No Great Mischief- Allistair Mcleod

838 Words4 Pages
Cultural Realities And Social-Economics Of Cape Breton Shown In “No Great Mischief” by Alistair MacLeod Cape Breton is a welcoming place filled with warmth happiness and people who just want to dance, laugh and have fun. Unfortunately, these activities hardly cover up the lack of education, alcoholism, and families deep under the poverty line. The cultural realities and social-(SOCIOECONOMICS) economics of Cape Breton are reflected through the character, plot and setting of the novel “No Great Mischief” by Alistair MacLeod. They are very prominent in some areas and for the most part hit very close to home for many Canadians (REMOVE: affected by them). The idea of a place so rich with family, and culture that could also be home to some of the poorest people is almost unbearable. Yet somehow, through the characters of Callum Ruadh, and his Grandpa and Grandma we see both ends of the spectrum. The grandparents, even through the loss of their son and daughter-in-law remain in Cape Breton. They stay because of their ties to the town and the relationship with the patrons. They are happily married. They have their differences but that takes nothing away from their happiness. They are not overly impoverished, they are still able to enjoy simple pleasures like alcohol (THEY ARE not alcoholics though), and shopping. On the other end is Callum Ruadh, one of their grandsons(, WHO HAS liveD) in a bad situation his entire life. After the death of (REMOVE: t) his parents and one of his brothers trie(D)s to stay in Cape Breton. He lives most of his life with two of his brothers. They are all uneducated(REMOVE: ,) alcoholics. He ends up as a miner, (THIS JOB IS NORMALLY RESERVED FOR .... a miner is a job normally reserved for undereducated foreigners). When Callum gets there he gets in a fight with a person of a culture different than his own. Callum kills him. He is then faced
Open Document