Longing, pages 11-21 Summary

This story follows the early school days of the author and narrator, Patrick Chamoiseau, when he was a little boy living in Fort-de-France on Martinique. The little boy longs for school, but when he eventually gets there he finds that it is not at all what he expected. The teachers are determined to stamp out every last hint of Creole culture and language found in the children, and to mould them in the ways of the "more civilized" France and Europe. The little boy encounters racism, bullying and unfairness, as well as the constant conflict between everything that is Creole and everything that is French in his life. The narrator shows how these conflicting but inextricable influences helped shape who he is today.

The narrator is a very young boy still, and watches with envy as his older siblings...