Themes from the first six chapters of "Beka Lamb"

In th first six chapters of this novel we see many themes such as: poverty, discomfort, death, success and education, maturity and change, and politics.


Poverty is shown at the very beginning of the story as the writer describes the rooftops as rusty and the houses as weathered and wooden in their village. It is also shown when Miss Eila was not able to hold a wake for her deceased niece, Toycie. The death of Lilla's rose bush also shows poverty as the plant is a symbol of a high quality lifestyle.


In chapter one, the writer shows some images of discomfort, such as: mosquitoes whining, frogs grumbling and crickets shrilling. They lived near a creek and the mosquitoes were not the only irritation that came from it. An unbearable stench could be inhaled, which was insanitary, and there was sawdust from the swamp by the creekside.


In chapter one, the writer uses the wreaths at the funeral to symbolize death, and the swatting of the flies as well. Beka also has to deal with the death of her friend, Toycie, which is a main issue in the story.


Beka has won the contest and gets some relief from Toycie's death. Here the writer shows that success diminishes pain or grief.
Beka's family wants her to have a good education as it is known to change one's status. With education one can get a good job and raise himself out of poverty. She was also cautioned that prizes usually go to " bakras" meaning "whites", "panias" referring to Spanish people, such as Toycie's friend, Emilio, and expatriates which are foreign people residing in another country. This shows that it is sometimes difficult for "blacks" to go foward. In chapter two, the author, Zee Edgell, used Beka's dream as a technique to symbolize what was going on in her life. She was very worried about the possibility of not passing her next exam, and in her dream, she was on a bridge, which is a sign of a transformation, and was looking down to filth and excrement, which is seen as failure. She was left behind and was crying out for help but her voice could not be heard. This means that if she does not get help, she will not succeed.


Beka was not always industrious in her work. In the past, she was known to lie to her parents and not do her chores (such as sweeping the attic) to the best of her ability. One of the reasons why she changed was because it really hurt her when her father called her a "phoney". He also compared her to growing wild like the bougainvillea with "all flash" and "no substance" (in chapter 5), meaning that she had no good values.
After that, Beka began doing more house-work to show that she could change and make something better of herself. She also begged her father to allow her to return to school in order for her to work harder and achieve better grades. Beka's maturity is also shown when she becomes more interested in politics and how it affects Belize.


In the first few chapters, alot about politics, the economy and colonialism is seen. In chapter three, Miss Ivy tells Beka that when she was a child and the circus came to Belize, the Polar Bear died due to the break down of the ice fatory. The author uses the Polar Bear to show that in the country there is death, poverty, hopelessnes and harsh living conditions. However, in the metropolitan country, there is growth, great opportunity and a higher quality of living.
In chapter 6, Toycie and Beka realize that Toycie's guitar was made in Spain and they scratch off the written evidence. It was said that Guatemala wanted to take over Belize from Britain through rights inherited from Spain, so Beka was against any country that assisted another in colonializing her own. Also, the fact that Toycie wrote Belize on the guitar shows that she had faith in her country.