The Dragon Can't Dance - Plot Summary

Plot Summary

Prologue

The main stage for the development of the plot, Calvary Hill, is introduced through a series of descriptive elements that portray it as being something close to a slum, favela, or barrio. The mood of the hill is described through the lifestyle of Aldrick Prospect, the novel's main character: " would get up at midday from sleep, yawn, stretch, then start to think of where he might get something to eat, his brain working in the same smooth unhurried nonchalance with which he moved his feet". Carnival is set as the central theme of the novel and is portrayed as the only phenomenon that is able to bring the hill to life and corrupt everyday life in Trinidad. The power and soul of Carnival, however, lies in calypso, the songs that "announce the new rhythms of the people, rhythms that climb over the red dirt and stone, break away rhythms that laugh through the bones of these enduring people".

1. Queen of the Band

The first chapter follows a conversation between Miss Olive and Miss Caroline and their criticisms of Miss Cleothlida, a proud mulatto widow who owns a parlor store but runs it as "if she were doing a favour to the Hill, rather than carrying on a business from which she intend to profit" (18). Miss Cleothilda has chosen her costume for this year's Carnival and it comes as no surprise when she reveals that like every year, she will be playing Queen of the Band. Miss Cleothlida's arrogance stems from her preserved beauty and her ability to continue to attract men at her age. Philo, a calypsonian man, has been chasing after her for 17 years without success, but with continuous temptation. The neighbors note that Miss Cleothilda only treats people well during Carnival because of the natural ambiance of the Hill and so she can defend her insults throughout the year. As soon as Carnival is over, she will continue to look down upon the people who are blacker than her and the Hill will return to its slumber.

2. The Princess

At 17 years of age, Sylvia is the most desired woman on the hill. The novel moves back in time to reveal how she has constantly been a symbol of temptation and sexuality. When Miss Olive fails to come up with money to pay the rent, Sylvia is asked to go up to Mr. Guy's house and perform sexual favors. However, as hard as many men have tried, Sylvia has outsmarted all of them and has managed to retain her virginity. The men on the Hill are aware that this year Sylvia does not have a man or a costume for Carnival. Mr. Guy is quick to promise her any costume she desires in an effort to become her man, however, his attempt is interrupted by Miss Cleothilda, who is aware of the situation and purposely intrudes by offering Sylvia one of her old dresses. That night, Sylvia creeps out of her house in the middle of the night. Aldrick is able to observe her silhouette in the dark from his window, but hesitates to approach her as he believes that she is the most dangerous women on the hill because she has the ability to "capture him in passion but to enslave him in caring, to bring into his world those ideas of love and home and children that he spent his whole life avoiding" (31). Nonetheless, their first verbal exchange is full of desire and temptation as she questions him about love and reveals that Mr. Guy will be the one buying her a costume that year. While the conversation drags on regarding costumes for Carnival, the real meaning and significance is of Sylvia and Aldrick revealing an attraction for one another

3. The Dragon

Aldrick is in his small room working on his dragon costume, which he recreates every year for Carnival. While at work, thoughts of Sylvia keep coming to his head, when all of a sudden she appears at his doorstep. Her visit represents an invitation for him to take her as his woman, however, Aldrick nervously refuses to acknowledge her and instead continues working on his costume. The impasse is broken by Philo's arrival to the scene and his desire to touch Sylvia forces her to leave the scene. It is getting late and Aldrick forces Basil, a boy who always sits by him and helps him create his costume, to go home. When the boy refuses to leave, Aldrick learns that his stepfather, Fisheye, constantly abuses him at home. Aldrick's knowledge of Fisheye's violent reputation makes him hesitant to intervene, but the boy's refusal to leave forces him to walk him home and confront Fisheye.

4. The Bad John

The novel jumps back in time to reveal Fisheye's violent family history, describing them as "tall strong men who could handle their fists, and were good, each one of them, with a stick, since their father, before he became a preacher, was a champion stickfighter who had himself schooled each one of them in the art of stickfighting". Fisheye's family injected so much fear into society that no one dared to call them anything more derogatory than John. Through Fisheye's character, we see the introduction of musical bands, whose behavior emulates street gangs. Fisheye becomes the center of the Calvary Hill steelband, and as their leader, he attempts to unite several bands so that instead of fighting one another, they can unite and "fight the people who are keeping down black people…the government". While Fisheye is able to get the bands to sign peace, it never produces what he had envisioned, as this only ends the nature of violence between them without joining them in movement and opposition against the government. The spirit of peace is short-lived as Fisheye's warrior spirit emerges once the white bands come into the streets and Carnival begins to become commercialized. At the beginning, Fisheye does not mind that some of the "light-skinned" bands become sponsored, however, once the Desperadoes and Calvary Hill consider the option, he begins to fight again in an effort to drive away possible sponsors. Fisheye learns that senior members of the Calvary Hill band are considering his expulsion, and while he waits for them to approach him, the novel jumps back to the point when we see Aldrick coming to deliver Basil home. Aldrick knows that Fisheye is not in the mood for joking, but he addresses the issue with humor and avoids an altercation. On his way back home, Aldrick's mind is occupied with Silvia, when he is approached by Pariag, the Indian outcast living on the hill.

