Summary
The remote village of Kumaca is on the threshold of a new beginning which would bring development to the simple people whose only concern so far was their cacao harvest every season and the resultant fete. More and more villagers feel the pressing urge and need to bring education to the ignorant villagers in order to stop an inevitable exodus of young people to the lure of the more developed parts of Trinidad and Tobago. Yet the two most powerful men in Kumaca, Pauline Dandrade en Constatine Patron have their own private and compelling reasons why they do not agree on the course of matters. The Irish priest, father Vincent is equally worried that development may come at too great a price to pay, one that would simply destroy the simplicity of the villagers. He foresees a speeding up of exodus and an influx of corruption, but he lacks both the words and the courage to explain to the people that good can sometimes be bad.
The school is built and along with it come changes that eventually tear apart the village and the strong sense of togetherness that had no match anywhere in Trinidad. When the plotting and scheming of the schoolmaster is ended, the villagers are bereft of their peace, one of their own is dead and they have to rebuild the peace and tranquility of their society.
Explanation of the title
The Schoolmaster refers to Winston Warrick, an outsider from Valencia, who is brought in by the Roman Catholic Church to teach in Kumaca at the people’s request. He soon establishes himself as a source of knowledge and respect and he sets the exemplary pace for development. Yet he is but a man, weak in the flesh and aware of the villagers’ ignorance. Soon he becomes corrupt, betraying the trust of the villagers while he feeds his greed.
Characterization
Winston Warrick, the schoolmaster, is brought to the village to teach, but through intrigues he soon takes over, betraying the villagers to satisfy his own narrow needs. The scheming and plotting, which is an eventual result of the schoolmaster’s dealing in the village, comes to an end when Christiana Dandrade dies and the schoolmaster’s death follows soon after. The Schoolmaster is flat.
Other characters worth mentioning are:
Christiana, Constatine Patron, a village elder and respected landowner.
Christiana Dandrade , daughter to Pauline Dandrade, helps teaching in the school as an assistant. Her beauty is too much of a temptation for the schoolmaster and intoxicated by his apparent power over the villagers he rapes her expecting all to be okay. Christiana becomes pregnant and since she cannot bear the shame of the illegal conception she commits suicide. Christiana is flat.
Pedro Assivero, betrothed to Christiana, and son to Francis Assiverso, is a mischievous teenager madly in love with Christiana. He proposes to her and thus enters manhood. His dreams, however, are shattered when his wife- to-be dies. Pedro is round.
Francis Assivero once owned a great deal of land in Kumaca, but he is brought down by excessive gambling. To forget his demise, he drinks himself into debt, destroying whatever is left of his life. He regains some sort of dignity when he refuses to bow down to Dardain, who, on instigation of the schoolmaster, tries to get Assivero to go back on his given word and annul the upcoming wedding of his son. Francis Assivero is flat
Ignacio Dardain, the shopkeeper, wandered into Kumaca long ago, but he never became a true part of the village. He was the victim of physical abuse by his then wife and in order to escape her, rather than to stand up to her, he fled. He established himself as a financial and economic power in the village. He robs the villagers of their land whenever they cannot pay their debts and when the schoolmaster threatens his way of life he forges a deal with him that would eventually destroy both. Dardain is flat.
Themes
Tradition, Rape and Betrayal
Kumaca in its remoteness thrives on tradition: their annual fetes after the harvest and the sense of togetherness. The villagers live their simple lives unheeded by what goes on in the rest of the country. Yet time catches up with them and they want development. But the price they have to pay for that development might prove to be too high.
When the villagers build a school and invite and outsider in their midst to be the schoolmaster they expect the advantages of development to lift them up, out of the oblivion they had been cast into by their ignorance. The schoolmaster soon becomes aware of the power he has over these people and he abuses their trust. He rapes both Christiana and the villagers, the latter action by siding with Dardain on a land conflict. The betrayal is hard to digest because it cost the life of Christiana and a rupture in a once peaceful village.
Setting
The story is set in Kumaca, a remote village somewhere in Trinidad. There is no specific time indicator, but events suggest the story takes place somewhere in the 1930s.
REACTIES
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