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Chosen Place Timeless People Character Analysis

Decent Essays

Change at the level of an individual can be signaled by behavior, sense of values or manners of expression. In Chosen Place, Timeless People by Paule Marshall, Cities of Salt by Abdelrahman Munif, and Running in the Family by Michael Ondaatje, each characters experiences different changes and how it affected them. In Chosen Place, Timeless People, the “chose place” is set on Bourne Island, an imaginary Caribbean island that was once a British colony. The island’s primary source of income is sugarcane production. However, due to the reducing prices of sugar, the island’s government seeks to expand the economy. Saul Amron is a successful researcher in Latin America but later became a professor. He came to the island because his wife, Harriet Amron wanted him to be a researcher again. Harriet …show more content…

He wanted to understand the socio-economic problems in the village. Therefore became close friends with the locals, like Merle Kinbona, the protagonist of this novel. He became heavily involved in the life there that Merle said he was becoming “a rumhead just like those others down at the shop” (Marshall 262) with whom he socialized with on a nightly basis. However, when Harriet found out Saul was too “close” with the locals, she persuaded the foundation responsible for funding Saul’s research to remove him from the project and put the project on hold. As a result, Saul leaved Harriet. He stripped away her control of the most important aspect of her life, her marriage. He chose Bournehills and validated the vision of success over the imperialist-colonialist. Saul’s choice revealed his own connection with Cuffee Ned. Moreover, Saul admited to Merle that seeing the Cuffee Ned revolt re-enacted made him “to think of [his ancestors]” (Marshall 314). Cuffee Ned symbolizes historical triumph for people, Black and Jewish, over oppressive forces, as well as personal success for

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