5. The Spectator

Even after two years living on the Hill, Pariag, is still seen as an outsider. Pariag migrates to the city with his wife Dolly from the New Lands in an effort to break away from the country lifestyle and become part of something bigger. The novel jumps back in time once again, this time to reveal the entrepreneurial spirit of the Indian outcast. Pariag's first job in the city involves buying empty bottles and re-selling them to Rum companies. Initially, he enjoys the task because he is able to talk to people and demonstrate that he is more than just a simple Indian boy. After realizing that this job brings him no meaningful social interactions, he ventures into selling roasted peanuts and boiled and fried chenna at the race track on Saturdays and at football games on Sundays. In an effort to become noticed by others on the Hill, Pariag buys a bicycle a week before Carnival, a very exciting time for people on the Hill. Pariag's new acquisition gets him the name "Crazy Indian" and makes people in the neighborhood nervous about his ambitions.

6. A Call to the Dragon

The buzz of Carnival and Pariag's new acquisition have the people on the Hill gossiping. Miss Cleothilda approaches Aldrick and expresses her concerns regarding Pariag's bike, signaling that his ambitions would soon lead him into buying a parlor. Mr. Guy also approaches Aldrick with the excuse of Pariag's bike, but his real intentions are to collect the month's rent. By the time Philo approaches Aldrick, Aldrick is fed up with the gossip about the Indian and the bike, however, Philo simply invites Aldrick for a drink so that he can listen to the new calypso he will be singing that year, "The Axe Man". The following morning, hung-over from a night of drinking with Philo, Aldrick notices Pariag at his door asking him to paint a sign on a box for him: "Boya for Indian Delicacies, Barra, and Doubles!!!" Aware of the conflict that will soon arise on the Hill and wanting to remain neutral, Aldrick dismisses him with the excuse of being tired and asks him to come back later.

7. Norman "Tex" at the Carnival Fete

It is Saturday night of Carnival and the music is flowing in the air. Norman "Tex" has been playing the saxophone all night with great intensity, and Philo is enjoying a night of popularity thanks to "The Axe Man". Aldrick manages to temporarily forget about Sylvia amidst the smoke, rum, and ambience of the night. However, when morning hits and he finds himself out in the Yard with a girl named Inez, the thought of Sylvia's costume returns to hunt him. None the less, he chooses to bring Inez home and make love to her until morning.

8. To Be Dragon and Man

It is Carnival on Monday morning and the Hill begins to ready itself for a big day. Aldrick follows a yearly ritual of putting on his costume and entering a new mental state with a dragon mask that gives him a mission of upholding an unending rebellion. However, this year he feels as if he is the last symbol of rebellion and threat in Port-of-Spain. Fisheye is under orders to not misbehave and Philo has stopped singing calypsos of rebellion, which forces Aldrick to question if he still believes in the dragon anymore. Yet, as soon as he steps outside, Carnival hits him and he suddenly feels tall and proud: "No, this ain't no joke. This is warriors going to battle. This is the guts of the people, their blood" (123). Aldrick becomes the dragon of Port of Spain for two full days. He feels joy when he sees terror in people's faces after gazing at him: "he liked it when they saw him coming and gathering up their children and ran". On his way home, Aldrick stumbles upon the Calvary Hill band that refuses to end Carnival and wants to continue dancing. Aldrick slowly works his way to the front of the band towards Sylvia, who has been dancing wildly to the rhythm of the steelband. After observing her for a while, he reaches out to touch her but she spins out reach and, facing him, delivers a vocal blow: "No mister! I have my man!" (128) Suddenly, Guy appears behind her and caresses her towards him, leaving Aldrick frozen in the moment, dwelling in pain as Sylvia dances away with another man.

