fairly long and symbolic, followed by scenes)
What meanings attach to water throughout the novel? (flood, beach, both destructive and cleansing)
What kind(s) of religion is practiced by the Barbadians? Who seems most religious, and who most irreligious? (women seem more religious, preachers however are men) What function does it serve for believers? (comforts them with sense of meaning to otherwise threatening events)
What is the relationship between the natives and the white landlords throughout? Is there much communication, and if so, of what type? (little or no help provided, virtually no social contact)
What are some instances of humor and irony throughout? How do these further the plot?
Chapter 1 flood: What happens on G.'s ninth birthday, and is this a surprise? (it always rains on his birthday) What is notable about this rain? (a flood) How do he and his mother interpret this event differently, and to what extent does he accede to her view?
What do we learn about his family? Her own past? (deserted at age two, 7) Her habits and/or character? (sings, 6, seems resilient)
How is their home described? (flimsy, close to other houses)
What causes the death of the pidgeon? (he feeds it castor oil, following a folk remedy, 8)
In the context of this chapter, what seem some symbolic attributes of the rain? (unchanging, limiting; seen as both physical and metaphorical)
Chapter 2 neighborhood: What quarrels break out in the yard, and over what infractions? (pumpkin vine broken, children fight and residents laugh)
What do we learn of the mother's character and ambitions? (12)
What do we learn about the disciplinary measures of the neighborhood women? (G.'s mother less violent than the others, 16)
What are some characteristics of the neighborhood society? (talk, enjoy one another's company, 19) What are their attitudes toward landlord? (fear him, internalize necessity of obedience)
How is the village policed? (23, by overseers and constables, harsh, suspicious)
How does the landlord respond to the flood? (23) What reactions do the children have to the landlord? (imitate his family drinking tea, 24)
How does the woman whose home has been washed away in the flood react when she is give 60 cents in compensation by the landlord? (awed and grateful that he has spoken to her and expresses sympathy, 30)
What do we learn about bathing practices? (scarcity of water, males bathe in public bath, time in bath strictly regulated)
Chapter 3 school: Who is allowed to attend the school? (boys only) What are some of the purposes of the school? (to promote ideals of empire, Barbados's identity as Little England)
What are some of the school rituals? (parade when inspector visits, 34-38) What characterizes the inspector's manner? (38-39) How many boys from this primary school are chosen by examination to attend the local high school? (only 3; others at high school are sons of local civil servants of both races)
What seems to be the level of instruction? (shockingly elementary) What will happen to the boys who are unable to attend high school? (may become tradesmen, such as the shoemaker; others seek work elsewhere)
What cruel act is perpetrated by the head teacher? (boy beaten for giggling, 41) What are some details that make this act even more reprehensible? (he wasn't the one who had committed the infraction, 42, teacher knows him personally)
What is revealed by the boys' argument over whether telling their fathers would be wise? (43-44, some don't have fathers, fathers unhelpful, mothers may be kind but they report to fathers, 44, their view of their fathers quite mixed, 44) What remark is made on the sources of such family dysfunction? (mothers stupid, that's why no father, 44)
What are some features of the style of the boys's conversation? (47, weaves around, filled with non-sequiturs, often changes tone and content abruptly) For example, what is revealed about the boys' debate over how pennies are made? Why is this so important to them? (52-53, seldom able to possess money)
What important facts had they not been taught in school? (slavery, 58, the condition of their ancestors)
What happens when a boy picks up an envelope accidentally dropped by a teacher? (fight over it and head teacher retrieves it, 63) What are its upsetting contents? (contains photos of his wife with another man, one of the teachers, 63)
What would have been the motive for this teacher (Mr. Slime) to have sent these photos by letter to his fellow teacher? (incredibly stupid, seems out of character for what we later learn about Mr. Slime)
What internal debate does the head master undergo? (should he tell inspector, 71)
How do the boys retell the story of Lucifer's fall? (72) How do they recast the story of the origin of slavery? What are their ideas of their relationship to an original garden and an empire (British empire)? (74)
What does "the boy" feel about being seen by another person? (reluctance, 75, loss of control of one's own world) Who seems to be the speaker in such a passage? (mixed, seems to refer to the individual and the group, 76)
What do we learn about the schoolteacher and his home life? (he drinks, his wife beats him, 51)
Chapter 4 change vs. acceptance: What happens to the assistant teacher Mr. Slime as a result of this incident? What does he do next? (opens a bank, 80) Are we expected to find his name significant? (ominous)
What attitudes do Pa and Ma each represent in their conversation? (Old Woman distrusts change, 87, and he believes it may be good; they represent a symbiosis) Why may they be called Old Man and Old Woman rather than by individual names? (become more representative of the older members of the community and of the experience of the past)
What does he find hopeful about Mr. Slime's suggestions? (talks of emigration) What does he fear? (death, or rather sense of being divided into a dead and living self at death, 89, 93) What might predispose him to that fear? At the end of the novel, what will be his fate? (sent to Alms House, a horrible, dependent fate)
Are there biblical echoes or themes in the Old Woman's speech? (possessions ultimately don't matter, 93) How does the chapter end? (she says a prayer over him, 95)
Chapter 5 political action:
Who strikes, under what leadership, and for what results?
