Short Story

Analysis
“The Boy Who Loved Ice
Cream” by Olive Senior
 Have you ever wanted something so badly it
was all you could think about?

How did you feel when you got it?

OR

How did you feel not to get it or to

have it taken away?
 “The Boy Who Loved Ice Cream” is a story
that explores this desire.

But first, let’s learn a little about the writer of this story, Olive
Senior.
 A Little About the Writer (Olive Senior)

Olive Senior, is a Jamaican poet, novelist and short story writer. She was born in 1941 on
December 23rd in a Village deep within Jamaica called Troy, in Trelawny. She was educated at
Montego Bay High School and then furthered her education by studying journalism in Cardiff,
Wales. After studying journalism in Wales, she went to Charlton University in Ottawa, while
also being a writer and editor in her free time. Olive Senior won
many awards throughout her writing career. Two of her
achievements are earning the “Medal of
Creative Writing” in 1979 and after that she was
awarded the Silver Musgrave Medal in 1988. Olive Senior is a
current icon in Jamaican literature and her work has influenced the
Caribbean in a massive way.
 “The Boy Who Loved Ice Cream” (Summary)

Benjy is young boy from a rural area of Jamaica, and his family are extremely poor. The most
important holiday to them is the Harvest Festival, and it was especially important to Benjy
because the festival is the only place where he can get ice cream, which Benjy is obsessed
over, and has never tasted. This festival is the perfect opportunity for Benjy to finally taste ice
cream. Benjy goes with his family and his father thinks his wife is cheating on him because
Benjy looks nothing like him. At the festival though Benjy is unable to enjoy himself because of
the ice cream constantly in the back of his head, and he is trying to figure out when it will be
coming. Benjy finally gets his ice cream but it was poor timing since Benjy’s father had found
the man he suspected his wife was cheating with and pulled Benjy along forcing him to drop
his ice cream, ending the story this with a completely disappointed Benjy.
 “The Boy Who Loved Ice Cream” (Setting)

The short story is set in Jamaica. The main character’s family live in a small rural
area located in the mountains of Springville, Jamaica, called One Eye. “Or if Papa
said to her, ‘Let us give up all this hard life and move to town where we will have
electric light and water out of a pipe and food out of a tin,’ “(Senior, 128) Senior
shows the exact economic status of the family as they don’t have electricity
therefore the readers understand their living situation. In the short story the Two
Grandmothers the setting was also in Jamaica and the Grandma Del also lived in a
rural part of Jamaica with no electricity.
“The Boy Who Loved Ice Cream” (Setting) Cont’d

The Harvest Festival Sale takes place in the small town of Springville in rural
Jamaica. “Now the Harvest Festival Sale was virtually the only time that Papa went
into Springville these days.” Senior describes not only where the Harvest Festival
Sale takes place but the backstory as to why Papa does not like to go to
Springville, as he doesn’t like the people there and thinks they talk about him
behind his back. The Harvest Festival also takes place outside of the church and
that helps the reader understand the situation and place the story takes place in.
 “The Boy Who Loved Ice Cream” (Characters) -
Benjy, the Protagonist
Benjy is the second youngest of his family, and he is also the main character of the short story. The
story revolves around Benjy’s love for ice cream and his excitement of actually trying it for the first
time. Benjy is very intimidated by his father because of the way he has been treated by him. “Papa
also said that it was his fault. But then his father blamed him for a lot of things, even when he was not
to be blamed.” Benjy’s father seems to be oppressing Benjy due to his suspicions of him not being his
own child, which is having a clear impact on Benjy’s confidence and state of mind. Although Benjy has
to deal with an oppressive father, the one thing that seems to bring him joy is ice cream even though
he has never tried it. “Ice Cream! The very words conveyed to him the sound of everything in his life
that he had always wanted, always longed for...” We see that although Benjy has never had Ice Cream
the mere thought of it gets him very excited, which shows the reader just how much he loves Ice
Cream.
“The Boy Who Loved Ice Cream” (Characters) -
Papa
Papa is extremely on edge because he thinks his wife is cheating on him. Papa decides to
take his frustration out on Benjy because he believes he’s a product of his wife cheating.
“Papa sees something his face quickly changes and he flings away his cone and makes a
grab for Benjy and starts walking almost running in the direction where Mama is
standing...” This shows how Papa is on edge that as soon as he sees his wife even talk to
another man, he is quickly angered and as a result causes Benjy to lose his Ice Cream
which he waited so long for which perfectly represents the relationship he has with Benjy.

➢ He is a farmer - wedded to the soil. ➢ He prefers a predictable lifestyle.