9. Ash Wednesday

Aldrick awakes on Ash Wednesday and emerges from his room to look out at the yard with Carnival still swimming in his mind. He inhales deeply and the stench of poverty hits his nostrils for the first time in his life. He looks over all of the "pathetic and ridiculous looking shacks planted in this brown dirt and stone, this was his home". With Sylvia's rejection still fresh in his mind, he says, "I have to learn to feel." This marks his acceptance of Calvary Hill as his home, and his life. Meanwhile, Miss Cleothilda recognized, for the first time, a change in the yard that threatens her position of queen: a combination of Philo's newfound success, her inability to convince Aldrick to do something about Pariag's continued presence, and most of all, Sylvia's new man, Guy. Guy could "keep her in style",(135) and if she became ambitious, could become the new "queen". As a result of all this, Miss Cleothilda begins to use Miss Olive as a way to create a friendship with Sylvia so that she could mold her as she saw fit into the new "queen" of the yard. Her relationship with Philo causes a stir in the yard and people begin to question whether or not it is intimate. If so, it brings a more human side, a weakness, in Miss Cleothilda. A shyness comes over Aldrick and he begins to feel he is not the dragon he once was, and pines for Sylvia. One morning, the yard wakes to Pariag screaming over his mutilated bicycle.

10. Friends and Family

Pariag marches his bicycle down Alice street in a funeral procession-like manner, while Fisheye, Aldrick and some other youth from around Calvary Hill watch closely from the corner. The close attention he receives marks one of the first instances where he appears "alive" to others, connecting with them in a humane way. In the days after the bicycle accident, Pariag thinks deeply of his existence and purpose in his life, and because he steps back to view himself, it brings him closer to his wife, Dolly. They decide one night after seeing an Indian film in San Juan to visit their family up in the country on their day off. While there, the family's hospitality mimicked that of a host treating a guest, and they felt instantly like outsiders on the farm. But to his nieces and nephew's he represented a wider world, of something more than their village existence. His wealthy uncle calls for him and criticizes his decision to move to Port of Spain: "Is so you want to live, among Creole people, like cat and dog, and forget your family. You have family boy. Next thing you know, you leave your wife – who you didn't bring to see me." Pariag returns home that night to Calvary Hill feeling that his mind is made up on where he was going to be in life, and his finality makes him feel at peace.

11. The New Yard

By August, many things, such as relationships, have changed around the yard. Miss Cleothilda has decided she is to be "queen" once more, but with a more gentile superiority complex. Philo had made it inside her home weeks earlier and is now her man. Sylvia is her protégée. Miss Cleothilda becomes giving and inquisitive around the yard and shows off the belief that "all o' we is one" when Dolly becomes pregnant and she leads her baby shower. Miss Olive and Miss Caroline also accept her on a more human level because she is with a lower caste black man despite her mulattoness. For them, the relationship unites her more closely with the people of Calvary Hill. Meanwhile, Aldrick sits in his doorway, thoughtful. He has become a quiet man and has little interest in, yet again, being the dragon of carnival. He feels like he has outgrown this costume and role.

12. Outcasts

Aldrick, Fisheye and a few other young men have begun assembling at the corner more and more, not in the same company, but occupying the same space. They are men who no longer partake in carnival, especially since Johnson and Fullers began sponsoring their steelband. For them, the true renegade spirit of masking as timeless warriors of generations past has been overrun by modern forces such as business and tourism. One day, Aldrick calls out to a passing Sylvia telling her that it's her life and she doesn't have to spite him. He warns her of her choices early on and how they carry residual consequences for the outcome of her life. Of course, he is referencing her relationships with Miss Cleothilda and Guy. Philo comes by later and takes Aldrick out for a drink. Philo is hell-bent on proving that his recent success in calypso music hasn't changed him, that he is still an integral part of the hill. Fisheye does not like Philo hanging around and confronts Aldrick about their friendship. One day at the corner, Philo drops by with a bottle and two girls to say hello and have a couple drinks. Fisheye says to Philo: "Philo, you ain't have no friend here. You is a big shot." Philo looks at Aldrick, who tells him to go. When Philo offers the bottle, Fisheye throws it to the ground and hits one of his girls. "Is war, Philo." Philo, in retaliation, makes a hit calypso that is played all over the island about the hooligans in Port of Spain. Meanwhile, everyone is gearing up for carnival and Aldrick just looks on from his spot at the corner, feeling odd. He dreams of dragons every night but never starts working on his costume. While police begin to crack down on public loitering, Fisheye plots an attack against the police.

