THEMES OF BEKA LAMB IN THE FIRST SIX CHAPTERS

Zee Edgell, the writer of the novel Beka lamb, uses the technique of continuously sharing with us symbolic elements through her references and literary devices in order to assist us with identifying the themes of this book.So far in the first six chapters of this novel we are introduced to Beka, the main character of the story, we see her mature and change from what her mother called a 'flat-rate Belize creole' to someone of high mind.This statement was said about Beka when she won an essay writing competition.Beka's change is a theme in this story, we also start to see her try to go from being someone with the bad habit of lieing to an honest one but this takes a lot of practice and struggle.Race and discrimination is also a highlighted theme a key evidence of this being her mother's statement about her, earlier mentioned, and also when miss lamb called Vellor a 'half crazy coolie woman'and then again it is seen when noone expected Beka to win the competition since the winners were mostly bakras, panias, and expatriates.Insanitation, discomfort, dissatisfaction and unhappiness are all leading symbols to the theme of poverty.The slapping of mosquitoes and the awful smell in the sloth bucket show not only the environment that Beka and her family live in but give us an idea of the crucial times that Belize is in.We also see poverty through the behavior and conversation of Miss Eila and Miss Ivy.Beka's dream in chapter 2 is a symbol of the bridge between success and failure.The dream gave us a look on what was Beka's main concern.This also shows us that althought the success of her achievement in the essay writing competition, success is a continuous deed.The theme of death is seen in the form of Beka's deceased friend toycie and also her grandmother's devastating story of the polar bear from the circus.The situation that Beka is going through with the death of her friend shows us the huge struggle she has to deal with t this age and this probably has an effect on how she reacts to certain situations.These themes keep emphasizingon the depressed and gloomy atmosphere that the book starts on and it would have to be further read to decided whether or not the novel maintains this mood.