Preface

The narrative “Gwendolyn’s Cry” features an elderly woman who suffered because of the

inadequate and poor quality health service that was on offer. The climax of the story occurs

when Ms. Gwendolyn got hit by a coaster bus in the urban area, and had to seek medical

attention.

The story was written to the effect that a lack of proper health coverage may not lead to a person

accessing the best health care available when seeking medical attention, These problems may

lead to delay in a person seeking treatment thus has the ability to develop into more chronic

conditions.

The writer hopes to target an audience comprising the elderly, with the lesson that delaying

medical treatment and taking it for granted may complicate an illness more, especially if the

issue is not treated properly. The reflective piece entitled “Gwendolyn’s Cry” will be presented

face to face with audiences at health fairs and different health centres and community centres so

as to captivate those who have experienced similar situations.

Title: Ms. Gwendolyn’s CryTheme: Health

Setting: Mocho, Rural Jamaica

In the deep rural village of Mocho, there lived an elderly lady Mrs. Gwendolyn Brown and her

two grandchildren-Romeo and Juliet, whose parents, had died in a bloodied, car accident a few

years ago. Resulting from this, Ms. Gwendolyn a widow of twenty-five (25) years, had to bear

the responsibility of being care giver, to the two children as they had no one to care for them.

The family lived in a small, one bed-room wooden structure, which was not conducive to living

as the zincs was pierced by streams of sunlight peering through when it was sunny and cold wet

drops of water when it rained. The family only means of survival was through Mrs. Gwendolyn’s

small plot, which was located at the back of the house, on which, she did a bit of subsistence

farming. Ms. Gwendolyn thought of other ways she could earn from her small plot, her neighbor

told her about available spaces in the market in the town.

Ms. Gwendolyn had diabetes and thought nothing serious of her illness and as result

made little effort to treat it,. One Saturday morning Ms. Gwendolyn left Mocho dressed in a torn

discolured dress, her head wrapped and a slippers which she made from straw, to go to the town

to buy a space in the market to sell. As she stepped off the Encava she was upstaged by the

ambiance and the structure of the urban buildings.She raised her eye brow in confusion because

she was not accustomed to the fancy roads in the urban area. She was used to foot tracks, trails

and dirt roads.She walked towards her destination, and then came to a halt, as she stood at the six

lane road; with one hand firmly resting on her waist and the other waving at passing vehicles

frantically, she yelled,

“Driva! Stop mek mi cross!”

The drivers blew their horns in disgust of her blatant nuisance. She thought she saw an

opportunity where she could cross, estimating that a particular vehicle was far away from her, as

she skipped to the other lane in the road she saw a coaster bus blazing full speed ahead blasting

loud music, with flashing lights and roaring engine. She froze a washed with cold sweat

trembling when she realized she was in the direct path of the oncoming coaster and if she

stepped back she would be in the path of the vehicles in the other lane. She froze; eyes shut tight

hoping that the coaster bus would magically conjure up a sudden brake. Boom! A loud explosion

erupted as the bus thrusted her two feet in the air and 10 metres away from where she stood.

There was sudden appalled public roar as blood streamed through her nostrils, her face bruised

and battered, as people rushed to assist a helpless Ms. Gwnedolyn, lying on the ground. Another

motorist rushed her to the hospital to seek medical attention, as the driver of the coaster bus fled

the scene.

Whilst at the hospital, Ms. Gwendolyn continued to lose a lot of blood due to the unavailability

of adequate medical staff to tend to her injuries. In addition her injuries worsen due to her

diabetic condition and as a result her wounds became infected. After treatment and upon

regaining consciousness, Ms. Gwendolyn awoke to see a doctor tidy in the fanciest of clothing,

leather shoes and what appeared to be a very expensive watch, she was asked by the doctor,

‘How are your medical expenses going to be paid?’

He continued,

“Do you have insurance?”

“No sah”, she replied

“I am sorry Ms. Brown, sadly the medical treatment that would propose is far beyond what you

can afford, therefore, I am going to propose another medical solution which may not be as

effective, but is subsidized by the government”, said the doctor.

“Do whatever you can do for me doc”, pleaded Ms. Gwendolyn.

She received her treatment and returned home to Mocho. Days later she realized that the cut was

getting worse however, she was deterred from visiting the health centre in the village due to the

lack of medical staff and her inability to access the best health care. As a result she took it for

granted and applied home remedy treatment for the cut. Realizing that this treatment wasn’t

helping the cause she decide to visit the health centre, where she was lucky in being selected by a

visiting overseas social outreach group, who selected her as one of the persons for whom they

will make a commitment to undertake the medical bill. Ms. Gwendolyn was so overjoyed she

started shouting, went down on her knees and thanked the outreach group for their kind gesture.

“thank yu, mi thank all a ounnu, ounnu is God bless, may the lord continue to bless ounnu!” she

beamed at the group.

Language Analysis

The reflective piece, Gwendolyn’s Cry, talks about the challenges an elderly woman experiences

in the wake of her illness. These challenges made her unwilling to visit the village’s health

centre.

The writer uses a combination of registers and communicative behaviors. The writer employs

registers such as formal, as evidenced by the manner in which the doctor spoke to Ms.

Gwendolyn during the dialogue with the doctor. An example of this was the doctor’s grasp of

the English language owing to his educated background, for example when he said, “I am sorry

Ms. Brown, the medical treatment that I would propose is far beyond what you can afford,

therefore, I am going to propose another medical solution which may not be as effective, but is

subsidized by the government”, this in contrast to the manner in which Ms. Gwendolyn spoke

during her visit to the health centre. Consulative register was also employed during the

conversation between Ms. Gwendolyn and the doctor, where response was simultaneous for the

duration of the dialogue between the two, upon Ms. Gwendolyn’s visit to the health centre.

Examples of communicative behaviours used in the piece are vocalics; where the doctor’s tone

was one of sadness, owing to the situation surrounding Ms. Gwendolyn’s condition. ““I am sorry

Ms. Brown, sadly the medical treatment that I would propose is far beyond what you can

afford…” the doctor stated. Another example of communicative behavior used in the piece

“Gwendolyn’s Cry” was artifact. An example of this emerged when, Ms. Gwendolyn wore a

discolured dress with her head wrapped and her slippers which she handmade from straw

suggesting that she was from a poor economic back ground. Also the Doctor’s attire being tidy,

in the fanciest of clothing, leather shoes and what appeared to be a very expensive watch

suggesting that he could afford such.In addition to that movement and gestures was used. An

example of movement was Ms. Gwendolyn’s facial expression on her arrival to the urban area

when she raised her eye brow in confusion because she was not accustomed to the fancy roads in

the urban area. An example of gesture was when she stood with one hand firmly resting on her

waist and the other waving at passing vehicles frantically. This showed her impatience to cross

the road.

Conclusion

In concluding, it is evident that the writer has achieved the purpose of bringing across the effect

of the problems limited/deplorable health care assistance may have on impeding a person’s

ability to seek professional medical help, when confronting chronic or potentially grave illnesses.

He has also used dialectal variations such as registers and communicative behaviours effectively.

The story vividly depicts the aggravation of seemingly small illnesses, which deficiencies in the

health care system may cause to get worse.