A Brighter Sun: Analysis of Major Characters
"A Brighter Sun" explores the lives of several major characters within a Trinidadian community, primarily focusing on the experiences of Tiger, a young peasant of East Indian descent. At sixteen, he enters into an arranged marriage with Urmilla and moves from a traditional sugar estate to a more diverse village near Port of Spain. Tiger embodies ambition and determination, striving to better his circumstances through education and self-improvement, although he grapples with personal and cultural conflicts, including a moment of violence against Urmilla that has lasting repercussions.
Urmilla, described as a frail and traditional Hindu wife, finds herself caught between her desire for connection with Tiger and her role within the constraints of tradition. Their neighbor, Joe Martin, a Creole laborer shaped by a difficult upbringing, evolves from a man content in his limited knowledge to one who befriends Tiger and Urmilla, influenced by his strong-willed partner, Rita. Rita serves as a bridge between cultures, helping to foster understanding and support among the community members.
Other characters, like Boysie, Sookdeo, Tall Boy, and American servicemen Larry and Chief, further illustrate the diverse social fabric and the dynamics of race and class in Trinidad during this period. Through these characters, the narrative examines themes of identity, ambition, and the complexities of cultural integration in a changing society.
A Brighter Sun: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: Samuel Selvon
First published: 1952
Genre: Novel
Locale: Barataria, a village east of Port of Spain, Trinidad
Plot: Social realism
Time: New Year's Day, 1939, to late 1945
Tiger, a Trinidadian peasant of East Indian descent. Curious, ambitious, diligent, and determined to become a man, he moves, after an arranged marriage at the age of sixteen, from a traditional community on a sugar estate to a multiracial village near Port of Spain. Contemplating life's mysteries and dreaming of what education might have afforded him, he sometimes resents the burden of his young family but resolves to understand and control more of his life. Turning from most of the old ways and prejudices toward the ideal of a more integrated society, he learns to read and consciously changes and improves his use of language to prepare for the inevitable changes and opportunities he envisions. He develops a love for his pastoral surroundings but, seeking advancement and contact with a bigger world, obtains employment with the American military, constructing a highway. He is fearful of becoming like Sookdeo, but, tense and culturally confused, he drunkenly beats his pregnant wife, causing her to lose their child. Penance paid, in his early twenties he is mature and responsible, a nascent community leader with an uncertain but optimistic view of his own and his nation's future.
Urmilla, Tiger's wife. Long-haired and frail, with sad black eyes, she is married at the age of sixteen and soon pregnant with a female child. Although she is friendly with her Creole neighbor Rita and would like to laugh and talk with Tiger and share his worries, she is a traditional Hindu wife, passive, obedient, hardworking, and eager to please.
Joe Martin, a laborer and Tiger's Creole neighbor. Born to a prostitute in a Port of Spain slum and reared by his great-aunt, Ma Lambie, he suffered physical abuse, hatred, and hunger until, at the age of sixteen, he finally beat her in return. Big, strong, and without ambition, he works for the Americans and gives his money to Rita, who tries to moderate his tough, slovenly behavior in a suburban setting. Content in his illiteracy and limited knowledge, he is initially against mixing with his Indian neighbors but, as a result of Rita's influence and his own essential good nature, he gradually becomes their friend.
Rita Martin, Joe's common-law wife. Generous, decent, strong-willed, and combative, she lifts Joe and herself above their slum origins and, unable to have children, rears her nephew Henry as her own. Rita ignores racial differences to befriend Urmilla, serving as her midwife and acting as the principal agent in the Indian couple's assimilation.
Ma Lambie, Joe's brutal great-aunt. A large, frowning, ugly black woman with huge breasts, she is a barren former prostitute who seeks comfort in her old age from Joe, a child abandoned at birth. When Joe hits her, she becomes a cringing and obsequious old woman fervently singing for salvation at roadside prayer meetings. After it becomes clear that she will get nothing from Joe, she turns her hostility and sharp tongue on Rita.
Boysie, an East Indian farmer and friend of Tiger. Familiar with both the country and the city, he is an influence on Tiger and introduces him to the cosmopolitan life of Port of Spain and a broader horizon. An advocate of racial mixing and bored by the village ways, he enjoys shocking traditional Indians by showing off his Creole girlfriend. He saves money to leave for England or America after the war.
Sookdeo, an old East Indian farmer who teaches Tiger to read. Misshapen by work, small, and dark, with a gray beard and straggly hair, he is the village drunk and trickster. His comic antics hide feelings of fear and desolation at growing old and never having a son.
Tall Boy, a Chinese shopkeeper with many children. Popular, fair, clever, and generous, he gives his customers credit and has integrated well into the community, adopting local manners and habits. Hardworking, ambitious, and frugal, he sends money to relatives in China.
Larry and Chief, two white American servicemen with whom Tiger works. Good-humored, enthusiastic, and naïvely secure in the superiority of their own values, they enjoy the superficial introduction to the exotic foods and customs of poor East Indians that Tiger and Urmilla provide. Ignorant of the dislocation their visit already has caused and relaxed by too much rum, they unwittingly encourage the further breaking of taboos; the result is Tiger's drunken beating of Urmilla.