An overall summary of chapters 1-6

In Zee Edgell's novel, Beka Lamb,a lot of themes are shown; even on the very first page.The first theme shown is 'Death'.This theme is represented by the 'slapping of a mosquito' and the 'grumbling of frogs'.The passing of Beka's best friend, Toycie shows that Beka,at a very young age has to deal with the issue of death.The success of winning a contest gives her a space to breathe.Her success diminishes her grief.In Beka's eyes,winning this contest was a sign of hope because, at home she was told that these prizes were only won by bakras,panias and expatriates(high class Belizeans).
The 'whining mosquitoes' and the 'grumbling frogs' also gives us clear evidence that everything is not at all perfect.There is a mood of unhappiness and dissatisfaction.They are discontented.
Beka's dream symbolizes what is going on in Beka's mind/life. The bridge symbolizes some kind of transformation for Beka.She sees excitement and hope.The filth and excrement below the bridge represents failure.By the sailors shouting" Jump, nigger gial, jump! We'll ketch you!" shows the racial discrimination in Belize of flat rate Belzie creole people like Beka.
Beka eventually begins to learn that success is a process and that it is not gained and then is relaxed.This is shown by the symbols water,seaside and the landscape.When Beka reminised on the walks she and Toycie use to have every Sunday ,she began to remember "that street"."That street" was the street that she and Toycie use to avoid for that was the street that reminded them of their neighbourhood.Their walk on Sundays was their 'world of fantasy'.It was their method of escaping form their reality.They avoided the street to liven their spirits for their neighbourhood was much less pleasant,noisier and dirtier than these high class Belizeans.
Bill Lamb, Beka's dad, chooses to call her names instead of 'beating her'.The one word that Beka hated the most was "phoney".She had to learn to cease lying for it made the situation even worse.When she lied about passing her exam,her parents were extremely disappointed especially her father.He exclaimed that the amount of money that the entire family spent on both sides could have fed a family for one week.
As we follow this novel, we will see how Beka matures from a'flat rate Belize creole' into a person with 'high mind'.

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Themes from the first six chapters of Beka Lamb

The themes presented in chapter one to six in 'Beka Lamb' are change, honesty and success and failure. Firstly, Beka had a dream that illustrated her confusion and loss of control of her life. The view of success was to cross the bridge. On her way, she saw jeering faces, laughing and mocking her. The bridge started to move away from her and her chance at success was slipping away. She was at the edge of the bridge and realized that she would have to make a leap and attempt to succeed or just stay there and fail. She cried out for help but no one seemed to hear her. This gave the impression that in her life, she was in need of aid but o one seemed to hear her.The sailors represented the people who were there for her to give her the easy way out. The mocking people and the jeering faces are those who knew she failed the exam. She was afraid to make the jump to success. She was even more afraid of the failure. At the end of her dream, she fell into the dirty water, a reward for her failure.

Dishonesty, together with a parent -child relationship was portrayed in 'Beka Lamb' Beka's parents knew of her awful habit of lying. she lied mainly to get out of trouble but also to avoid disappointing her parents with her bad results. She lied to her parents about passing when, in fact, she did indeed fail. She lied about small insignificant things that inevitably led to something of importance when she got caught up in her lies. Her parents were tired and frustrated with her lies, as her mother said, "Beka darling i do wish you would stop lying." She realized that she was going overboard with the dishonesty so she decided to stop. that was the epiphany that changed her outlook and attitude to life.

The parent-child relationship was a very strong bond between Beka and her parents. they sought the best for her in everything that they did. Her father was submissive to Beka's wants but became strict and stern with her when she did wrong. When punishing her, he made sure that she knew what she was being told off for. Beka's mother was

The aspect of change is another main theme in 'Beka Lamb'. Beka's decision to change comes after she told her worst lie about not failing first form. Touched by her father's exasperation, she decided to give up on her horrid habit. To she she was changing and maturing, she did her chores to the best of her ability and thought she handled herself like a woman. A physical change was that Beka hot-combed her hair. this was an act that older people, not teenagers, would be associated with doing. Beka's father thought that this was a way of disregarding and being ashamed of her culture. In fact it was a change to accommodate convenience and the change of fashion.

In addition, Beka deals with death at a young age. That theme seems to be the cause of a lot of her turmoil in her life. The loss of friendship aches her and she is afraid to move on. She deals with the death of Toycie by being ignorant to the fact that she really is gone. She still talks to her as if she is present with her. She isn't quite ready yet to accept the truth. The first six chapters show a preview of the changes yet to come.

