Rising Above Expectations
The choices and actions that an individual makes are determined through a variety of different mediums; society is the main factor that influences individuals to act a certain way. In his memoir, Growing Up Stupid Under the Union Jack, Austin Clarke reminisces about his childhood in a small Barbadian village where his mother, Gladys, struggles against social barriers and societal expectations in order to provide the best possible life for her son. Her decision to move out of St.Matthias village, her longing for her son to belong to the St.Michael’s Cathedral choir, and her determination to send her Austin to Combermere to attain a brithish style education, is all a direct result of societal influences.
Gladys’ decision to move out of St.Mitthias is due to the influence of the Barbadian people. St.Matthias village is in a lower class neighborhood where nothing great is ever expected of its residents. Individuals are more likely to fail if that is what is expected of them. “Expectations shape [an individual’s] perceptions.”(Gregory Swin, 1)
Gladys believes that in order to rise their status in society, they need to abandon St.Matthias and move up to Flagstaff Hill. Moving up the hill can be seen as symbolic parallelism to moving up the social ladder. Gladys feels that all years of suffering “[have] at last come to end. And it is the end she [has] silently [been working] for.”(59) This is a powerful statement looking back at the struggles of an unskilled single mother trying to provide a better life for her illegitimate son. Gladys acknowledges that Flagstaff Hill may provide a better chance at that than St.Matthias. living in such a class consumed society eager to label everyone, Gladys knows that relocating to Flagstaff Hill will not only raise their social status but will allow her son to have a fair chance to aspire to something more than a sanitary inspector. Unlike the many unemployed residents of St.Matthias, all the adults of Flagstaff Hill labour hard all day; hey do not congregate around corners or under street lamps at night. On the social hierarchy scale Flagstaff Hill is ranked higher thus is more respected. Gladys’ decision to relocate to Flagstaff Hill in order to provide a better life for her son is a due to societal expectations of the influence of social settings.
Gladys yearns for her son to become a choir boy at the St.Michaels Cathedral because of the societal expectations the islanders have placed upon themselves. The Cathedral is located in the Town; everything important is located in Town. It is a sign of status and superiority for the villagers. The St.Matthias Church choir, where Austin first starts, is located in the village of St.Matthias, thus it is automatically inferior in the eyes of the community. The St.Matthias church choir mostly consists of members of the lower class, where as the Cathedral is composed of members who are, at the very least, from the middle class. “To be a choir boy at the Cathedral in those days was the next best thing to bring in the heavenly host.”(123) This quotation effectively conveys the importance and superiority of the Cathedral. The Cathedral choir boys are described as holy angels or priests. Gladys takes great pride in the fact that her son is a Cathedral choir boy. She works hard every Saturday to get Austin’s church clothes ready and tidy; “suitable for the Cathedral.” (124) she regards this as “another blessing of her labour.”(124) her idealization of the Cathedral is due to societal influences and expectations.
Gladys finally achieves a permanent respectable status and overcomes the societal expectations when Austin is ranked twenty eight on the entrance examination for Combermere and his admitted it. He has “blessed her head.”(88) She has at last achieved something “beyond the expectations of the village.”(1) Her status in society is now rising; she is climbing up the social ladder. Women who previously refused to mingle with her are now [stopping] and [talking to her] and even [inviting] her to join them.”(88) as soon as Austin is admitted to Combermere the attitude of the superior villagers changes towards her. Combermere is a socially superior school. Its academic syllabus parallels that of the schools in Britain. The students at Combermere learn Latin and Greek, the same as the students in Britain. Combermere emulates the “mother country” thus it is socially superior. The islanders regard anything British as being superior. “Barbados is pro-British — pro-English — very strongly. In its political allegiance, in its culture, in its imitation of a way of living. So much so that Barbados is known as Little England.” (Austin Clarke 3) consequently the societal expectations for the Combermere boys are far greater than anything even thought to be achievable by the students of the lower class schools. The islanders hold these boys at a high standard; “the boys of Combermere [can] do no wrong.”(174) Be
I have to say that this is a British English view, and you should give precedence to your local idioms.
There are one or two typos, of which you may be aware. Most of your script is fine, many of my amendments are of a minor nature;
I’ve marked my suggestions thus – *.
