Delving into Multiracial Community in Scorpion Orchid

Abstract

Lloyd Fernando describes writing as taking snapshots of the society and showing the reality without being sentimental. True enough it is clearly portrayed in his first novel Scorpion Orchid, a postcolonial novel that consciously moves the knowledge of culture and history to bring a sense of community. Scorpion Orchid tells of the chaotic relationship between four young people of different racial backgrounds as they struggle to come to terms with their identity and cultural heritage. This paper employs qualitative method appropriate for use in conducting text-analysis research. The aim of this study is to see how each race has its way of coming to a consensus on nationalism that is based on the previous colonization in this novel. This study involves close and careful reading of the novel to extract important events and incidences, which lead to the portrayal of the changes and problems encountered by the people from multiracial community and how they cope with this environment. The analysis of the novel helps the society at large to be extra cautious of the sensitive issues within the multiracial community. This study identifies the combination of historically real with the imagined in Lloyd Fernando’s writing.