➢ He does not like to go out. ➢ He is very jealous.
“The Boy Who Loved Ice Cream” (Characters) -
Mother/Mama

➢ Benjy’s mother is very progressive and forward thinking.

➢ She is a very sociable and friendly person.
➢ She is always eager to go or do something different.
“The Boy Who Loved Ice Cream” (Characters) -
Elsa

➢ Elsa is Benjy’s older sister.

➢ She takes care of Benjy when their mother is busy.
➢ She introduces Benjy to the foggy concept of ice cream.
 “The Boy Who Loved Ice Cream” (Themes) -
Obsession
Papa is irrationally jealous about his wife’s activities, which points to his obsessive
nature. It is revealed that he believes that she cheated on him when she spent
three weeks away from him in Springville, where she was attending to her dying
mother. He watches her like a hawk at the Harvest Festival, thereby getting very
little enjoyment out of the fair. This obsessive jealousy also has serious implications
for his relationship with his son, Benjy. He does not believe that Benjy is his
biological child, but a product of his wife’s “affair” in Springville. Benjy, therefore, is
not treated well by his father, but viewed with suspicion and slight contempt.
 “The Boy Who Loved Ice Cream” (Themes) -
Obsession
The narrator tells us that Benjy is in a state of constant suspense, as well as
anxiety, in terms of what his father’s response to him will be. Ironically, Benjy
has the same obsessive nature as his father, which highlights to the reader that
Benjy is really his father’s son. Benjy, like his father, gets no enjoyment out of the
Harvest Festival. This is because while his father obsesses over his mother,
Benjy obsesses over the idea of ice cream, for he had never seen or tastes it,
and could concentrate on nothing else. For Beny, “ice cream was the most
marvellous thing he had ever heard of. And the strangest.”
 “The Boy Who Loved Ice Cream” (Themes) -
Loss
Olive Senior explores the theme of loss using Benjy and the sudden fall of his ice
cream, "... why the sky a minute ago was pink and mauve just like the ice cream
is now swimming in his vision like on swollen blanket of rain." This sudden shift in
the diction shows exactly how suddenly Benjy changed and ends the story on a
cliffhanger, leaving the readers interested to see what happens next. Benjy's
emotions changed almost instantly as soon as his ice cream had dropped.
 “The Boy Who Loved Ice Cream” (Themes) -
Poverty
This is defined as the state of being extremely poor. The family that is at the
forefront of this story can be defined as living in poverty because they could not
afford the very basics of life. This is seen when the reader is made aware of the
fact that Benjy’s “Sunday-go-to-church-pants” was made from Benjy’s old jacket.
We also see Elsa bathing Benjy with a “strainer” covered in soap, implying that the
family could not afford a proper wash rag because they had, essentially, made a
loofah with a strainer and soap. Benjy was also “washed off” with rain water that
was collected in a drum. This implies that there was no indoor plumbing.
 “The Boy Who Loved Ice Cream” (Themes) -
Poverty
Benjy also got “new” clothes to wear to the Harvest Festival, but he did not notice
that “the black serge was stitched very badly with white thread which was all his
mother had, and the three buttons she sewed down the front were all of different
sizes and colours. His shirt too, with the body of one colour, the sleeves of a print
which was once part of Mama’s dress and the collar of yet another print.” This
implies that the family had no disposable income to purchase clothes, or even the
ability to buy cloth and thread to make their own clothes, they had to repurpose
their existing older clothes.
 “The Boy Who Loved Ice Cream” (Themes) -
Poverty
The family’s very address speaks to their impoverished state; they lived up in the
mountains of Springville in a community called One Eye. Their isolation is seen in the
fact that they had to walk a mile and a half down a mountain path before they reached
the village of Springville, which itself, “wasn’t much”.

Olive Senior continuously shows the theme of poverty: " 'Anyway a doan know if there
is money for foolishness like ice cream.' " Senior does this to show the financial status
of Benjy and his family. This gives the reader a better understanding of the story as
they get more context as to how people react to different situations because of their
socioeconomic status.
 “The Boy Who Loved Ice Cream” (Themes) -
Coming of Age

When Benjy drops his ice cream, he experiences a sense of loss and it
changes him. Even the whole atmosphere shifts, signifying the change
within him as well.
 Conflict

The conflict resides between both Benjy’s mother and father, but it spills
over to Benjy. This conflict is triggered by issues with regard to Benjy’s
paternity. Benjy’s father doubts that Benjy is his son. Though he has no
evidence, he has nagging suspicions which continue to play on his mind.
Benjy’s father doesn’t trust his wife.
 Mood
Olive Senior uses powerful imagery to highlight the mood shift in the short story. "...why
he has only this little tip of cone in his hand and there is no ice cream and he cannot
understand why the sky which a minute ago was pink and mauve just like the ice cream is
now swimming in his vision like one swollen blanket of rain." The short story often
changes from happy to sad very quickly. The ice cream is talked about joyfully every time
but the mood shifts instantly when the ice cream is dropped and suddenly it is all rainy
and sad.

