Alex Tangalos' Sugar Cane Alley Response

One motif I noticed consistently was the role of superstition and legend in the lives of the black residents. For example, in the beginning, the children give Jose a charm and recite a chant in order to protect him from being beaten by his grandmother. Also, the old man Medouze recounts tales of Africa and of the slaves' journey, so that Jose does not forget his roots. When Medouze dies, even those that didn't particularly like him gather round to chant and sing for him, in order for his soul to travel back "to Africa," as Jose says. For Jose, the legends Medouze tells him have a much more significant impact than the superstition that is prevalent in Black Shack Alley, which may have something to do with his being relatively more educated than the rest in his neighborhood. It's also interesting to note that despite his going to school with white teachers, the superstitions don't disappear--they are just called legitimate religion, Christianity, even though the recitations of the children in church about God and Heaven and Hell have no more spiritual impact for them than the chants they recited at Medouze's funeral. 

These ideas about superstition and legend also play a role in Miguel Street. The narrator tells the stories of his neighbors as if they are all important figures to be remembered, rather than simple anecdotes about his childhood. Black Wordsworth, the Pyrotechnicist, The Mechanical Genius--all are given titles to be remembered by, as if they truly are larger-than-life legendary figures rather than simple poor residents of Trinidad and Tobago. In addition, all of these characters hold something dear to them--whether it be the ritual of systematically dismantling cars in the case of the Mechanical Genius or the all-important completion of the poem for B. Wordsworth. They hold these actions to high esteem, giving their superstitious beliefs almost religious importance, just as the residents of Sugar Cane Alley do their charms and chants and legends.