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.