Themes of chapters 1-6

In the first six chapters of the novel many themes were present. Such themes were death, racial discrimination and change. However, the theme of change was developed throughout these six chapters as we saw social changes, political changes and personality changes shown by Beka. The thematic changes that occurred so far related to the lives of the Belizeans some way or the other.

In the first chapter the theme of death is clearly evident as the author, Zee Edgell creates a dismal mood which denotes death. We see that Beka has to cope with the death of two major persons in her life Gran and her best friend Toycie. However, Beka’s success of winning the contest diminished her grief. Beka was soon able to find comfort in her memories.

In Belize, gaining education successfully was the means by which people could attain social, political and economical betterment. Beka was one of the few persons to achieve this “transformation”. Her family sees her transformation as a ‘flat rate Belize Creole’ into someone with a ‘high mind’. Beka also decides to stop lying, which she thinks of as a change. This change is symbolised where Mr. Lamb cuts down the bougainvillea plant.

The main political change is the issue of colonial dependence to national independence. Trade unions were developed to protest the rights of workers and soon the people of Belize would have the authority to vote.

Themes mentioned from chapters 1-6 in Beka Lamb

Some of the themes mentioned in these chapters are poverty, success, education and maturity.

Poverty is a key theme in these chapters. the writer shows the hard times that Beka, her family and the rest of the village experience in living in Belize. Some things which show this is when Toycie died, they were not able to have a wake for her because they did not possess the resources to do it. This caused Beka to have her own personal wake for Toycie which involved reminiscing on the times they spent together. Another situation which shows how poverty was affecting the village was that Bill Lamb's workers would purposely drop or damage things so that when they were being sold, they would be sold at a cheaper price and they would be able to purchase it. It was also mentioned that all wages at that time were low so this clearly shows the theme of poverty.

Success is another important theme that is brought to our attention in Beka Lamb. This is shown when Beka wins the contest in the first chapter. Her grandmother is very proud of her and Beka is also pleased with herself. Also by Beka being successful, it eases Beka's pain of the loss of her best friend, Toycie. It does not completely irradictae the pain but it allows it to subside a little and this shows that success diminishes grief and pain. Beka also experiences the fear of failing and disappointing others and herself and is afraid to take the necessary steps in order to be successful. This also shows us the many tasks and many varying emotions we face in becoming successful.

Education is another theme that is shown in Beka Lamb. It is shown when Beka wins the competition. Also too, its importance is shown when Beka is under pressure in terms of passing the final term examination. This theme is also seen when Beka continuously fails in the past and her family is disappointed because they put so much effort into her education. Her father also said that the money they spent on her education could have supported a poor family for six months. This shows how much her parents want her to excel and how important her education is to them. Education is also displayed as the key thing that one needs in order to develop, be successful and not remain stagnated.

Maturity is also highlighted as one of the many themes in Beka Lamb. Beka shows her maturity in this book as she more interested in the happenings of her country and is very curious about the politics and government. She shows this when she asks her father questions, wants to attend village meetings and also reads the newspapers. Beka's maturity is also shown as she chooses to stop lying to her parents so that they would stop being so disappointed in her and so changes her lifestyle to being a very honest young lady and one that her parents could be proud of. This theme can also be seen as Beka wins the competition because it shows her determination to do well, excel and be successful and not be a failure or a 'phoney' as her father mentioned.

Beka Lamb is a book which so far shows some of the challenges which teens face in their life and how they respond to those challenges. I think that it will be a great book for us, adolescents.

Main Themes of Beka Lamb in the first six Chapters.

One of the main themes of the first six chapters of 'Beka Lamb' is change. This is seen when Beka begins to mature and decides to stop her bad habit of lying. "It was only a small beginning but Beka felt she had handled the job like a woman and in Belize, to be able to work like a woman was an honorable thing." This shows that she was beginning to realize her responsibilities when she decided to do her chores properly and with an extra effort in order to show her family that she could be different. She even further realizes that atonement requires more than just dusting and polishing and that she had to find a way to atone, as stated in the novel.

Another main theme is success. The writer shows that success is a process. Beka went from failing subjects in school to winning an essay contest. She changed from what her mother called a 'flat-rate Belize creole' into a person with 'high-mind' which also goes to show that education raises people's status. The writer also shows that success diminishes grief and pain as the novel stated, "It was only today, with a small success of her own, and the panic and fright subsiding... But the past surprised her, the pain wasn't so bad anymore!"

