The Pain Tree by Olive Senior

                                                          

1- Who is your favorite character from the story and what kind of background do they come from? Why? (Use examples from Michelle Cliff's essay, If I Could Write This in Fire, I Would Write This in Fire)

I think my favorite character from the story is Lorraine because I really like how she develops real feelings for Larissa, although of the difference that exists between their social classes. In the story, Lorraine comes from a white-light skinned middle-class, and Larissa work for their family as a maid. This text reminds me of Michelle's Cliffs essay, because it talks about how Jamaican maids live for the people they serve, and also clearly shows the class divisions between the oppressor and the working Jamaican class.

2- Why do you think Lorraine’s mother mocks the workers that want independence from England?

I think she mocks of them, because she feels superior as she is part of the light- skinned middle class. This means that for her, it looked almost impossible that the oppressed class could bring back they independence. I also think that in a way, she mocks of them because she may be afraid of losing her class- privileges if the Jamaican people get the independence from England.

3- What is a “pain tree” and how does it play a role in the story?

It is a tree in which the Jamaican women workers would go to and hammer nails into it. Through this act, they feel that they are transferring their pain to the tree so they don't have to suffer so much pain. In the story, Larissa goes to the tree to give her pain to it due to her sons' death. I think that in the story the tree represents another way of showing the class divisions in Jamaica because it represents how the Jamaican people still believes in their mythology unlike the un-natives.

4- What is the meaning of the line “people like me would always inherit the land, but they were the ones who already possessed the Earth”?

For me, I believe that Lorraine said this because, although she doesn’t feel so good about it, she knows she is part of the oppressing class, the one who control and will keep controlling the land in the future.