In what context are the names J. B. Priestly and Marcus Garvey mentioned? (shoemaker had learned from reading Priestly that Barbados was in fact a colony, 105; Marcus Garvey had spoken in Barbados and asserted black unity in rebellion, 109) What does the shoemaker predict will come of such actions? (end of British empire)
Does Mr. Slime convey to the strikers all he has learned from meeting with the employers? (110-11) Is this a significant detail? What characterizes his speech to the villagers? (colorful, 112) What advantage may they in fact have gained? (higher wages)
Over what do the two women, Baby Parker and Sheila, fight? (112-13)
Chapter 6 boyhood outing by the sea:
Why does the novel provide such lengthy descriptions of crabs and their movements?
How do the white men interact with the boys on the beach? (124-25, throw pennies at boys and watch them scramble and fight over them)
What prompts Bob and the others to attempt to restrain the sea from advancing? (have read legend of Canute, 128-29) Do their efforts succeed? (no, of course not) What may this show about their comprehension of what they learn in school?
At the seashore what do the boys talk about? (130-31) On what basis do they form opinions about marriage? (story of Bambi, who couldn't decide whom to marry of his two female partners, 134-35, but pressured by a white woman to marry, 146, and marries Bots, starts to drink, 149, becomes violent) What then happens to his body after his death? (survivors have no money to bury him, 153) What do the boys conclude? (marriage a bad idea, 155)
Does the story of the happy group who fell apart because of a legalized union quite hang together? What seems its purpose here? (interventions by colonials disrupt good local patterns)
What incident had marked Trumper's past? (had been sent to a reformatory and his eyebrows shaved, 137) What do we learn of the different skin tones of the two boys, Boy Blue and Trumper? (Boy Blue dark and Trumper fair, 137) What do the boys decide about the nature of blackness? (prefer brown to white or black, 137, 138; only later do we learn that G. is very dark)
What does Boy Blue feel about his own death? (not going to die, 142) Are the other boys persuaded? (Trumper argues with him, 143)
What does the story of Bambi suggest to the boys about the problem of a changed identity outside of one's control? (155-56, sense of isolation and being different)
What do the boys notice about the fisherman as they watch him? (seriousness of his concentration, large size, 160) What is their response to him? (sorry they haven't been able to speak to him, 162)
What horrible accident almost causes Boy Blue's death, and what is the rescuer's response? (fisherman is angry at him, 165) Why do you think he is so angry?
