English Literature

Miguel Street is a novel based on experiences that happened around a street in Trinidad located in the western part of the Port of Spain named Miguel Street. It contains distinctive characters that have various ambitions that are never realized but are remembered by the narrator and recorded in the novel. Unfortunately neither of the characters in the novel leaves Miguel Street apart from the narrator who leaves to make something of himself.

The characters in the book include a Man-man who is depicted to be a mad man who ends up being a prophet, an aspiring poet, B (standing for black) Wodsworth (It is noted that his name was taken from the English poet William Wordsworth) who is said to be working on the greatest poem but it is eventually revealed that he never goes past the first line of the said poem.. Another character is a carpenter who is always working on a nameless item that he never completes. Then there is Laura who is usually happy and in a good mood despite bearing many children with different men becomes sad when she finds out that her daughter gets pregnant and becomes relieved when her daughter commits suicide.

George of the Pink House is depicted as a man who has failed to manage his family and his inevitable failure. He beats his wife to death and turns his frustrations to his children and in particular his daughter. This does not seem to relieve his frustrations and eventually opens up a brothel for American soldiers.

His son, Elias, aspires to be a doctor early in life but despite his hard work, he gets a third grade in his certificate examinations and therefore has to lower his ambitions to become a sanitary examiner. Even at this task he does not seem to be able to qualify even after moving to other areas where it is said to be easier to pass the sanitary inspectors examinations. He attempts and fails for a period of three years. This leaves him disillusioned and alienated from the world and the narrator indicates that he becomes a scavenger in relation to his performance and job as a customs officer. In this way Elias is alienated from the rest of the world attributed to his poor performance and lack of a good job. Elias copes with the alienation by adapting to the circumstances and excuses his dismal job by saying that it is practical and that he enjoys every aspect of it.

Bogart, who was previously known as patience, seems to have at a point aspired to be a tailor, this is shown by his purchase of  a sewing machine and blue and white chalks and more so getting the narrator to complete a sign saying Tailor and cutter, Suits made to order,, Popular and competitive prices. However the narrator indicates that he cannot remember Bogart making a single suit. In the novel it seems that Bogarts is held back by his attitude and lack of interest in the trade. He, however, was not alienated from the society and quite in the contrary he had many friends and the narrator indicates that at a point he was the most popular man despite his soft spoken nature. People considered him to be a smart man and the narrator supposes that he gave the people solace and comfort. Bogart leaves the Miguel Street but it is not indicated whether he left to make a better life like the narrator. His entry to Miguel Street, it seems, was as sudden as his exit.

Big Foot is a character who is feared by the people in Miguel Street. He is depicted to be a huge black man. However, the narrator is keen on pointing out that he is not feared because of his color or his size but by his quiet and sulky disposition. He is said to have once to have thrown a stone at the Radio Trinidad building and broke a window. When asked why he did that he said that he was waking the people up. He seems to be a man without a particular ambition or direction as he becomes a driver of the diesel buses, then a postman and a carpenter. However despite people being scared of him, the narrator finds out he is a coward in an incident at the beach when he runs away on hearing the bark of a dog. Big foot is largely alienated from the society since the people are afraid of him. The narrator does not reveal his cowardly nature since he is scared of what he may do to him, but it turns out to be an understanding between the narrator and big foot.