In addition, the writer uses one of Beka's dreams as a technique to show that she had a fear of failure. If she didn't cross the bridge, she would fall into the filth and excrement under it, which represented the failure. This showed that she was overcoming obstacles.

Another theme in this novel is about the depression, poverty, hopelessness, death and harsh living conditions of the society in Belize. The writer used various symbols to portray this negativity, such as the slop bucket, the shrilling of every cricket, the whining mosquito and the grumblings of frogs. She also used the Polar bear as a symbol which showed that nothing lasted in Belize. Most people preferred foreign ideals, products and services and wanted to migrate just as Dr. Lyban did instead of staying at the Belize hospital.

challenges and themes met in the first six chapters

The first page of the Novel introduces us to the theme of death. Death is symbolized by some of these phrases, ‘slapping at a mosquito’ and ‘insistent grumblings of frogs.’ We see now that Beka deals with two death, the death of her gran and the death of her dear friend Toycie. It shows a state of drepression for Beka. She was eventually able to surpass her pain when she was proud of winning an essay contest which was know to only be won by the high class Belizeans, such as the baraks, panias and expatriates. Success buries her pain and grief because she really did miss Toycie because they did so much together. This also paves way to racial discrimination because the novel states that there were clubs for the different types of people in Belize.
Another theme depicted from these few chapters is the transformation in the country and Beka’s attitude towards life. Beka seemed to be maintaining her success because it brought her status. Zee Edgell mentions that Beka wasn’t always brilliant but she seems to be taking more interest in politics. Maturity seems to play a big part in these chapters due to the fact that Beka has decided to stop her lying habits and flips through the news papers and tried hard to be on top of her work to prove to gain respect n attention form her father. The change in politics occurs when the ability to vote and protest arises. Even Bill, Beka’s father, notices that Belize is becoming a place not easy or comfortable to live in and a lot of migration taking place will eventually lead to more poverty, depression and harsh living conditions but Beka contradicts what he says.

Ashley's view on the themes of the first six chapters of Beka Lamb

In the first six chapters of “Beka Lamb”, we are introduced to many different themes. Some of these themes are death, success and failure, poverty, politics, overcoming obstacles, maturity, racial discrimination and change. One of the first themes that were brought to my attention was that of change.

At the beginning of the first chapter, Beka’s grandmother says “But things can change fi true” and “And long befo’ time, you wouldn’t be at no convent school”. From these two statements we can see that there was some sort of improvement in school work, also because Beka won a competition, and passed her first term. At the end of chapter 2, we get more clarification as to what happened. Her mother is asking her if she can pass the next two terms of school and Beka in turn says that she will try. This shows that Beka is trying to change he attitude towards her schoolwork. Apart from schoolwork, Beka used to lie about things like doing chores. She started making an effort to stop lying and do more housework. This theme of change can also be classified as one of maturity because it is showing how Beka is changing her ways to become more mature. This is also shown when she starts asking her father about politics and asks him for a drink of coffee.

Another theme that is constantly shown in the first six chapters is death. Beka’s friend, Toycie, has died. The whole atmosphere of the environment is gloomy and depressing. Some of the description of the place are; “the insistent grumblings of frogs” and “the nervous continuous shrilling of every cricket”. She also tells us of flies, which is an insect you usually find around dead organisms. Even the houses were not in a good state. The following lines describe the state of the houses an give us a better idea as to how the place looked and how it contributes to the theme of death. “Many of the weathered wooden houses, built fairly close together, tilted slightly as often as not, on top pinewood posts of varying heights.”

We see two themes in Beka’s dream, racial discrimination and success and failure. When she is stuck on the bridge, the people below her are telling her things like “Jump, nigga gial, jump! We’ll ketch you!” This shows us that people are judged by their social status and rank in society. Beka doesn’t want to fall into the creak below because it is filthy. In her mind, the creak represents failure and the other side of the bridge represents success. Nobody likes to fail, so Beka is scared because she knows that if she falls in, she has failed.

My reply comment to Nadia's Post

I do not know why but after numerous futile attempts of replying to blogs, I decided to post a new one containing my comment to Nadia Orr’s post.
I agree with your both points on the themes Maturity/Change and Success diminishes grief and pain and Fear of failure, although I thought it could have been linked and rephrased as ‘Success and Failure’.