Why do the boys decide not to tell their mothers of this expedition? What are some suggested stories that they may tell her? (171-72) How do they respond to one another's stories? (the others say that G. will be a lawyer or a politician, 172)
What do they believe would have been the advantage of a greater control of language? (167, wouldn't have to feel, could be more certain about things)
Chapter 7 religious service and spying on landlord's home: What are features of the religious service the boys witness? (mostly women attendees, dancing and singing, 175) What kind of ceremony does this seem to be? (Penecostal) What kind of pressure do the boys feel? (to confess their sins and join group)
What is the narrator's (G.'s) attitude toward all this? (178, discomfort at the fact that they are being watched, a kind of horror and fear increasing, 181) Do the other boys feel similarly? (Boy Blue, G. and Trumper, 182-83 Trumper highly skeptical and wishes for them to leave)
What criticism has Mr. Slime made of such services? (prevent people from helping thesmelves, 183)
What prediction does Boy Blue make about the future power structure in the town? (Mr. Slime will organize the town's business and become a "black Jesus." 183)
What does Mr. Slime advocate? (owning land, 184)
How do the boys differentiate their private conversations from the world of politics? (183-84, their private conversations are a kind of dreaming; the latter necessary for sense of unity, for if everyone stayed in their private dream they couldn't function as a unity)
What do they witness when they eavesdrop on the dance at the landlord's house? (188-89, Trumper notes that things won't change and most people will be deprived of the refinements of life, 192)
Whom do they overhear? (sailor making love to landlord's daughter) Will this later be important? (she will falsely tell her father that she was assaulted by one of the townspeople in order to cover for the fact that she was discovered in the garden)
What happens when they accidentally fall into an ant heap? (194, are discovered and flee desperately)
By what ironic means are they able to avoid being caught by the overseer? (on entering the town, they join the crowd of worshipers for protection, 195-96) How close does he come to them? (in crowd and sees them but forced to leave them alone as they kneel at the altar for conversion, 198-99) What has been Trumper's part in all this? (he directs it, is quite astute)
How are the boys differentiated from one another? Do we have a sense of their distinct characters?
Chapter 8 change and false change: What topics do the Old Man and the Old Woman again discuss? What does she find troubling? (lack of respect for landlord; Mr. Creighton has come to her to tell of his regret that he may have to sell his land after his daughter had allegedly been assaulted by three of the boys in town but the sailor has saved her from assault, 206)
What lie had Mr. Creighton told her, and what is her response? (ill behavior of village youth; she feels immediate belief and shame, 206) Why do you think he has singled her out for this conversation? (so that she may tell others; possibly knows that she will be more credulous than her husband)
About what is he most worried? (that he will need to sell land, 207; the villagers will be worse off without him) Will this in fact happen? (yes)
What does he say about the lot of his tenants? (better than that of poor whites, 207) What is indicated by the fact that she is grateful and pleased by his visit?
What is the old man's response (time to change)
Chapter 9 revolt: How do the villagers respond to the news of fighting in the next village? (211-13) What frightening events are reported by Bob and Trumper? Why have they been attacked? (are in a group attacked by the police, 215)
Are the issues of the fighting or the identities of the participants clear to them? (those on the ground experience a sense of confusion)
How had the fighting started? (first the strike, 216) What is the sequence of events? (after strike and gathering, 216, police shoot and kill boy in tree, 218, riots break out, police shoot and workers flee, 222, revolutionaries and guerillas with guns enter village and remain shadowing Mr. Foster's home)
What happens when the rebels enter the village? (villagers are terrified and resent intruders, 226; the rebels carry weapons and intend to shoot the landlord or stone him, but refrain from doing so)
What is Mr. Slime's reaction? (enjoins them not to attack Mr. Creighton, 229) What view does Lamming later express of this incident? (should have permitted them to kill him, 229)
What is the immediate consequence of this incident? (police invade village, 230) Some longer-term consequences of these upheavals? (Creighton sells land and Mr. Slime takes over, oppresses the villagers)
Chapter 10 Old Man speaks to his wife, sums up their lives in last statement before she dies: What themes does the Old Man convey in his sleep? (talks in sleep, first we were from Africa and were taken to the new world, gold and silver, 233, a return to Africa futile (see introduction), Slime and Creighton are the same, 234)
What is the meaning of his last words? (death and life are the same sad thing, 235) How would you characterize the language of his dream oration? (monologue approaches poetry, filled with ambiguity and paradox)
Under what circumstances does his wife die? (enjoining him to accept the light, moves to shake him awake, 235, falls and dies)
Chapter 11 high school: What motivates G. to hide a pebble and what is the symbolism of its disappearance? (hopes to see things again, can't bear the thought of seeing things for the last time, 236) How will this be related to the theme of the novel?
