CHARACTER

Benjy

Benjy’s mom

Benjy’s father

The good-looking man

SETTING

The story takes place in the small town of Springville in rural Jamaica. The family is from an even smaller town called One-Eye, located in the mountains of Springville.

SUMMARY

          The third-person narrator tells of Benjy and his need to taste ice cream for the first time. The writer explores the desire that Benjy holds for ice cream. He had never had ice cream before and the description that he gets from his sister is fascinating. At the Harvest Festival Sale, Benjy only focuses on ice cream. This is important as it shows the innocence of the child, and that the child has no real understanding of the value of money. One realizes that child has never had the need for money before because of his social standing but he is cognizant that his father must pay for the ice cream. Both Benjy and his mother appeared to be under the control of the father.

          The father does not appear to be opened to change but the mother is open to changes. The father keeps his beliefs grounded in his concept of what life should be. In essence, Benjy’s father refuses to go to church and only leaves One Eye to go to the Harvest Festival Sale suggests that he lives his life based on strict rules. This contrasts with the way that Benjy’s mother feels about life. One must note that the differences in the way that the mother and father see life offers conflict that may have been triggered by issues regarding Benjy’s real father. There is a doubt about Benjy’s paternity and while there is no evidence to support these doubts, the readers realize that the suspicions continue to nag Benjy’s father. At the end of the story, one realizes that when Benjy’s father catches Benjy’s mother talking to the good-looking man in the purple shirt, his jealousy controls his actions. This also shows that he does not trust Benjy’s mother.

CONFLICT

Man versus man

          Benjy’s father is jealous of the man in the purple shirt. He becomes enraged and the reader realizes that there will be a confrontation between the father and the mother.

Man versus self

1. Benjy’s father battles with the thoughts that Benjy is not his child. He believes that Benjy’s mother had a previous affair and that this affair resulted in Benjy.
2. Benjy struggles with the need to have ice cream and the fact that he does not get a chance to taste the ice cream because of his father’s jealousy.

THEMES

Desire,

Jealousy,

Insecurity,

Innocence,

Control,

Change,

Conflict and

Coming of age.

SYMBOLISM

Ice cream

Symbolizes Benjy’s desire to find happiness and loss. This happiness comes in the form of the way that Elsa describes it, and he experiences loss because Benjy loses his ice cream because of his father’s jealousy.

Religion

          The mention of three religious faiths suggests that religion is important to those who reside in Springville. The reader knows that Benjy’s mother goes to church every Sunday.

The good-looking man

The man is symbolic because he triggers the jealousy and insecurity in Benjy’s father. These emotions of the father put a damper on the excitement that Benjy feels about going to the Harvest Festival Sale.

RESOLUTION

The story ends with Benjy coming of age. He faces the reality that his ice cream falls to the ground and that he has lost out on the opportunity to taste ice cream. The rage in Benjy’s father leaves the readers to conclude that there will be an argument between the adults about the man in the purple shirt. Benjy is left to deal with his emotional turmoil.