Triumph

     "Triumph" by C. L. R. James is quite a short story. It tells the story of a group of women that live in Trinidad and Tobago. It highlights the poverty that ravages the Caribbean nation, and how it affects everyday life. The culture and daily life is starting to fade with the peoples' hopes of better life quality. However, James tries to argue that if you are optimistic, life can be joyful like the times of Carnival. The story focuses on the relationship between Irene, Celestine, and Mamitz. They all live in the barrack-yards which is where the lower people of their cultural hierarchy live. But even here, the social class structure is highlighted within their class, dividing their class into subclasses. 

    I believe that this was almost a common practice for the Caribbean islands as a result of their previous colonization. The colonizing nations brought in their idea of social hierarchy along with their control of each conquered nation. The various social classes are illustrated when Celestine says, "It's the wo'se when you meddle with them common low-island people". Even though she is low within the country's hierarchy, there are people worse off than her, and it is seen as wrong to mix with those outside of her class. It was a time where self perception was crucial, and ideas from the past still had a stranglehold on the countries after the colonizers had left.