A Brighter Sun

A Brighter Sun is a novel by Trinidadian author Samuel Selvon, published in 1952.

Set in World War II-era Trinidad, the story centers on a young Indian native named Tiger, who is placed in an arranged marriage at age 16. Leaving home with his equally-young bride Urmilla, Tiger struggles to come to terms with his newly-acquired adult status and proving that he has, in fact, reached true manhood.

The story also delves into the lives of Tiger's multi-ethnic neighbors in his new community of Barataria, the Fantastic Racism that is both subtly and openly expressed there and throughout Trinidad at large, and how the nation as a whole is affected by the war happening hundreds of miles away from the Caribbean shores.

The book was Selvon's first of 10 novels, published by Longman Publishers.


 * Abusive Parents: Joe Martin's grand-aunt, Ma Lambie, frequently beat him during his childhood.
 * The Alcoholic: Sookdeo is the village drunkard, and can never go without a drink; some persons claim that he'll die from either too much rum or lack of it..
 * Author Avatar: Tiger is noted in the novel's commentary to be Selvon's point-man on the unification of a racially-split Trinidad. Selvon himself, though Indian, was brought up with exposure to Creole food and culture.
 * Calling the Old Man Out: Near the end of the novel, Tiger does this to two doctors (one an Indian, one a Negro) who had earlier refused to come and see Urmilla in her moment of illness because of their assumptions born of Fantastic Racism.
 * Character Development: Tiger gets this over time.
 * Coming of Age Story
 * Cool Big Sis: Rita becomes this for Urmilla.
 * Cool Old Guy: Sookdeo.
 * Does Not Like Shoes: Urmilla, but only because she's not used to wearing shoes to begin with, due to her Indian background.
 * Fantastic Racism: All over the place, but especially expressed by Indians and Blacks against each other.
 * Good People Have Good Sex
 * Happily Married: Tall Boy and Mary. Tiger and Urmilla gradually work at becoming this.
 * Ill Girl: Urmilla, during the last third of the book. She gets better.
 * Jerkass: Numerous characters, but Deen and his wife stand out in particular. Tiger gradually becomes this as well; however, he gets much-needed Character Development.
 * Parental Abandonment: Joe's mother left him with his grand-aunt Ma Lambie, and nobody ever knew who his father was. Also, Henry's mother left him with Joe and Rita (his uncle and aunt) to live with a boyfriend in Venezuela, and his father is out of the picture as well.
 * My God, What Have I Done?: Tiger feels intense remorse, but it only comes after he's sobered up and gotten a What the Hell, Hero? from Joe.
 * No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: In Joe's backstory, at age 16, he gives one to Ma Lambie in retaliation for her constant abuse of him..
 * Obfuscating Stupidity: Sookdeo.
 * Rule of Symbolism: The sun as a figure of hope; hence, the novel's title. Also, sugar-cane fields as a figure of enslavement.
 * Shrinking Violet: Urmilla.
 * Supreme Chef: Both Rita and Urmilla.
 * Vitriolic Best Buds: Tiger and Rita.
 * What the Hell, Hero?: In what is possibly her Crowning Moment of Awesome, Rita gives Tiger a savage telling-off when he expresses suspicion of Urmilla cheating on him (and the lecture takes up a whole long paragraph). Later on, Joe subjects Tiger to a much shorter but more threatening lecture for ignoring Urmilla in her time of illness.
 * Who Names Their Kid "Dude"?: Tiger's boss remarks on how odd his name is.