BACKGROUND TO THE YEAR IN SAN FERNANDO

The Year in San Fernando was published in 1965. It is an autobiographical novel belonging to
the classics of West Indian Bildungroman of the independence period. The setting is in San
Fernando, the second largest city in Trinidad and Tobago located at the south western coast of
Trinidad. It is a coastal city and one of Francis adventure was exploring the wharf built on two
hills--Alexander Hill and San Fernando, Naiparama Hill.
Mrs Chandles house is on the side of Naiparama. On clear days Francis can view the western
Trinidad and venezuela, This hill fascinates Francis and he describes it as "towering like a
great giant over the town. "(pg 27)
Mayaro, is located in South Eastern Trinidad. More than a village or town it refers not only to
the bay bur also to the county which include a number of villages like: St Joseph, Beau Sejour,
Pierre Ville, Beaumont, St Anns, Raddix, Lagon Doux, Grand Lagood, and Lagon Palmiste.
Other novels belonging to Caribbean bildungroman classics are: In the Castle of my skin by
George Lamming, Mitchelle Cliff's Abeng and Jamaica Kincaid's Ann Johnnie.
Through the eyes of an observant teen boy, the social and ethnic divisions and tensions of
Trinidad society are brought out. Many critics have praised the recreation of voice, outlook
and perspective of the young narrator. Paul Edward and Kenneth Ramchand in their
introduction to the 1997 edition say that Michael Anthony adheres to "the boy's point of view
in language that appears simple at the surface but which is sensuous and at times symbolic
while sustaining the illusion of adolescent reportage.” They argue that it is the source of the
novel's irony that people and places can be seen objectively through the boys observing eyes
and subjectively in terms of his response to them. "(vii)
As a novel that carries the theme of growth and development, we can argue, this novel appears
like a fragment--a fraction of the whole. This is because it narrates the events that took place
in a year of Francis adolescence. It is also evidenced in the open ended conclusion where
Francis rides the bus back to Mayaro contemplating a happy reunion with his mother and
family, but without a word as to his fate and his ultimate career.

