'The Man of the House' (part 3)
Beryl Clarke, Contributor

"Samantha, do you like the little boy in 'The Man of the House'?"

"Yes man, for he takes good care of his mother."

"You mean say, him try."

"Well yes. But, Rohan, you must remember that he is only 10 and you a 16 and can't even boil water. Anyway, you nuh think he is considerate and loving?"

"A true still. Fi a little man him heart big. Him honest to.
Bwoy, the girl put him inna problem but him deal with the thing right when him tell his mother the truth. Wait, a who tell you say me cyaan cook, you ever taste my stew peas?"

I hope that you have already set up your study groups and have been having some lively discussions, on literature I mean. As we conclude our work on this short story, we should identify the themes; consider the character of the mother and her relationship with her son; the setting and the language. You would have already recognised the themes, for they are not many. The child's sense of responsibility as well as genuine concern for his mother's well-being is obvious. Religious faith and forgiveness are also ideas that emerge.

The use of figurative language, for example, 'murmuring hillside' and 'the sunlight wandered' is a feature of this story. Try to see how its use affects the story. Do you find The Man of the House humorous? How is the humour created? In addition, I would like you to think of anything here that gives you an idea of where the story is set. Finally, since the next work we will be discussing is The Day the World almost Came to an End, I am asking you to read it.

This, too, is a short story and if you have not yet read it, you are in for a treat. The Pearl Crayton narrative, too, is told by a child - 12-year-old girl. The story revolves around the Church and the hold that it has on its followers. Our storyteller is a member of a Christian family but openly declares that she is a sinner, she is someone who finds sinning delicious.

The writer is female and American, whereas the writer of The Man of the House is male and Irish. Pearl Crayton is black and the setting of her story reflects this. When I read it several years ago, I was reminded of an incident about which my grandmother had told me. It was about the reaction of someone she knew very well who had run screaming through her community that 'Judgement a come, judgement a come' when an early airplane had flown overhead. The similarity of response is clearly based on Christian teaching about the end of the world.

Before we continue, there a few questions I would like you to answer.

• Is the speaker describing something that has happened or something that is happening? How do we know this?

• What is the relationship between the Church and its members?

• What does Rena mean when she tells her cousin to 'get some religion'?

• What convinces the speaker that the world was coming to an end?
  

• What do we learn about those persons who interpreted the occurrence of an eclipse as the end of the world?
  

• What is Daddy's role in this story?

Our story is set on a plantation. The families who live here were probably the descendants of those who had worked as slaves on a cotton plantation. As in the Caribbean, the Church would have played an integral part in the people's lives. The description we get here shows that the Church had a strong hold on its members, directing their lives being mother, teacher and chastiser. Do you recognise from this just how strongly the Church could control them? It does appear that our narrator is something of a rebel, who knows that she is not conforming to the religious teachings but is determined to hold out. She is aware that she is in a precarious position but hopes to get away with it for a very long time. The fear that the Church has tried to instill in her has not been enough for her to give up enjoying sin, but as we will see it has laid the groundwork.

Have a great week and God bless!

Beryl Clarke is an independent contributor. Send questions and comments to kerry-ann.hepburn@gleanerjm.com