Why is this incident introduced at this point in the story?
What change occurs in the lives of Trumper and G.? (Trumper leaves for the U. S. and G. passes his exams and attends high school, 291)
What letter has precipitated the narrator's sense that he will be leaving home? (has been offered a job in Trinidad, 240, 252, evokes memories of the past changes in his life, such as leaving for high school) Also from whom does he hear in America? (Trumper, has changed his attitude toward life)
What had been his response when he learned he would be attending the high school? His mother's response? (his achievement the inevitable result of the tutorials for which she had paid, 240) Is she entirely accurate in her assessment? (no, he would have had to have been reasonably bright and reasonably diligent to take advantage of the lessons; many might still have failed)
What were differences between his primary school and the high school? (entirely different, high school a separate world, he felt split between this world and that of his origins, 244) How had the teachers at the primary school been recruited? (from former students who had no further education themselves, 243)
Who had befriended him and encouraged him in his reading (and presumably writing)? (head assistant, 251) How many years had he remained at high school? (6 years)
What was the chief gift which the high school had given him? (sense of world beyond his world, 252)
What are some effects of the outbreak of WW II on the students and island? (trees chopped down, 255, military training started at the school, 246, civil defense drills, 247, merchant ship torpedoed)
How does he feel about leaving his past? (249) What emotions does he feel toward his home? (a storage of love for the sprawling dereliction of that life, 249)
What happens to his friends after their schooling has concluded? (Bob and Boy Blue become policemen, 249) Is this what you would expect? Under what circumstances had Trumper emigrated? (as an indentured worker, 249) What unusual message does Trumper send? (253, can't explain by letter but will do so in person)
What will he be doing in Trinidad? (teaching English to Venezuelans, 252)
Chapter 12 speech with Old Man before his departure: Why is the Old Man forced to depart? (Slime has purchased the homes and is selling them)
Chapter 13: evictions: Who comes to talk with him and to break the news? (head teacher, Old Man is grandfather figure) Where have we met the head teacher before, and are there ironies to his new role? (seen in much more positive light, has become prosperous in the interval but still has some feeling for the villagers' position)
Is the visitor able to soften the blow or comfort him? (tries to cushion the shock with politeness, 281, offers to purchase his house, is supportive, but these things don't affect the outcome)
What does the Old Man believe are the prospects for constructive change on the island? (255, will remain same in essence) Who had earlier enunciated these beliefs? (his wife)
How does the shoemaker respond to the news of his eviction, and how do the others try to comfort him? (264-65) What has caused the evictions? (Mr. Creighton has sold the land of the village, and Mr. Slime has used the money from the Friendly Society to purchase it in his name, then ordered the evictions, 266)
What arguments do the villagers use against the interloper? (268) Have they been offered the right of purchase? (no, 269) Would this have mattered? (couldn't pay)
What is the attitude of the villagers toward their land? (269) What role does Mr. Creighton's overseer play in all this? (adds enforcement to words of the new owner, 274, mentions that those who wish to purchase should see Mr. Slime, 276)
When he learns that he has been evicted, what is the Old Man's response? (279, different from others, a wisdom figure)
Who next learn of their evictions? (Mr. Foster, 265, Old Man) Are all the houses removed at once? (no, only selected plots immediately sold)
What does the Old Man feel about memory? (can't be eliminated, whether one wishes or not, 277) What does he wish as he contemplates his fate? (wishes to be remembered, 277) What questions does he ask? (wants to know relationship between the Friendly Society and the purchase, 285)
How is the Alms House described? (a place of sickness and shame, 282, site of human degradation, 283)
Chapter 14 leavetakings: Why do you think selections from G.'s diary are given in this chapter? (289) Why are specific months mentioned here for the first time? (time quickens; we are moving toward the metropole)
What new position has he been offered?