MATCHING OF STYLE AND THEME OF CHANGE, GROWTH AND

DEVELOPMENT IN THE YEAR IN SAN FERNANDO
After reading The Year in San Fernando we can't help noticing the time process. It is
embedded in the title; in the structure and affects the significant patterns of imagery: birth,
growth, death, regeneration, the fundamental movements of nature, all fitted neatly into
Anthony's year. In other words, cyclical time patterns are superimposed on a clearly defined
linear sequence of twelve months and the events of these months are thereby, to a considerable
extent, universalized. The novel begins and ends, very symbolically, with Christmas. In
between, the cane crop grows to maturity and is cut down only to give way to the new crops of
the rainy season. At every point in the novel, the reader is made aware that changes are taking
place in time. Nothing is static; the year moves on and all moves with it.
The tropical environment of Trinidad seems seasonless yet the passage of time is marked in
the text through the stages of sugarcane production and through Francis familiarity with the
town and mastery of his routine. Edward and Ramchand see the sugarcane plantation as an
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image of progression of the boy’s year in San Fernando and the mystery of growth and decay.
The mention of cane fields through vivid description bring out the passage of time. The
voyage of Francis from Mayaro to San Fernando is described through landscapes that become
increasingly urban and populated. ". . . like a carnival . . . . so big and so weird in the night
(11). The change of environment in San Fernando realized by the boy is contrasted with that of
Mayaro. The boy is bewildered ". . . had never thought there was such a place like this in
Trinidad. (13). His arrival also signals a change in attitude of Mr. Chandles who becomes one
of the puzzles Francis must solve during his stay in San Fernando. Mr. Chandles bristles when
greeting his mother and Francis can't help thinking something was wrong between the two.
(15).
There is ample evidence of Francis's physical growth in the novel. Very early in the book he
sees himself as one of "hundreds of little boys" (p. 11) and his smallness stands in marked
contrast to all that is "big" around him: Mr. Chandles' "big" job with the "Great Asphalt
Company"; Mr. Chandles' big house in the "great town" of San Fernando (which seems to
dwarf him as he enters it) ; the "big" mirror before which he stands feeling small and awkward
before going to the market with Brinetta. At the end of the novel Francis sees that he too has
become "big. " As he hurriedly prepares to leave for the homeward bus he finds that his shirt
can scarcely button-up and, with careful artistry, Anthony sets him before the mirror once
again: "I went to see myself in the glass now. I looked sodifferent standing there with brown
pants and sky-blue shirt. It almost didn't look like me. It was strange and very good. ( 182)"
Francis growth and development is also brought out by events in San Fernando. Brinetta the
girl he come to replace at Mrs. Chandles house orients hin in the market where he would be
buying food for the household. Here he is introduced to the mysteries of mt. Naiparama , the
steel band yard, where the bands came to rehearse in preparation for carnival, the house where
Mr. Chandles other wman lives, the market building with its . . . . "smell of chives and fruit
and peppers and roucou and the freshness of fish and heaven knows what. "(29)
Francis becomes aware of himself as a physical being on the landscape gradually building up
in the course of the year as others become aware of his growing and draw his attention to it.
Brinetta from the start calls him a man and it doesn't take him long after this to realize that he
is "already twelve" (p. 49) and not only twelve. No longer a "little boy, " his physical
development inevitably has sexual repercussions. Julia's sister, Enid, is attracted to him but the
literalness of her comments — "Enid say you getting big man now" (148) — makes a more
immediate impact on him than the sexuality behind them. "Perhaps they (Anna, Felix and Sil)
would say, like Enid, that I had got big. I knew I had. I could feel it. Then, too, all my pants
were now too short for me. They held me very tight at the seat. I got teased about this at
school. Perhaps the first thing they would say at home was that my pants were tight. Perhaps
they had grown too. "(154-55)
Growth to the young Francis means simply physical growth. At first, he feels awkward and
even embarrassed — as when Julia goes on about it, — but he comes ultimately to be happy
about it. Thus while he has grown old enough to appreciate surface changes, he is still too
young to understand what is happening to him sexually and, in a wider and deeper sense,
psychologically. These changes are allowed to quietly and unobtrusively inform the on-going
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narrative.
Through Dramatic irony, Francis's inability to catch all the sexual innuendos that float around
him is brought out. Francis is twelve. As the months go by in San Fernando it becomes
increasingly clear that Francis is actually undergoing puberty, this being part of his all-round
physical development. His first description of Julia indicates that he is sensitive to the
attractions of the opposite sex and hence past the stage of ignoring girls: "She was so slim and
delicate that her dress seemed to drape around her, but she had a nice face, and her hair was
combed up in the 'rose' style. It made her look —not glamorous — but extremely comely"
( 43)
While in the house, feeling a hatred for Mr. Chandles and his mother who are quarrelling
upstairs, he recalls this first encounter with Julia and he feels "cheered. " He recalls the eyes,
the eyebrows, the hair. He now compares her to his sister, Anna, who is back in Mayaro. Both
girls comb their hair the same way. But Julia is different somehow, "miles in front" of Anna
and "very pleasant to see" (49). A few lines later he is even imagining asking her to marry him
if he were grown up. The passage ends with an unconsciously understated "I liked her. " This
passage convincingly traces the movement of the mind of the adolescent Francis: the attraction
to facial beauty; the comparison to the sister, a young female with whom he is familiar; the
differentiation between female sibling and female non-sibling; the naive fantasizing.
An important way on how style matches with theme lies in in the choice of a young character
as the narrator of the story by the author and his reliability as recorder of the events that occur
around him. Francis as a child narrator here, is an effective tool for inquiring into not only the
plight of the child but also the class and gender disparities and struggles in the Caribbean
during the enfranchisement (post-slavery) and colonial periods. Through prudent exploration
of a child's psychological makeup, the author delineate the child as a powerful agent through
which other themes such as: poverty and class differences are surveyed. Generally, the child
narrator has been employed here to express their humanism and consequently, the kind of
society he espouses. The child has therefore been revealed as a beam of ethicalness through
which the world can be humanized. Of specific importance is how the writer here molds
Francis into a flexible character while hinting at his psychological change in the direction of
