Millicent - Literature Notes 


SUMMARY (Plot)
Fourth standard was an ordinary class in every way. There were students who were constantly
late, there was fighting among the students for(www.bulbsoup.com) various reasons, and it had a 'bright spark' and a 'duncy head'. Therefore, fourth standard was a very ordinary class, but the arrival of Millicent changed everything. She broke up friendships,created racial division in the class and was rude to the teacher. The result was that fourth standard became a quarrelsome class and Millicent reigned supreme. The arrival of the end of term test saw Millicent announcing that she would place first in the class. The opposite occurred, however, Millicent came last instead. The students laughed at her and things went back to normal in fourth standard.

SETTING
A rural community in Trinidad and Tobago. 

CHARACTERS
Miss
  • Described by her students as a 'nice' teacher who was also very strict
  • Was thoroughly opposed to the dissension in her classroom
  • Was a very wise and patient individual because she warned Millicent that 'pride goeth before a fall'   
Millicent
  • A spoilt little girl
  • She liked to be in control 
  • She liked to be the center of attention

CONFLICT
The conflict in the story stems from Millicent. Millicent breaks up long standing friendships, such as Shira and Sandra, as well as Clem and Harry. She does this by including one half of each member (www.bulbsoup.com) in her gang, while excluding the other. She also introduced racist name calling in the class. Some examples of the names that she gave to some of the children are Picky head Congo Vena and Roti Coolie Harry. The result of this conflict was a quarrelsome and divided fourth standard.

THEME
Racism
This occurs when Millicent introduces name calling, based on racial markers, to fourth standard. Examples of this are 'picky-head Congo Vena' and 'roti-Coolie Harry. Miss did not allow this to propagate, but stamped it out very quickly with her lecture about the mixed heritage of everyone in the class.


Contributor: Leisa Samuels-Thomas

Hodge, Merle. 'Millicent'. Over Our Way. Kingston, Jamaica: Carlong Publishers, 1995.

Please note that the video on the five elements of Literature is NOT the property of bulbsoup

MEDIA @ Elements of Literature (Millicent)



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