What conversation between Mr. Slime, the head teacher, and others does G. overhear, and what is his reaction? (290-91, disturbed) What seems the head teacher's reaction to these outcomes? (unhappy, concerned for villagers, 291)
How does he describe his prior relationship with those he is leaving? (they don't know him, 292) How does he respond to the offer from a prostitute? What symbolic story does he use to answer her? (293, story of feces on a stick indicates desire to free himself)
What has caused his mother distress, and how does she respond? (295, anxious that he is leaving, she will lose all influence, concerned for his behavior) What is his reaction to her anger and threats? (patient, is used to them, 296-99, responds with irony--e. g., notes that there will be meals elsewhere, 301)
What has she heard about Trinidad that concerns her? (302-309, place where dishonesty and crime are tolerated, wild carnivals)
What has enabled his education? (she has spent her money on tutors for him, enabling him to pass exams for the high school) What do we learn has been his response to high school? (often had disagreed with teachers and been punished)
Who had first suggested to her that she should try to educate her son? (doctor, 311) What had he claimed would have helped the boy's chances? (if he were as light skinned as his mother)
Why do you think Lamming hasn't mentioned G.'s color or that of his mother until now? (wants to emphasize that this shouldn't been seen as important)
What concrete pieces of advice does she give him? (be careful about sex, 304; don't drink to excess; avoid snakes, 312)
What does she claim have been his main features of character? (305, goes to extremes and easily led)
What unusual dinner does she serve him, and why is this important? (306-307, cuckoo and flying fish with ice cream--shows her great love and care, also pride in her abilities--a final symbolic meal)
What have been their respective views on religion? What book does she give him to carry to his new location? (New Testament, 313)
When Trumper visits, does he indicate that he wishes to return to the U. S.? (316-17, only in a different way, not as an indentured worker) What description does he give of the United States? (319, land of many luxuries)
What is his reaction to the news of the evictions? Why does he say he will refuse to buy any land? (will make the evictors think that things are all right after all, 320) How does he think the villagers should react to dispossession? (by refusing to leave and being taken to prison, 321) What does he think of the sending Pa to the workhouse? (would never have gone of his own accord, is far more decent than Slime, 321)
What insights have Trumper's views given him? (an understanding of the injustice in the land transaction, 322)
How does Trumper respond to the increased dearth of trees in his homeland? (326) What new possession does he demonstrate, and what is the significance of the song he plays for them? (phonograph, plays Paul Robeson recording, 331)
What news and insights does Trumper bring from his sojourn in America? (black persons treated as a special, inferior group; he has gained sense of unity of all black people, 331, has "found race") How is the U. S. different from Barbados in this regard? (all black persons are treated as a category, 332-34)
What does Trumper say as he departs? (wishes them all the very best, 334) What does G. fear, unlike Trumper? (that he may be a part of something which he does not know, 335) What does Trumper claim has happened to his former fear that he may be isolated and alone? (no longer fears this, knows his people, 337)
Whose house is first torn down? (the shoemaker's, 337) What happens next? (final destruction of village, 337) Is it fitting that these events should happen directly before the narrator's departure?
What is important about Pa's farewell? (338, declares he is leaving and recounts the recent disruptive events since the flood, 339) What act does he perform before leaving? (gives him kiss of blessing, 340) Why do you think this is placed last in the novel?
Is Pa's departure symbolic? (represents memories and values of the village, wise and good man)
How have the themes of education and educational access functioned within the novel? Have they been an unmixed blessing in the colonial context? (seen as propaganda for colonial subjection, yet also help provide protagonist with some means by which he can analyze, cope with, and separate from his original social group?
What is the tone of the novel's final metaphor? (340)
What does Lamming believe may be the answer to the basic debate which undergirds the novel, can things change? (he is able to leave but Barbados is trapped in poverty)
What is added to the novel by the repetitions of language? By some of its poetic features of style? (circling, repetitions, internal allusions, assonance)
What is accorded to memory within the story? (only means of preserving a past world, or of understanding one's life, memory brings clarity and a sense of pattern)