Chapter 15 Summary

The story of Edward, Hat's brother, is told in Chapter 15. Edward was an artist who often decorated his friends' clothes. But he was also interested in making money, particularly working for Americans stationed there. Edward said they paid well. He quickly took to imitating American culture, acting more like them, talking more like them, dressing like them, and so on. He increasingly spent less time with his friends and family on Miguel Street. One day he told Hat that he had gotten an American girl pregnant. She moved in with him but was very sickly and pale. It turned out that she was not pregnant and was suicidal. Edward became miserable despite getting so close to the Americans. Eventually his wife left him for an American man, which made Edward very sad. He had tried to be American but felt rejected by them. So Edward left Trinidad. The last the author heard of him, he had gotten an American woman pregnant.