Just as her father compared her to the bougainvillea vine which was breaking down Miss Boysie’s fence, he also then cut it down, which symbolized the removal her lies, pretentious airs,’flash’, her ‘phoney-ness’, hence therefore was change in Beka.I agree with your point, ‘The writer tells us that sometimes we have to make changes in our lives to get what we want in Beka’s case she wants another chance at going back to school. ‘Evidence from the book can be cited like ‘she was beginning to understand that atonement required more now than dusting and polishing’.Beka therefore had to mature academically.Additionally,Beka wanted to return to school in order to accomplish her goal to be a politician which was mentioned in chapter four.

I also agree and like the points you mentioned on ‘failure’ and how you used her emotions and feelings after the dream to express her fear.

Lastly, you unintentionally mentioned other themes faced in those chapters like social classes hierarchy and racialism.

Themes of Beka Lamb

In the first six chapters many themes were present . Some of these themes were, racial discrimination , poverty and politics, success and failure and defeating challenges as well as, the main theme, change. The themes in the book, Beka Lamb, shows the different challenges teenagers experience in life.

In the first chapter it is said that Beka changed from a ‘flat rate Belize creole to a person with high mind’ . The theme ‘ change’ is portrayed. For the first time in her life Beka won an essay contest in her school. She was not always on the top of the class but she won the contest . However, this theme is linked to poverty and politics . Poverty and politics is shown when Miss Ivy considered a forward position in the political party when Beka won the contest. She felt that Beka made a massive change from washing bowls underneath the house bottom to books in a class room. Beka was cautioned that not many creoles can be in a class room .

The theme racial discrimination played a very important part in the book . Beka was warned that the prizes for the essay contest would normally go to the ‘whites’(bakras), Spanish speaking persons,(panias) and the foreigners(expatriates). The theme was also furthered when it was said in the third chapter , that according to your race you are allowed to go to a certain club, meaning that there was a club for each, bakras ,panias and expatriates. Belize was separated according to race.

This is where the theme poverty and politics is also represented. The way in which Beka lived was described as stale , unpleasant and dirty. Stagnation and poverty is shown when stated that there were leaned lampposts, rusty rooftops and the leaning of the wooden houses in the village.

Beka was the main character and she portrayed the main theme which was change. Beka wanted to show her parents and her grandmother that she is becoming a mature young lady. She showed this by doing extra house chores, however , Beka’s parents did not notice these changes, this is where she decided to try her best to win the contest, which she did. Beka showed that she was becoming mature when she realized that being successful , she can overcome her challenges. When her friend Toycie died she was distraughted but she then felt hope when she won the contest.

However, this is where the theme of death is linked . The slapping of the mosquitoes and flies , killing them as well as the chirping of the crickets and the noises of frogs. This symbolizes Toycie’s death. Discontent and distress is shown. As mentioned in the book , the death of the polar bear also represented the theme death.The polar bear died because the ice factory was out of order.

The theme defeating challenges is shown when Beka had a dream about crossing the bridge before it raises . She screamed ‘ I’m coming , wait pon me , sa!’ This represents Beka calling out for help. The bridge rose and left her behind. The theme success and failure is shown when she fails to, jump to cross the bridge when she was told by the villagers ‘jump nigger gial’.

All of the above themes is linked to the main theme in the book which is change . And here we see that it is the change in our teenage life and how we react to how emotions. They all show the changes a teenager goes through in life.

Themes!

In the first six chapters of the novel “Beka Lamb” several main themes have already been highlighted. On the first page it was evident that the novel would be centred around Beka’s life, and the events leading up to her winning an essay contest. It was understood that this was a great achievement for Beka as she would not have won this contest unless she focused herself on her studies, thus introducing the theme of maturity.
In the beginning of the story, Zee Edgell creates a mood of despair and gloom. With the use of phrases such as “mosquito whining” and “insistent grumblings of frogs,” the writer paints a picture of death. It is clear that something is amiss. By this time, Toycie, Beka’s recently deceased friend has been introduced. It was clear that Beka was still grieving for her, and that her death had had a great impact on Beka’s life. Beka finds herself struggling to come to terms with her death. The death of the polar bear also mirrors the hopelessness and sadness of her impoverished village.
Another theme shown in the story was that of politics and political turmoil. During Beka's time, Belize was struggling to gain independence. This played a great part in Beka's life. Beka seemed to be aware of what was going on around her. This was shown when she inquired about her father trading with other countries that were said to be at war with Belize. This shows that she was interested in the politics of her country. This is a sign of Beka's maturity.
Tying in to the theme of maturity is the theme of success and failure. Chapter two begins with a dream that symbolized fear of failure. In this dream, Beka must cross a bridge, which is a symbol of the transition she must make in order to become a young adult. The murky waters below the bridge symbolize failure and the disappointment attached to failure. The sailors standing on the decks of their ships symbolize obstructions in the path of her achieving success. Beka was determined to move forward and do away with her old ways. Success has a great impact on Beka. It helps lessen the grief and pain caused by the death of her friend.
Finally, is the theme of racism which has surfaced numerous times in the first six chapters of the story. Before winning the essay contest, Beka was cautioned several times. It was understood that only 'bakras' (local whites), 'panias' (Spanish speaking people) or 'expatriates' (foreigners) could win these prizes. Blacks were thought of as the inferior race.

