Tanti Merle at the Oval

Throughout the piece Tanti at the Oval written by Paul Keens Douglas I would be discussing the use of the Creole language and why Creole is a language, Tanti Merle as an individual and the significance of cricket to Caribbean.

Paul Keens Douglas use of the Creole language (Trinidad) and different intonations created a vivid image of his Caribbean life and his experience taking Tanti Merle to the Oval. This language is commonly used for telling anecdotes and gave the story humour because he used different techniques of the language such as repetition for emphasis, “I vex, vex, vex” here he expresses his dismay. He also intelligently used famous Trinidadian phrases such as “well who tell he tuh say dat” meaning ‘you should have not said that’ and “she take over de backseat like de Queen of Sheba” meaning ‘she sat as if she owned the car’ depict how humorous the event was.

However, some might contradict this idea of Creole being a language and is only used by the lower class and for comedic purposes because of their limitation to what a language is. “A language is a system of rules (grammar) used for communication that maybe specific to a particular community.” according to Rochford, Edlin: Communication Studies, New York: Bloomington, iUniverse, Inc, 2008, Print. Hence in my opinion Creole is language which can be heard in his monologue as addresses an audience whom seem to understand the message.

In the monologue Tanti Merle is a woman who cannot be controlled. She is also rustic as described in her antics before, during and after her visit to the Oval. Since this was her first time at the Oval, she wanted to be prepared hence her packing a basket with goodies and carried a parasol to shade from the sun as most Caribbean older women do. She is also a proud woman of her country and at any and every opportunity that passes her she lets them know. She doesn’t tolerate nonsense as was heard in the line “Tanti get vex, she say the crowd too hypocrite, is how they...