Miguel Street Characterization and Thematic Connection - PowerPoint Presentation

Miguel Street Characterization and Thematic Connection

Named after Amer. Movie char. Has no family; quiet and to himself“most bored man [the narrator] ever saw” Plays cards Leaves to America and changes for the worstKey issues: Concept of becoming “americanized”Drinking, gambling, marital relationships“being a man among we men”- fathering a child = manhood? Chapter 1: Bogart

Tone is diff.; narrator likes Popo“poetic man”Creating the “thing without a name” Always working but to what avail? Defines his identitySource of stressPopo is a “man-woman”; his wife leaves him; he cleans up; she comes back; he is jailed for stealing to impress/play the working gameConcept of dreams versus reality Chapter 2:The Thing Without a Name

Looks just like his donkey and causes fear in narrator and townHe brutally beats his kids and his wife Taunts narrator when he walk by Elias excuses his father (29) as old and unintentionalMother dies: worst funeral he has ever seenDolly giggles out of nervous incapacity for controlGeorge finds a new woman but it is short-lived; opens a brothel; Dolly marries and then is humilated to her breaking point and leavesGeorge dies at the end; Elias attends funeral Chapter 3: George and the Pink House

Elais is diff. : Brains and determination Elias attempts to pass Cambridge Cert. at the school Titus Hoyt runs Wants to be a doctorNarrator finds “litritcher” beautiful in Elias’ mouthReceives 3rd grade on exam; tries for 2nd grade; teaches at Titus’s school; decides to be a sanitary inspector because he “like[d] the work”; tried to fly to places and pass the test- failed each time Physical labor vs mental labor Work versus education Without education, cannot work in higher paying jobs Chapter 4: His Chosen Calling

Man-man = mad; town left him alone Ran for “every election” in the cityNever worked but was never idle (47)Scribbled “schoooooool” when narrator went to school- equates to workHis “accent” was like an Englishman Uses his dog to steal from town; used dog to get back at shop owner who threw him out Used his dog to sully clothes and sheets so that they would become unusable and then thrown away so he could scavenge them Sadly, his dog was run over Saw “God” and attempts to use religion to get attention; state that he is the new Messiah “ stone me brethren”- went “crazy” and taken away for good Chapter 5: Man-Man

English was “so good that it did not sound natural”(57)Poet; invites narrator over to eat mangoes- has a garden and tells story of one boy and his pregnant girl who are in love until she dies and he loses both “look up at the sky”(60)- narrator forgets all of the “anger and the tears and the blows” “the greatest poem in the world”- one line a month; he is not concerned with moneyPoet not feeling well and tells narrator that all he said was a lie; poet then “vanishes” as if never existed Chapter 6: B. Wordsworth

Big Foot never smiled, “looked” dangerous so inspired fear; his father beat him but was killed in a riot Mischievous and mean (those who knew him knew him as such and not a comedian) Americans were in Port-O-Spain: Hat had all kids begging and selling gum and choc. Big Foot saves narrator from drunk soldierBig Foot scared of the little dog: exposed his weakness and fear; cut his foot and narrator saw more weaknessBecame a boxer and cried when he lostLooks can be deceiving Chapter 7: The Coward

Full of rage and tries to be a comedian beat his children (10 of them)Hat does not think him funny and thinks he is lying to himself (83) Harrassed neighbor BhakcuMore like a ”bird” than a manWants attention to feel like a man; got drunk and threatened to beat up everyone; morgan and family left to countryHe was caught cheating and his wife holds him up by the waist and scolds him: “For the first time…he was really being laughed at by the people…and it completely broke him” (90) House catches on fire and fireworks go off and he is charged with arson– irony: his work and search for value causes him to have to leave Chapter 8: The Pyrotechnist

Hat says Titus is a thinkerTeacher and challenged the narrator; “one of the sadnesses in [his] life that [he] never fulfilled Titus’…hopes for [his] academic success” (97)Believed in faith Issues of the war are broachedFormed a literary club; took a trip to Fort George- Titus lies and all upset—Titus is a dreamer versus reality of educationChp . 9: Titus Hoyt