maturity without positing an achieved and stable state. Ramchand recognizes Anthony's use of
the flexible method when he states:
" . . . . . . . . The year in San Fernando continuously lead us away from a settled notion of the
person to a more liberal view of latent and only sporadically realized possibilities. "
The narrative of Francis’ first week in San Fernando includes an incident whose telling is
introduced by a flashback. This is when Francis is speculating that perhaps Mrs. Chandles did
not miss Brinetta "the slightest bit. “introduces the story of his first meeting with Julia the
young woman who lives in the house Brinetta said "would kill Mrs. Chandles. "(33)The lovely
girl, "so slim and delicate that her dress seemed to drape round her"(33) calls him over and
questions him about Mayaro. This stirs memories of home and opens new lines of self-
questioning about loyalties and nuances of character. On one hand he feels disloyal to Mrs.
Chandles by openly speaking to someone who is clearly seen as an enemy while on the other
hand he is fascinated by the young woman who is both lovely and seemingly kind.
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Development of Francis is also seen in is learning to understand and appreciate Mrs.
Chandles. For example he is puzzled by Brinnettas loyalty to old Mrs. Chandles . He also
senses that for Brinetta, Mr. Chandles is not "the nice and decent” man he is reputed to be in
Mayaro.
Worth noting is the contrasting of character of Mr. Chandles and that of Balgobin the bus
conductor. This is when Francis and Mr. Chandles are travelling to San Fernando from
Mayaro. Mr. Chandles is brought out as elegant, refined, and composed whilst Balgobin is
potrayed as loud mouthed a lacking common courtesy. This highlight class differences in the
society of Trinidad.
The author employs parallelism by bringing out Francis' emotional journey as he moves
farther much away from his much loved widowed mother and siblings towards an unknown
old woman to whom he will be servant and companion alongside his story of his geographical
transition from Mayaro to San Fernando.
In his narration Francis, shift from the first person plural to the first person singular. Before he
is told by his mother that he is going to San Fernando, Francis speaks with a group voice: "we
had heard only very little about Mr. Chandles"; "It was the whispers about Mr. Chandles and
Marva that we heard so often in our house" (7) : "sometimes it impressed us also" (8); "we
said nothing" (p. 10). This reflects his boyishness, his very close identification, in fact his
merging, with his peer group. Immediately after his mother's excited announcement, Francis
switches to the singular pronoun, "I was flabbergasted. I did not know what it was all about. "
Anthony has thereby isolated Francis's consciousness from the rest of his group but this has
been done almost imperceptibly. This isolation of consciousness is essential to the technique
of first-person narration but, in addition, it acts as an early signal of Francis's growing up.
Separated from his boyhood (and communal) environment for the first time in his life, Francis
is also to feel a terrible loneliness during his first days in San Fernando. On his first night at
the Chandles' house he cannot even sleep because he is alone without his brothers next to him
in bed. Psychologically alone, Francis soon develops a sense of self which is manifested
specifically in growing self-reliance: "Brinetta had said it was proper to stand on your own
two feet and be good for yourself. Maybe one should be like that" (48). Typically, Francis
feels joy at his ability to handle himself at the market-place and a kind of mischievous self-
satisfaction when Mrs. Chandles is unable to get any information out of him about Marva
(48). Throughout the year he often thinks of his "boy days" in Mayaro, but with an
increasingly balanced sense of nostalgia and love that contrasts with his early, sometimes
desperate, longing to return home.
Two elements of these memories of Mayaro stand out: his group activities and his mother. The
changes in focus on these two reflect the changes in Francis himself. Anthony uses parallelism
again to show growth: "Also, I often thought of the cricket we played in the yard under that
scorching sun. Ma . . . would come rushing to the tiger-wire fence to drive us in from the heat.
When she went back we would steal chances to play and not make much noise. . . . " (64)
Much later in the year, as he anticipates his return, the same thoughts come back to him:
"It was easy for me to picture what they would say when I first arrived. I would want to play
cricket right away, though. Perhaps they would think they could get me out easily. These
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fellers here could bowl harder than Sil and Felix and I still made runs against them. I
wondered if Cyril would be there while I was batting in the savannah and afterwards maybe he
would want to give me a job when I left school. Sil and Felix wouldn't get me out so quickly.
Not with those hop-and-drop balls. But Ma might chase us from the sun. I wondered if Ma
would chase us from the sun. " (155)
The earlier communal "we" has now been divided into two camps, "I" and "they. " Francis
wishes to return to the group activities that he left behind a year before, but now with a strong
sense of his own individuality not untouched by a little city pride ("These fellers here could
bowl harder than Sil and Felix and I still made runs against them . . . . those hop-and-drop
balls"). Noteworthy too is the way in which his consciousness shifts forward to thoughts of
school-leaving and getting a job and, as in the earlier memory, there is Ma. But Ma is not
thought of with the certainty of eight months before. She might chase them. He wonders about
her just as he wonders about her fortitude when she visits him after Easter. He can no longer
think of her in simple terms — chasing them out of the sun, gossiping about Marva and Mr.
Chandles, slaving for Mrs. Samuels. His fleeting, childish anxiety about her at the beginning
of the novel: "They said she would run her blood to water. Hearing this so often I seriously
feared it would happen. I always thought if it could happen, would it happen one of these
days?" (12) is replaced by a deeper, more measured compassion that nearly shatters him:
"Her eyes looked large and seemed to be forming tears again at the corners. I noticed that her
face was a little more sunken, so her cheekbones stood out. Her head, very full of hair,
surprised me because I had not remembered so much grey upon it. Looking at her like that
from right above her, and seeing her eyes looking so full of pain, I at once felt weak and
desolate. "(88-89)
Francis assesment of Mr. Chandles is in the light of his changed personality to understand the
ambiguities involved in the behaviour of those around him. He reveals different aspects of Mr.
Chandles personality. In Mayaro he is affable and elegant; in San Fernando he is gruff and
unpleasant to his mother and scolds Francis for small slights like appearing dressed badly in
front of the garden of the house, unawre of his moother's increased approval of the young
boy's work and behaviour. Mr. chandles also presents various aspects of his personality in the
house. He accepts his mothers servility without paying attention to her and embracing Julia in
the darkness against the pillars of the house.

