Ways of Sunlight

Historical background

The island of Trinidad was rediscovered by Cristopher Colombus in 1498. The Spanish ruled over the island for a long time, but it was mainly settled by French. In 1797 it became a British colony. Until the abolition of slavery, African people came to Trinidad to work in the plantations. Then a second huge migration flow brought Indians to Trinidad, who worked as indentured servants on the estates. Not only people came to Trinidad, but also a lot of Trinidadians left their motherland to look for a new job: in the 1950s-1960s many people went to the United Kingdom. An advertising campaign was made to create new workplaces (for example in the transport industry) to save UK economy from the crisis caused by the Second World War. Trinidad gained its independence in 1962.

Setting

Ways of Sunlight is divided in two parts: Part one is set in Trinidad, the southernmost island in the Caribbean, Part two is set in London. The difference in setting reflects in the difference in characters, their living conditions and the problems they have to face.

Part one: Trinidad

Some of the stories of Part one set in the countryside, but there also references to towns like Port of Spain. Thoughts, traditions, superstitions of Indians, English, African people mix together, giving the reader a vivid portrait of the multicultural society living in Trinidad.

The title refers to a native legend: those who eat the cascadura, no matter where they wander, will end their days in Trinidad. This legend reflects in the story of Garry Johnson, an Englishman, who is in love with an Indian peasant girl called Urmilla. Garry goes back to his motherland but an illness forces him to come to Trinidad again, since his disease can be treated only in the tropics. At the end Garry and Urmilla get married.

A group of people decide to leave Trinidad and move to Venezuela, which was considered to be a very rich country at the time. The story is about the risks and obstacles the protagonist Frederick has to face by trying to get false documents and settle down.

This story is set in a rural, isolated village where the peasants live simply. Most of the villagers are Indian people, except from the African More Lazy and the shopkeeper Chin. It is shown how most East Indians living in Trinidad keep on living in social alienation.

The protagonist of this story is Romesh, an East Indian young boy who has moved from the Cross Crossing sugar estate to the city to study. Romesh returns to Cross Crossing for his school holidays and there he realizes how different his life has become. He rejects the destiny his parents would like for him, that is to say an arranged marriage and a life dedicated to the land.

The story is set after the Second World War and deals with the changes brought to Trinidad in the village of Sans Souci. The story talks about the fight between two village washers, Ma Lambee and Ma Procop. The two women try to attract as many customers as they can by accusing each other to be involved in obeah activities and the story takes a turn on ma lambee who has to leave the village of sans souci.

This story deals with a generational clash. It is about a young man trying to break away from his restricted rural life, after discovering that his parents are arranging marriage for him. This story mainly takes place in urban areas, in particular in the towns of San Fernando and Port of Spain. At the end of the story the young man comes back home.

Ma Procop is the owner of a lot which she defends from animals and stealing. She is thought to be involved in obeah among the villagers, but she seems to be happy about this, since people do not come to disturb her. A mango tree grows in her land and it seems to give delicious fruits, but when Ma Procop sells them, it turns out they are bitter. She decides to taste the last fruit which apparently seems very good. The story is left unfinished.

This story takes place in an urban area. Gussy works in a company. All his colleagues are fired, except him. His boss is a very weak person who depends on his wife's will. She is the person responsible for everyone’s discharge and she wants to fire Gussy too. Once again the story is left unfinished: the reader doesn’t know whether Gussy is promoted or fired.

A drink of water is set in the countryside, where villagers have to face a long dry season, due to which a lot of people die. In this apocalyptic scenario a villager finds a well, he embezzles it and sells water to the other villagers at very high prices. For this reason the villagers begin to steal water from the well, until it starts raining.

Part two: London

Part two is set in London. The stories can be considered as a mixture of comic situations and everyday tragedies. Most of the protagonists are immigrants coming from the Caribbean living in London in poor conditions, struggling against a world which is very different from the one they were used to. The characters feel the need to adapt to a new lifestyle, a new culture, a new climate.

The style chosen by Selvon is the calypso, a ballad coming from the African tradition: it was usually improvised by slaves working in the plantations. The calypso usually dealt with contemporary subjects such as social life, politics, economy. In this story the narrator directs to the reader without introducing himself and he talks about immigrants having problems with harsh climate, lack of money, job and personal relationships.

The main character of this story is Small Change, who discovers that a transport society is hiring new employees to work in London, so he decides to leave his house. He is asked about his driving licence, his education and his recommendations. He has none of them, but he is able to be hired and he starts working. After trying unsuccessfully to work as bus driver and ticket clerk he loses his job.

This funny story is about some immigrants living in the center of London. One of them has an English girlfriend who lives in the suburbs, so the young man always catches a train to go visit her. One night the girl forgets the key, but she doesn’t want the neighbors to know about her relationship with the immigrant boy: she says that they need to wait for her aunt to cough in order to throw a stone and get inside her house. At the end of the story they throw a stone which breaks a window and the boy has to run away.

The protagonist is Eraser, a bus driver who works on Route 12 in London and loves his job very much. He finds it very difficult to be accepted and respected by the English people he meets every day. One day a woman leaves a parcel on a seat. Eraser takes it because he wants to give it back to the woman, but he never sees her again. He is then afraid of being accused of stealing and losing his job. At the end of the story he finds her address and goes to her house: surprisingly he discovers that the parcel is a gift for him.

Brackley comes from Tobago and lives in London. When his cousin Teena comes to London, it becomes clear that she wants to take control over Brackley’s life: she uses his own bed and she doesn’t want his friends or girlfriends in the house. At the end Brackley realizes that the only way to have his bed back is marrying Teena but when he is married auntie is coming and he ends up back on the floor even when he is married.

The situation presented in this story is desolate: winter becomes a metaphor of a challenging and difficult situation. Brakes wants to buy something for his girlfriend Mavis but he has got no money. Therefore he asks for money using the practice of sou sou, a sort of shared borrowing (part of Caribbean culture and symbol of mutual support). Brakes is able to buy a coat for Mavis but then he decides to sell it to bet on horses.

In this story it is said that the English used to think that people coming from West Indies loved playing cricket. It was a stereotype. The main character of this story is Algernon, who can’t play cricket at all, but he pretends to be a professional player. He is invited to play by his colleagues and he needs a team. During the game it starts raining and the game stops. The end of the story is left open.

An English couple wants to renovate an apartment in order to sell it for a higher price. To do so they have to evict the current tenants from the apartment, so they decide to let a room to some immigrants, thinking that this could be a good reason for the old tenants to move out. But at the end the immigrants are evicted, so they take revenge using obeah and the house collapses. It is told that the landlady pretends to be philanthropic to cover up her being racist.

This story is set in a dirty and messy basement, where the two musicians Bar 20 and Fred live. The two characters live in social alienation, since they always work at night. Their chaotic house resembles the chaos of their existence.

This story differs a lot from the others in style and language: here Selvon uses standard English. My girl and the city is a love story, but at the very beginning it is not so clear whether the narrator is talking about his love to a person or to the city of London. Here London is presented as a beloved city, a place the protagonist is affectionate to.

Language

In Ways of Sunlight Selvon uses the West Indian creole language, which already existed but Selvon gave it authority through writing. Creole was mainly regarded as a dialect, whereas in Selvon’s work it becomes an official language used to characterize people, to make them real. It becomes a vehicle to express Caribbean identity. Creole is used both in dialogues and in narrative. Sometimes Selvon also uses Standard English in narration and also spoken idiomatic English. West Indian language has also affinities with French, Spanish, Portuguese and Dutch. Throughout the book, Selvon is able to adapt the language to the characters and situations described.