The Samaritan Setbook Summary
Act1 Scene 1-
The Failed Award The setting is at Sagrada secondary school hall at around 10.00 am. This school is on a hill in Maracas municipality. The teachers and students are seated and Mr. Carmona, the school deputy principal walks in and goes straight to the podium. There is a silence. He greets everyone and the students respond in chorus. He informs them that the Samaritan, the winning innovation in the year’s secondary schools’ national innovation competition, will be officially launched in the municipality.
The event will be presided over by his worship Hon. Mossi, The Mayor. The Mayor, few distinguished municipal leaders and members of the local school board have arrived in school and will shortly come into the hall. The students were to remain standing and quiet until the guests are lead into the hall by the principal.
Once the guests are seated, Mr. Carmona tells the students to sit. Shortly, The Mayor walks in alongside the principal of the school, Ms. Narine, they are followed by the deputy Mayor, Hon. Ramdaye: the municipality political opposition leader, Hon. Basdeo: the chief executive officer, Maracas municipality, Mr. Harvester and then the members of the local school board.
Two journalists shortly enter the hall fully armed with their paraphernalia. The deputy principal asks the students to take their seats. He then invites the school principal to welcome the guests and lead them through the rest of the Programme. The principal welcomes the guests to the ceremony in which they officially are to launch the Samaritan and present a prize to Alvita and Montano, students at Sagrada secondary school who created the winning innovation. The principal invites Nicole, the ethics and innovation teacher to introduce the innovation.
Alvita and Montano take us in the future, fifty years to come. They make us understand what is happening now and they exaggerate what will happen in fifty years to come. We are exposed to climate change, use of technology and they further tell us about their innovation of The Samaritan. The Mayor rises to his feet, wears his hat, picks his walking stick and walks center stage. He says that they will neither launch the innovation nor present the prize on this day, because they need time to reflect on the implications.
He sends away the teachers and students so that they can discuss with the principal and teacher Nicole the way forward of the innovation. He then tells them that they will not precede the Samaritan as it may turn out to be a platform for misinformation, lies and witch-hunt. Montano tells Alvita that their country has been producing graduates every year that the jobs it is able to create (P. 5).
Language use and Stylistic Devices
1. Imagery
a. Hyperbole/ Exaggeration/ Overstatement
Montano too tells Alvita what she sees in future, “the way your nose was running as though you had a drum of fluids in the middle of your head (P. 6).”
Montano tells Alvita “you had a fertile imagination (P. 8).”
Nicole tells the students “What an overheated imagination (P. 9).”
Mossi says, “I would especially be delighted if the medicine for regenerating my body cells was discovered today. That would enable me live for four hundred and twenty-two more years (P. 14 and 15).”
Mossi shares, “I accidentally swallowed a whole toothpick (P.16).”
Nicole’s movement is exaggerated with, “Her sharp footsteps can be heard reverberating in the corridor like castanets (P. 18)”.
b. Vivid description
The scene is introduced with an in-depth description of the setting. We are told Chairs and tables are arranged in three rows with two passageways, one on either side of the middle row (P. 1).” Narine is described as, “She is motherly ,tall plump lady in her late fifties (P. 3)”.
Nicole is portrayed as , “She is dressed in her trade mark style comprising flowery banarasi silk sari and a headscarf (P. 3)” The Samaritan guide book Further descriptions; “She is a young, tall, light skinned lady of medium build, a renowned beauty and an uncomprising moralist (P. 3).”
Mayor is a tall heavy man, called mossi (P. 2). Nicole is described as “She is spotting a wavy side pony-tail hairstyle and is smartly dressed in a black skirt and a white blouse (P. 3-4)”.
c. Personification
Montano tells Alvita, “Your nose was running (P. 6).” Montano informs Alvita, “You hard a fertile imagination (P. 8).”