The hyocricy of Mr Chandles offers Francis a chance for self analysis. He wonders why he
was afraid osf Mr Chandles and ponders how to follow Brinettas advice to "take it easy"
(37)As he seeks to understand the personalities of characters around him, he also begins the
process of understanding himself and he uses the newly discovered skills to survive in his new
situation. For example on the issue of Mr Chandles and his mother, Francis weighs what he
knows and agaist what he does not and heeds Brinettas advice. He decides to hold his
judgement. " Although i camme to know a lot, i realised there was much i didnt know"(38)

The convinction that Mr. Chandles marriage to Marva would take place worsened the
relationship between the mother and son. This is sharply contrrasted with Francis' longing for
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his own mother who was always " in the centre of of my mind" and whose vivid memory was
enough to bring him almost to tears"(51-52)

The four days in April between holy Thursday and Easter Sunday covercover events of great
importance to Francis development. He witnessses the violence and and built up resentment
that poisoned the relationship of the Chanles Family. It is at this time that his mother visits
him too. The coming of age of the boy is seen in his ability to question thb occasional feelings
of shame he had witnessed at his own poverty and unfamiliarity with the ways of the Chandles
and their social class. He feels that the loud quarrel "had made them a disgrace in Romain
Street". (19)There behaviour is contrrasted with that of his family. "And now i thought of our
own poverty and of my mother sending me here because she could hardly feed us all. Yet no
row could take place in Ma's house. And we weren't refined or anythingAnd we had not been
to the big college. "(55)

The juxtaposition of these scenes underscores the importance for understanding the process of
growth and maturation experienced by Francis. It potrays the values of his family as more
solid despite their poverty, than those of a people in a higher social position. It is a lesson of
relative value of social position. Emotionally the characters responce to this lesson is to
yearnfor comfort and generosity of his own motherHis mothers virtues are enhanced by being
contrasted to Mrs Chandles, a failed mother to her own children.

