In The Castle Of My Skin Analysis

In the Castle of My Skin Once in a while, we come across a novel that is written so well, that behind every sentence holds some sort of truth. The same can be said about the characters within a story. Behind their dialogue and actions lies something more meaningful, such as a lesson, political stance, or a symbolization of some sort. In the Castle of My Skin written by George Lamming, is an autobiographical narrative that surrounds Lamming’s childhood on his island home Barbados, in which he is portrayed through the main character, G, from the ages nine to seventeen. In addition, the main character is faced with issues such as race, social hierarchy, and natural disaster. George Lamming is a novelist from the Island of Barbados who has published …show more content…
This supports the theory that what is right is determined by what God commands, and the characters must abide by those rules. For example, the character Ma expresses this position when she states, “I not goin’ to fly in God’s face ‘cause He knows best, an’ what He think right ain’t in my power to know. That’s why I always says to you, pray, you just pray an’ let the will o’ the Lord have its way” (79). She believes it is not in her place to dictate what is right and wrong and that you should let things take there course like God intended. Additionally, Pa demonstrates the same feelings when he says, “an’ since it ain’t in your power or mine or his own nor right in the sight o’ God to shoot them down” (86). In other words, it is not in our hands to assign punishment to those who have done …show more content…
Slime, is someone who seeks pleasure and considers it to be most important, in the simplest terms, a hedonist. In the Castle of My Skin, the elders discuss Mr. Slime’s actions and whether or not he is a good man. Ma begins by saying, “The landlord say he believe what Mr. Slime do wus good, but he wusn’t sure what he had in min’. Then he tell me what a terrible thing greed is. It grow like a sickness on you till you can’t catch yourself. He say he din’t if Mr. Slime wus greedy, but he din’t like what wus happenin’ ” (186). Although Mr. Slime is doing good things for the village, they are starting to believe that he is responsible for the horrible changes that are happening as well. Furthermore, when Pa is talking to the head teacher he begins to question why the landlord sold the village to Mr. Slime and adds, “Surely it wasn’t out of love or friendship for Mr. Slime since the latter had made himself the enemy of the landlord. He was responsible for the first strike, and he played a great part in the riots” (256). This shows that Mr. Slime is playing dirty and not in the best interest for the