Laura: 8 kids from 7 men Narrator catches on to how Laura lives (109); she is a prostitute Nathaniel moves in from “outside”: mistreats women Calypso about beating women(111): “everyone needs a good dose of blows” – acceptable?Laura beats NathanialOldest daughter Lorna old enough for education and Laura wishes this for her child and for her not to become like her (115)Lorna pregnant; Laura cries for the first time: Lorna: “swims out and out until [she] tired and can’t swim no more” (117) Chapter 10: The Maternal Instinct

Eddos works at a dump and deals with junk yet brushes his teeth all the time Found a new pair of shoes at dump- they looked good Collected books and proud to sell many of them for cheap- value is having them and not reading them (like Gatsby’s library)Got a girl pregnant from a “wild Spanish looking girl” and when brought to him, it was obvious she was not hisChapter 11: The Blue Cart

Miss Hilton dies and new couple moves in: focus on gossip of small townMan (Toni)was rude, drunk and even his dog ran away from him; soldier Mrs. Herreria was white and had married him “to take care of him” ; she eventually leaves; ending imagery is her sitting in a lawn chair outside of a fancy houseNarrator’s mom befriends her and helps her Chp. 12: Love, Love, Love, Alone

Ironic: Mr. Bhacku has no idea how to fix cars Wants to feel value for his work as a man and fails Narrator likes him for the same reason he liked Popo: he was an artist: “He interfered with motor-cars for the joy of the thing, and he never seemed to worry about money” (157)Mr. Bhacku became a pundit for hinduism; how easy is it to become religious? How devoted is he? Chp . 13: The Mechanical Genious

Bolo warns against propaganda; war is over and he does not believe it; Amer. Soldiers leaving George V Park Bolo was “born sad” (166) Used to read the newspaper a great deal when the war broke out; played a “lottery” to find the missing ball Bought into a housing scam due to having read about it in a magazine- lost faith/trust in newsTries to leave to Venezuela; sells box cart to Eddos; got scammed again“you see how black people is. They only quick to take, take. They don’t want to give. That is why black people never get on.” (174) Secretly played the sweepstakes for 3 years and does not believe it when he wins Chapter 14: Caution

Edward, Hat’s brother; artist who liked to paint Got a group together to go catch crabs They looked suspicious so were stopped by the police (had a van and shovels)Then “Hitler invaded France and Americans invaded Trinidad”(184-185)Edward changed and dressed like Amer. when the soldiers came; all trinidadians tried to become Amer.; worked out, drank white milk and showed off their arms, sang in public for attentionHas to get married due to “making girl pregnant”; Hat disagrees; she was dubbed “a modern girl” and disliked; edward lied to make it seem ok that he married her Chapter 15: Until the Soldiers Came

Boyee and Errol are Hat’s nephews Hat took 13 boys to cricket game; narrator learned Hat’s “…passion for impossible bets” (202)Narrator sees that Hat enjoys lifeDogs resemble their owners and Hat has a tame dogHas parrotsHat got in trouble with the police for small things- watering down his milk to sell, cock-fightingDiscussion of the corruption of law in Trinidad (205)Narrator noticed that Hat enjoyed simple things; did not need more Hat brings a woman home (Dolly) and breaks up the Miguel Street Club Hat’s wife ran away with all gifts that he bought her; Hat snaps and kills a woman –but not Dolly- and sentenced to 4 years Narrator no longer a boy, but a man, left school and he “was earning money” “When Hat went to jail, part of me had died”(214) Chapter 16: Hat

Narrator was drinking and acting wild “Is not my fault really. Is just Trinidad. What else anybody do around here besides drink?”(216) Wants to study engineering abroad, but onky one scholarship left, so decides to study drugs to go to LondonHis going away party was like a “wake”Uncle Bhacku took he and his mother to the airportHe leaves while respectfully acknowledging his uncle’s artist self: he hears the “tappet knocking” He sees his shadow: “a dancing dwarf” on the tarmac Chapter 17: How I Left Miguel Street