Character Analysis In Roald Dahl's Man From The South

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Analysis of Man from the South by Roald Dahl Understanding literature Setting: Where and when does the story take place? The setting of this story takes place in Jamaica. The story first starts by a swimming pool in front of a hotel at six o’clock in the evening. Because of the bet, the place later moves to a hotel room. The year is not specified but it could be during the Second World War or The Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States because the boys are cadets from the U.S. naval training vessel (marine). Characters: Who are the main characters and what do we get to know about them? The narrator: He is in the story and the whole story is told from his point of view. We do not get to know much about him since he does not introduce …show more content…

An American cadet and an English girl also join them. The American boy offers all of the others a cigarette. The narrator, the “I” person, takes one but the girl and Carlos decline. Carlos says that the lighter the American boy has will not light in the wind but the American boy brags that the lighter never fails to light up. Carlos then suggest that they bet on it. If the American manages to light his lighter ten times consecutively without missing once, he will win Carlos’ Cadillac, but if he loses he has to give Carlos his little finger from his left hand. The American boy is disturbed but eventually agrees. They go the Carlos’ hotel room and he arranges for the bet after getting the equipment. He hammers two nails into the top of the table, about six inches apart. Carlos the ties the American boy’s hand between the nails so he can chop off his little finger as soon as the lighter fails to light. The lighter is light eight times before a woman comes in takes Carlos away while scolding him. Then she explains that Carlos has done bets like this before, and has taken forty-seven finger and lost eleven cars. She reveals that Carlos has nothing to bet and that the Cadillac is hers. She has done bets with him and taken everything he has and we get to see that her hand only has one finger and a

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