*Themes Highlighted In The 1st Six Chapters of Beka Lamb*

In the first six chapters of the novel "Beka Lamb," a number of themes such as death,political reform,maturity,poverty,success, failure,racial discrimination and phoniness are highlighted.From the first page of this novel,we are able to see several images of death such as Beka's memory of the wreaths at her great granny's funeral and the slapping of mosquitoes. Later in the book the theme of death is re-enforced when we learn about the death of Beka's friend Toycie and also when Beka's grandmother,Miss Ivy solemnly reminisced about a polar bear that once came to Belize and died.
The themes political reform and maturity seem to be closely linked to one another as throughout the novel, a parallel transformation occurs between the changes in politics as well as the changes in Beka.These changes in Beka are initially acknowledged in chapter one when we learn that Beka changed from what her mother called a flat-rate Belize creole into a person with "high mind."It was also inferred by Beka's gran that, "long befo time Beka would never have won the contest."Another sign of Beka's developing maturity is when she decided to no longer tell lies.This was signified with the cutting down of the bougainvillea vine which was used as a representation of Beka when her father compared her to this vine stating that she was all flash and no substance. Beka was so upset by the cutting down of the vine that she vowed to never plant another thing again.This symbolized the termination of her constant lying.
The political reform which occurred at the time of Beka's changes were due to the People's Independence Party as they introduced universal adult suffrage and there was an improvement in the education that the Belizeans received. Politics also played a major role in the lives of Beka,as she had dreams of becoming a politician, as well as her grandmother who was very concerned and involved in the transformation of her country's society and economy.
Poverty was one of the more prominent themes as there were many references to this throughout the six chapters such as the insistent grumbling of frogs and the nervous continuous shrilling of crickets which were signs that something wrong was transpiring and that all was not well in Belize.Another example of this would be the leaning lamp-posts,the rusty zinc rooftops as well as the weathered wooden houses depicted in chapter two of the novel.Also,throughout the novel we continuously encounter discomforting descriptions of the scenery such as "slop bucket and swampy hole."Due to these unsettling circumstances,there was a brain drain, which we see when Beka's granny Ivy explains to her that the doctor returned to England and that nothing lasts in Belize.This was because the Belizeans had hopelessness,depression and harsh living conditions to cope with and the metropolitan country was quite the opposite as it had hope,higher education,opportunity and growth.
The dream in chapter 2 of the novel is a technique used by the author to symbolize the occurrences in Beka's mind and life.This is where the themes success and failure are detected as, in Beka's dream,she is on a bridge where there is filth and excrement below it.This bridge acts as a symbol which represents the overcoming of obstacles and the filth and excrement are a symbol of failure and stagnation and the fear Beka felt when it came to failing.Also,Beka saw success as not only a way out of poverty but as a method of overcoming the grief she felt due to Toycie's death, as it was seen in this novel that Beka is less stressed and her pain is subsided through her success.
Racism is is also identified in this dream when the sailors called out to Beka "Jump nigger gial,jump! We'll ketch you! " There is also some evidence of racism at the beginning of chapter one where Beka was continuously cautioned that the prizes would go to bakras,panias or expatriates,those who were considered to have a much higher status than the creoles in Belize.There was also the statement made by Beka's mother about Vellor, the supposed "half-crazy coolie woman," and racism was once again detected when we learnt about the various clubs which only accommodated a specific race.
Lastly, we are introduced to Beka's phoniness in chapter four and we are able to understand that her phoniness,displayed in this chapter is linked to the lies that she so often told which portrays her character to be something that she is not.We also see that due to Beka's mother's desire to keep up with the latest "styles",there is a clash between her and Beka's father who desires nothing more than to have Beka be proud of who she truly is without all of the flashiness.The phoniness and airs were no longer a part of Beka's behaviour as she matured out of that when her father cut down the bougainvillea plant.