13. The Dragon Dance

Fisheye comes to the corner one day with a pistol and tells the eight of them there that they are not to part when the police come around to kick loiterers off the street. His plan is that two of them will begin fighting when the police come, and when they get out to break it up, "they will see". When the police come by and break up Crowley and Synco's brawl, they cuff the police at gun-point, put them in the back and speed off in the squad car. They go to Woodford Square, the political centre of Port of Spain, where speeches and rallies are always held. Over the megaphone they proclaim: "This is the People's Liberation Army." At one point Aldrick takes the microphone and says: "make no peace with slavery…make no peace with shanty towns, dog shit, piss. We have to rise up as people. People". Before this point, it had not been fully understood that Aldrick or any of these men, except for maybe Liberty Varlance, had any political motives behind their rebellious lifestyles. Crowds assemble to watch the chase, and it ensues for a couple of days, as the police figured they were not a threat to anyone's safety and they would eventually tire themselves out or run out of gas.

14. Prison Dance

Their defence attorney in court is a young man with passionate radical views and is very eloquent in his defence of the Calvary Hill nine (as papers had dubbed them). But in the end, it is not enough and they are all to serve sentences of a few years. Aldrick serves six years. While in prison they spend much of their time at the beginning sitting and discussing what they really expected from their stint in the police car, and in the end it seems it was all for show, a bluff, a dragon dance. After a while, during their prison sentence, they all drift apart and have no intention of continuing from where they left off once they get out of jail.

15. The Dragon Can't Dance

Aldrick returns to Calvary Hill after six years in prison and is greeted like a hero, yet he feels more like he is being received by a band of deserters that have long made peace with the enemy. He meets a new girl in a bar, named Molly, and she tells him of the two thousand people playing devil in the upcoming carnival. Aldrick gets temporarily excited that perhaps times haven't changed, until she says they are "Fancy devil, with silk and satin. Pretty Devil". He tells her of his time as dragon, a real dragon breathing fire and wearing long claws. The next day, he visits Sylvia for the first time in over six years and finds that she has matured. Sylvia recounts her confusion during the days he was in the police car, while Aldrick looks around her house and sees that Guy has provided her with many luxuries: a television, stereo, refrigerator, etc. Miss Cleothilda comes in and shakes his hand, she has aged considerably. She tells Aldrick about the degradation of the neighborhood, namely crime by young men whom she thinks were inspired by Fisheye's police jeep hijacking. Guy has become a city councilor and because of this news, Miss Cleothilda challenges Aldrick: "What you could give her?" Shortly after, he realizes that Sylvia will soon be getting married. When Aldrick leaves her home, he realizes that maybe Sylvia had her life in control from the beginning, and that it is not so much that she chose Guy as she resisted the impotence of dragons. And with this, Aldrick feels at peace with the chapter of his life where Sylvia might have become a part. He walks by Pariag's new store and is tempted to go in a talk to Pariag, but instead he walks on, disillusioned by his past and what the future holds.

16. The Shopkeeper

Pariag had seen Aldrick stop outside of his shop, and it troubles him greatly that he (Aldrick) did not come in to speak with him. After all these years, Pariag still has not established any sense of belonging in Calvary Hill, and as a result of his ongoing isolation has more or less concluded that he is done with Creole people. Even with a shop, Pariag still did not acquire any degree of superiority in relation to others around the neighborhood, saying "shop don't make a man". He wishes, for the sake of the hill, that life was better for everybody, and that there was more unity between peoples. He lies with Dolly and they discuss their life together, remembering their life back in the country and his first meeting with her when he said that she would have to accept living in Port of Spain.

17. The Calypsonian

Philo stands out on his verandah in Diego Martin, an affluent neighborhood of Trinidad, and looks out at the homes of people he thinks he has just figured out as being uniformly successful but also unfulfilled as human beings. From this revelation comes a new tune and he goes in to write it down, and there on his desk he finds the wedding invitation for Sylvia and Guy. As he thinks about Sylvia's position in the yard as the symbol of youth and hope, he remembers Aldrick's love for her, but also Guy's taste for young women and his ability to get what he wanted. Philo thinks to himself: "Marriage to Guy was a horse of different colors." He remembers a discussion about Sylvia and Guy that he had some time ago with Miss Cleothilda, and her undying faith in their life together. Cleothilda explains some of Sylvia's side love interests, one man whom identified strongly with Africa, another that spoke passionately about Cuba, Vietnam, China and Trinidad's potential for revolution. The youthful exuberance of these boys always enticed Sylvia greatly. Remembering the yard troubles Philo while he waits for one of his young girls to come by. He looks back on his youth, his family. She arrives and Philo decides to be forward with her and asks to fuck. Afterwards, he feels guilty for being so straight with her. Later that night, he decides to drive to Calvary Hill to see everybody. He is greeted warmly at a bar near the yard, and later decides to go and see Miss Cleothilda. She meets him at the door and tells him to come inside, that he knows where the bedroom is, but, even him forgetting that wouldn't surprise her very much "with the way the world is going".