Some may seem odd: "Cathedral" / "cathedral" – I think the "C" should only be used as part of the name of the building, "c" when it’s an un-named building.
I note that you show "St.Matthias"; I am accustomed to "St. Matthias" with a space after "St."
The choices and actions that an individual makes are determined *by (through) a variety of different mediums; society is the main factor that influences individuals to act *in a certain way. In his memoir *"Growing Up Stupid Under the Union Jack"*, Austin Clarke reminisces about his childhood in a small Barbadian village where his mother, Gladys, struggles against social barriers and societal expectations in order to provide the best possible life for her son. Her decision to move out of St.*(space)Matthias village, her longing for her son to belong to the St.* Michael’s Cathedral choir, and her determination to send *him (her Austin) to Combermere to attain a *British (brithish) style education, *are (is) all (*a) direct results of societal influences.
Gladys’ decision to move out of *St. Matthias (St.Mitthias) is due to the influence of the Barbadian people. St.Matthias village is in a lower class neighborhood where nothing great is ever expected of its residents. Individuals are more likely to fail if that is what is expected of them. “Expectations shape [an individual’s] perceptions.” (Gregory Swin, 1)
Gladys believes that in order to *raise (rise) their status in society, they need to abandon St.Matthias and move up to Flagstaff Hill. Moving up the hill can be seen as symbolic parallelism to moving up the social ladder. Gladys feels that all *the years of suffering “[have] at last come to end. And it is the end she [has] silently [been working] for.”(59) This is a powerful statement looking back at the struggles of an unskilled single mother trying to provide a better life for her illegitimate son. Gladys acknowledges that Flagstaff Hill may provide a better chance at that than St.* Matthias. *Living in such a class consumed society eager to label everyone, Gladys knows that relocating to Flagstaff Hill will not only raise their social status but will allow her son to have a fair chance to aspire to something more than a sanitary inspector. Unlike the many unemployed residents of St.* Matthias, all the adults of Flagstaff Hill labour hard all day; *they do not congregate around corners or under street lamps at night. On the social hierarchy scale,* Flagstaff Hill is ranked higher*, and therefore (thus) is more respected. Gladys’ decision to relocate to Flagstaff Hill in order to provide a better life for her son is a due to societal expectations of the influence of social settings.{*I don’t like the preceding sentence. Is it necessary or just repeating previous statements?* If you decide to keep it, sort out "son is *a due to".}
Gladys yearns for her son to become a choir boy at the St.* Michael*’s Cathedral because of the societal expectations the islanders have placed upon themselves. The *cathedral is located in the *town; everything important is located in *the town. It is a sign of status and superiority for the villagers. The St. *Matthias Church choir, where Austin first starts, is located in the village of St.* Matthias, thus it is automatically inferior in the eyes of the community. The St.* Matthias *Church choir *(mostly) consists, *mostly, of members of the lower class, where as the *cathedral *choir is composed of members who are, at the very least, from the middle class. “To be a choir boy at the Cathedral in those days was the next best thing to bring in the heavenly host.”(123) This quotation effectively conveys the importance and superiority of the *cathedral. The *cathedral choir boys are described as holy angels or priests. Gladys takes great pride in the fact that her son is a *cathedral choir boy. She works hard every Saturday to get Austin’s church clothes ready and tidy; “suitable for the Cathedral.” (124) she regards this as “another blessing of her labour.”(124) *Her idealization of the *cathedral is due to societal influences and expectations.
Gladys finally achieves a permanent respectable status and overcomes the societal expectations when Austin is ranked twenty eight on the entrance examination for Combermere and *he is (his) admitted. (*it.) He has “blessed her head.”(88) She has at last achieved something “beyond the expectations of the village.”(1) Her status in society is now rising; she is climbing up the social ladder. Women who previously refused to mingle with her are now [stopping] and [talking to her] and even [inviting] her to join them.”(88) *As(as) soon as Austin is admitted to Combermere,* the attitude of the superior villagers
Technorati Tags: Austin Clarke, Better Chance, Better Life, Cathedral Choir, Choices, Class Neighborhood, Illegitimate Son, Longing, Mediums, Memoir, Mother Gladys, Parallelism, Perceptions, Single Mother, Social Barriers, Social Ladder, Societal Expectations, Societal Influences, St Matthias, Swin