Within the first six chapters of Beka Lamb, there were many important themes that were noted. The three major themes out of the many that were presented were death, racism and poverty.

The theme that was stressed on the most throughout these chapters was death. This theme was first introduced with the lines, “The font verandah was in evening gloom, and the honeyed scent of flowering stephanotis, thickly woven into the warping lattice work, reminded Beka of the wreaths at her greatgranny’s funeral.” The word gloom gives a visual of depression and sorrow ,which is most times tied too death. Another aspect of death is shown in the passing of Beka’s best friend Toycie, altough this leaves Beka in a sort of emotional wreck, she keeps her pain to herself and handles it privtaely and silently.

Altough it reveals itself briefly throughout the six chapters, another significant theme is racism. Racism is seen when Beka achieves success in her essay contest. Her family continuously cautioned her that prizes were only awarded to backras, panias and expatriates. This shows that only people of certain ethnic backgrounds were those who were expected to achieve success in life.

Racism is also prevalent in Beka’s nightmare in chapter two, when the sailors called to her,”Jump nigger gial, Jump! We’ll ketch you.” These men mocked at her rather than try to help her, they also laughed at her in her state of confusion.

One of the most serious issues in Belize, presented as a theme was poverty. After Toycie’s death, Miss Elia was incapable of hosting a traditional wake ,because , she was financially unable to do so. Another example was shown in Beka’s description of the houses in her town. She says, “Many of the weathered wooden houses, built fairly closely together, tilted slightly as often as not, on top pine wood posts of varying heights.” These lines further paint a vivid picture on the issue of poverty which people suffered from in Belize.

Ainka posting on chpt 5 and 6

In chapter 5 of Beka Lamb we see the theme of Beka being a fortunate black child in the community quoting Bill Lamb " Beka the money you've wasted could feed a poor family for 6 months" showing Beka isn't mature enough to know things are hard with her family and the opportunity she has been given is taken for granted because she constantly lies to her parents. Beka shows true remorse for her actions and causing hurt to her parents she tries to show she is maturing by doing the house work.
In chapter 6 we see the themes of mystery and racial discrmination coming out when a new character the maskman is revealed. The name came about when he was having an intimate relationship with a carib woman and some members of the carib tribe put a "spell" on him causing him to have spots on the places they touched. We also see friendship as a theme where Beka and Toycie although differ in age come to share a close and sister-like bond with each other and also how Beka can't stop the lying which Toycie doesn't understand.

In Zee Edgell’s novel, ‘Beka Lamb’, the author presents to its readers various themes throughout the story. To help it’s readers to delve further into the meaning of said themes, the author also tends to use different techniques and symbols to assist in illustrating such themes. An example of one of the themes presented in the story, particularly in the first six chapters, is Death.
In the novel, Death was one of the main themes shown by use of sympbols by the author. From the beginning of the story the aspect of death was mentioned as we were informed of Toycie’s death and its effects on Beka. The theme, Death, linked with another theme shown in the story, poverty, was expressed through elements in the environment in the area in which Beka resided. For example, the wreaths for the funeral, the slop bucket and the description of the sounds which the animals made (the whining of the mosquitos, the frogs complaining etc.) all depict the theme of death and stagnation. The description of the lampposts being slanted and the houses being crooked also go on to show the extent of the poverty suffered through by the people of Belize, particularly in Beka’s neighbourhood, and can be used to symbolize the depressed circumstances of stagnation.
Another theme shown was the theme of Change. Change was another main theme in the story and was more or less in every aspect of Beka’s life. The theme, change, was shown in the cutting down of Beka’s beloved bougainvillea plant by her father, in which it symbolizes the need to get rid of old ways and begin anew. Beka shows this by doing her chores on her own, to prove to her parents that she is becoming more mature. More had to be done, as Beka realised when no one took notice of her efforts, to achieve this process in her life.
A lesser theme discussed in the passage is the issue of race. This was shown earlier in the passage with reference to Beka’s success in winning her contest. She was being cautioned that prizes such as that would go to the ‘bakras, panias or expatriates’, which stated that certain classes and races were expected to achieve such things, which would lead to the aspect of status and hierarchy. Another example of this would be the statement made by Lilla, that Beka had changed overnight from a ‘flat rate Belize creole’ to a person with a ‘high mind’. It would seem that the point the author was trying to make would be that the issue of race, along with class, has affected the world and has established certain stereotypes and mindsets in people. Also the reference to the streets which Beka and Toycie used to travel tend to show this theme.