The eVents of Easter are also juxtaposed--the embarassing quarrel between the chandles,
Francis mother visiting him, and Mrs. Princet visit to her friend Mrs. Chandles highlight the
boy's gradual development mentally. For exampe he realises that even someone like Mrs.
Chandles who on Holy Thursday seemed evil in her violence towards her son and her
neglecting the boy's needs can be reborn, can be ressurected as a person of kindness when in
company of her good friend Mrs. Princet. He concludes that " this was an Easter day beautiful
in itself and beautiful because of strange kindness of Mrs. Chandles" (64)He returns to his
work that evening "with a joy so new and different that it looked as though the cyder had gone
to his head. "(65)Her rebirth in Francis' own eyes as a woman capable of thoughtfulness and
humanity is particularly noteworthy during his mothers impromptu visit. The mother is
received as an equal and teated with kindheartedness and consideration of Mrs Chandles
behaviour that is balancing what Francis had observed just days before:

''I watched their greeting and embrace and i was very touched. I was overjoyed that Mrs.
Chandles shoulld recieve Ma so warmly. Apart from the way she had welcomed Mrs. Princet
here, I had never seen her make so much of anyone"(72)

The rebirth of Mrs. Chandles coincides with the last of cane fires and the preparatin of land for
he new crop. This provides a way to measure Francis experince in San Fernando. He had
witnessed a whole cycle pof planting. "I had seen the planting at the beggining of the yearand
then what looked like endless green fields and lately the fires every night. And with the fires,
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the chimneys of the Usine Ste Madeleine had sttarted puffing smoke. For they were grinding
the cane.

Francis mother visiting him in San Fernando leaves him feeling reassuared of her love. "Stay
and take in educatin boy" had been her parting words. This reassurance help the boy to face
the world around him in with some openness of mind. For example he reaches concluusion
about the relationship between Julia and Mr. Chandles wit h clear undrstanding of Julia's
vulnnerability and the risks of her situation. ". . . . he could hurt her badly and send her away. "
He explains that ". . . he couldn't stand her being hurt. (87)

The spirit of familiarity and closeness that develops between Francis and Mrs. Chandles
during the rainy season when the two of them are Semistranded in the house precedes Mrs.
Chandles physical decay, Mr. Chandles anticipated marriage and the resolution of conflict
over the house. Ironically this period of calm before the storm is the period of intense
rainstorms that turn the streets of San Fernando into streams.

These companionable days of chocolate, tea, and fry-bakes moves Francis to conclude that
that the rains since it had "isolated them from everything had been making relatives of them.
"(99) He begins noticing of her increased thinness her lack of tolerance for changes in weather
and concluding that "maybe she was falling away"(100) a metaphor used here for her
following the path towards death.

CONCLUSION

The Year in San Fernando is a novel about change and growth over a one year period. This is
seen as both universal and specific. Against a background of change and growth in nature (the
seasonal cycles and their effect on agriculture) Michael Anthony traces the physical and
psychological development of the twelve-year-old Francis as he enters into early adolescence.
There are clear indications throughout the narrative of increasing maturity of both body and
mind although Francis cannot be said to have achieved a stable adolescent self by the end of
the novel.

The exposure to the "more complicated" life of San Fernando, however, has left him with a
greater awareness of the puzzle that is life itself, and the compassion that grows in him shows
a deepening understanding of the human condition. Anthony's use of a firstperson narrator,
and this being Francis himself, makes for a point-of-view that is in some ways limited.
Nonetheless, the question of reliability can be misleading, because the surface action is not the
major concern of the novel. The value of the novel lies deeper, in its success at conveying the
evolving state of Francis's mind, his movement toward maturity, as he tries to make sense of
experience.

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WORK CITED

Michael Anthony, The Year in San Fernando (London: Andre Deutsch, 1965).

Kenneth Ramchand, The West Indian Novel and Its Background (London: Faber and Faber,
1970)