Desperation in Brother Man

In the novel ,Brother Man, desperation is a theme exibited by several characters, such as Cordelia and Papacita.

Papacita longed for Minette to be his. So in order to attract her attention he devised a plan which included Cordelia planting counterfeit money in Bra'man's house to frame him, then Papacita would go down to the jail and bail him out. This can be seen as a desperate attempt to woo Minette by making her think that Papacita was a kind generous man.

Cordelia displayed many instances of desperation. Cordelia's character is introduced to the readers as a frustrated and confused woman. After her man was sent to prison for possession of ganga she became paranoid that everyone close to her would eventually abandon her. To prevent this she employed various desperate tactics. To prevent her sister, Jesmina, from moving out she locked her into her own room. Also, to prevent her son from dying she paid Bra'Ambo, an obeah man, to heal him. This shows that she became so desperate that she lost her faith in God.

In the end Cordelia is so desperate for peace of mind that she suffocates her son then hangs herself. Desperation can therefore be seen to be a powerful motivating factor to do things you normally wouldn't in order to achieve a goal.