Comparing The Man Who Ran Away And The Dragon Can T Dance

The Man Who Ran Away by Alfred H. Mendes and The Dragon Can’t Dance by Earl Lovelace are two uniquely Trinidadian works of the 20th century. Both of them portray many cultural themes unique to Trinidad, from Carnival to the barrack-yard. Indeed, these pieces contain several similarities throughout their respective political and social concerns, as well as within their means of representation. However, despite these similarities, they also have many differences, which help to account for the various changes in Trinidad during the 20th century.
Upon reading both works, it is clear that they each have more similarities than just their shared culture. The first topic that is clear in both pieces is economic difficulties. Indeed, we can see this …show more content…
The first major difference that is noticeable in the works is the emphasis on community. In The Dragon Can’t Dance, community is the central theme. Indeed, each chapter of the novel is told by a different person in the neighborhood. The people band together and share community standards and ideals. While there is a definite community in The Man Who Ran Away, it is much less connected. It is told solely from the perspective of Mr. Quintero, the owner of the property, who is not so much a part of the community as he is an outsider. Moreover, the people within the community do not seem to share the same community standards and they do not operate as a team. Instead, they have separate lives and values. Another critical distinction between the two works is that The Dragon Can’t Dance deals with issues of government authority and politics, while none of that is directly dealt with in The Man Who Ran Away. Indeed, in The Dragon Can’t Dance we see the young men create the People’s Liberation Army and deal with issues of oppression. In fact, Aldrick gives an impassioned speech, “Make no peace with slavery. Make no peace, for you have survived. You are here filling up the shanty towns, prisons, slums, street corners…We have to live as people…we have to rise up” (Lovelace 179. Though he doesn’t truly seem to know what he is saying, the political climate in Trinidad at the time is at the center of …show more content…
From the similarities, it is clear that there was not much social change in Trinidad throughout the 20th century. Culturally, the country was fairly unchanged. The blunt tone used by both authors highlights this shared connection. The writing style remained the same, and the writing style often mirrors the culture. Additionally, and more importantly, race continued to be an issue in the country, and little seems to have changed across the course of the works. There was certainly still a large divide between people of different races and different skin tones. Another similarity is the economic situation of the characters in the works. They each feature working class people, and the characters featured in The Dragon Can’t Dance seem to have just as many economic struggles as their predecessors in The Man Who Ran Away. However, the differences between the two novels shows a change in the political climate of the country. In the 1970s, there was definitely more political awareness and reaction amongst the people and politics played a more immediate role in people’s everyday lives. This is a significant distinction, because it shows that the country was not stagnant; it was instead experiencing major political shifts. Moreover, the idea of community being so pronounced in the second reading mirrors this emphasis