Reaction Paper: ‘The Interlude’
The narrative ‘The Interlude’ by Michael Anthony of Trinidad is an interesting and very descriptive writing. It sparks its readers desire to know what follows next with the troubled characters Willis the Tiger and Little John. The more I read, the more I was intrigued to know what would happen to Willis for returning to San Fernando after having been sentenced to two years in jail for fatally injuring Cyril and leaving him cripple. I have personally never had an experience or witnessed a scenario like this but reading along I felt involved in the street and among the crowd witnessing a chaos about to unravel before my eyes. Indeed, when tragic events happen in a community and someone is convicted for a devious crime, the community will remember the criminal and brand and impression of him or her. Convicted persons are not always or usually welcome into their communities due to the stigma that has been created about them. In this narrative, the people of the town of San Fernando had definitely not forgotten ‘The Tiger’ who had them at bay when he was part of the desperado gang. He had now returned and was confronted by Little John who was raged at Willis for having fatally injured Cyril and left him cripple. Strong emotion and feelings of anger and revenge by Little John are described in page four of the narrative “Tiger!” he shouted as if ten lions were awake in him. Willis, who was once the feared tiger of the town for his vicious act of branding with a knife, the flesh of those who crossed him, was now a meek a scared mouse until Little John’s anger and threat sparked the tiger in him once again causing him to bore a knife into little John’s side in self defense. Willis who suffered and learned to value himself in jail, had made the grave mistake of returning to San Fernando, and now confronted by Little John, was reliving his past. If he truly believed jail had taught him a harsh lesson, he should have never returned to San Fernando but should have started new somewhere else where he his past could not haunt him anymore.