The overall mood, from the reader’s perspective, is one of sympathy - The family is poor
and doesn't have the best lifestyle. Benjy also never gets the ice cream so we sympathize
with the family as well as his disappointment.
 Point of View

The short story is told in third person omniscient " Now every Sunday as she dressed
in her neat white and shoes and the chaste hat which to him sat so provocatively on
her head..." Senior uses third person omniscient to help the reader understand the
short story and keep the reader interested. Senior shows exactly how jealous the
father is, he thinks everything the mother does is provocative which does not help
their relationship at all. This helps the readers further understand the relationship
between the father, the mother, and Benjy.
 Writer’s Craft/Style (Run-On Sentences)

Olive Senior uses the writing technique of a run on sentence to create

suspense. "...Benjy has a cone and the three of them stand there as if
frozen in time and he is totally joyous for he is about to have his first taste of
ice cream..." Senior does this to build suspense in the readers as we
continue to read and anticipate Benjy's first lick of ice cream that has been
long awaited throughout the entire short story.
 Writer’s Craft/Style (Symbolism)
The ice cream that Benjy desires so much can symbolise both happiness and loss.
Happiness because of how Elsa has described ice cream to Benjy and loss because
Benjy, through his father’s actions, never gets the opportunity to taste ice cream.

The fact that three religious faiths are also mentioned could suggest the importance
of religion to those who live in Springville. Already the reader is aware that Benjy’s
mother attends church every Sunday.

Senior also appears to be using light to place an emphasis on the excitement that
Benjy feels about going to the Harvest Festival Sale. As Benjy passes by the wild
brazilwood branches he comes out of the semi-darkness of the path and onto what, to
Benjy, is the broadest street he has ever seen. Covered in marl and white. It is as
though Benjy’s eyes have been opened up to a world he has never seen before.
 Writer’s Craft/Style (Dialect)

Olive Senior employs many different writing techniques such as dialect

E.g. " ‘Papa wi gi wi ice cream. When de time come.’ "

Olive Senior does this to show the culture and language in Jamaica - thus
making the story more believably Jamaican. This use of dialect shows
readers exactly how people in their neighborhood speak and communicate
with each other.
 Writer’s Craft/Style (Imagery)

Olive Senior uses the writing technique of imagery to help the audience
understand the setting.

E.g. "... so that his new Sunday- go-to-church pants that his mother had
made from cutting down one of his father's old jackets was already dirty with
bits of mud and green bush clinging to him."

This use of imagery helps the audience understand the boys family's
economic situation. This helps them further understand the story and his
love for ice cream.
 Writer’s Craft/Style (Imagery)

Olive Senior uses imagery to show how ice cream was in Elsa's mind.

E.g. "Think of it in colours, she said, pink and mauve and green. And
imagine it with edges. Then imagine licking it slowly round and round the
edges.That's how ice cream was."

Senior uses this imagery to show the readers how much ice cream has
interested and impacted both Elsa and Benjy's life. It also shows how
important the ice cream is to the total short story.
 Writer’s Craft/Style (Simile)

Olive Senior uses similes to once again describe the delight of ice cream

E.g. "...leaving an after-trace that lingered and lingered like beautiful dream"

Senior does this to introduce the delight, interest, and eventual obsession
with ice cream. The readers get to understand how interested the children
are with the ice cream as they went into detail about it.
 Relation to Another Story

Benjy isn’t very happy with his life and because of this he looks forward to
ice cream to provide an escape from his life. For the ice cream to be the
whole basis of the short story it had to be incredibly important to the
characters, that is why Benjy is so attached to the idea of having ice cream
because it represents his want for a better life. There is also a huge amount
of symbolism in another short story called “Emma” however in Emma the
symbolism is with cards and in this short story it is the ice cream.
 Relation to Another Story

Emma's death in “Emma”, causes Dory to lose her innocence and grow up
without her mother. In “The Day The World Almost Came To An End”, the
narrator sees life differently after the main occurence in the story. When
Benjy never gets to taste his ice cream, reality hits him in the same way and
he also grows up. He does not physically get older at that moment in time,
but a loss of innocence takes place.
 Activity

Provide an analysis of the story based on the theme “Family

Relationship”.
Do you have any questions, ladies?