Who is Beka Lamb?
Beryl Clarke, Contributor

Today we focus on Beka, our major and also our title character. She grows and changes or improves during the seven-month course of this story. Let us start by answering the question: Who is Beka Lamb?

Beka Lamb is a 14-year-old high school girl. She is fortunate. Yes, she is. Consider the situation under which Toycie lives and then make a comparison with Beka's position. Beka lives with both of her parents, her younger brothers and her father's mother. Her father has a steady job and is able to provide adequately for the financial needs of his family. The Lambs live fairly comfortably in pleasant surroundings. Beka has the love and support of her family. Her rapport with her grandmother is good and, in fact, so it is with those members of the community with whom we see her interacting.

How can we say that she is lucky/blessed when she tells so many lies and does not do well at school? Before we find some answers, I want you to review what you know about St Cecilia's Academy.

In those days, St Cecilia's was almost another world from the rest of Belize. The majority of students, among whom were the poor, the rich, the brilliant and the mediocre, acquired the art of suppressing segments of their personalities and shedding the lives they led at home the minute they reached the convent gates. They managed, somehow, to leap through the hoops of quality purposely held high by the nuns, rarely, however, without awkwardness, determination and intense effort. There were others, many times of the highest intellectual capacity, who could not, did not, would not for a variety of reasons, learn to switch roles with the required rapidity. Their upbringing, set against such relative conformity, was exaggerated into what was perceived to be vulgarity, defiance, ingratitude, lack of discipline or moral degradation ...

The above informs us that this school was an uncomfortable institution of learning, deliberately made so by those whose attitude to the Belizean culture and the children taught there was contemptuous. I am sure you realise that the students were expected to learn to value and copy a style, conduct, and culture with which they were not familiar. They were, in fact, to turn their backs on the ways they thought, spoke and acted in their homes and communities.

Is there a poem that this reminds you of? Think about the similarities between school in Beka Lamb and Colonial Girls School. Do you remember how Beka's father objected to 'fakeness'? He does not seem to recognise that St Cecilia's was at the root of this, for students had to pretend to be what they were not when they were at school and then revert to their natural selves when off the school compound. This leads to failure on the part of many girls, even some who were 'bright', for this sharp division confuses them. Perhaps Sister Bernadette, too, is bewildered by the expectations of the system and the principal, Sister Virgil.

Education is seen here as the gateway to the opportunity for a better life. Those who send their daughters to St Cecilia's hope that they will do well enough to escape from poverty, low social status (the wash tub under the cellar) and bearing several children. No one wants a National Vellor in their family. Beka's mother has not finished high school and her father had not gone to one at all, so she is expected to do well.

This puts pressure on her in addition to what she faces at school. Beka tells lies, therefore, but, as said before, she is fortunate. Her mother comes up with a solution to her problem when she buys Beka an exercise book and a fountain pen so that she can record her lies in story form and speak the truth on all other occasions. She is loved and encouraged, not just by family members but by others as well. Mr Gordillo, who had prayed for her success, is sorry that she has failed and besides giving her a bun he offers her comfort food in the form of chocolate. Mr Phillips encourages her father to send her back to school and, as we already know, Toycie offers her assistance and support.

Next week, we will continue to discuss our chief character. Be good to yourselves and God bless!