Immoral people try to hide their misdeeds but when the truth comes out, they face the consequences of their actions. Making reference to John Lara’s The Samaritan, write an essay to support this statement.
Some people are dishonest or unethical. They go to great lengths to conceal their immorality or wicked deeds. Inevitably, the truth comes out and they pay for their sins. Characters like Mossi, Jaden and Bembe in The Samaritan learn this the hard way.
Mossi tries to conceal his immoral acts but when the truth is revealed, he faces the consequences. Mossi is exposed for being corrupt. He is accused of municipal capture – the worst form of corruption and abuse of office(P38). He is also accused of inflating the cost of projects and presiding over shoddy municipal projects(P62). He fails to call his municipal secretaries to order and rebuke them despite having information about the corrupt and inept leaders. He admits that he has some skeletons in the closet and he goes to great lengths to keep these misdeeds a secret (P29). First, he refuses to launch the Samaritan app claiming it may have far-reaching implications (P15,23). He orders Ms. Nicole to write to the ministry officials expressing his reservations about the Samaritan app. He also threatens the principal Ms. Narine. This is because the aim of the Samaritan App is to promote the public good by exposing corruption and other vices in the municipality and agitating for the prosecution of the culprits(P23). Secondly, he convenes an urgent meeting to try and avert the adverse effects of the exposure. He orders Mr. Harvester to buy all the newspapers in an effort to conceal his misdeeds. The headlines of the newspapers such as ‘The Caribbean Watch’, ‘The Sentinel’ and ‘The Spotlight’ are extremely damaging for him and the other leaders. He supports Bembe’s idea of banning the Samaritan app and orders Harvester to issue a circular to that effect (P27-28). Mossi wants computer experts to hack and mess up the app. He calls for a meeting of his dependable allies and asks Harvester to prepare a comprehensive press statement to counter the allegations against them(P43). He intends to hold a press conference daily. The mayor visits Ms Nicole and admits his mistakes and begs her to help her by eliminating incriminating information about him from the app. He even offers her and the innovators, Alvita and Montano, a bribe. Nicole declines(P60-61). When his remorseful approach fails, he orders Nicole to delete all negative posts about him from the app, trying to conceal his wrongdoing (P73). He later on apologizes to Nicole and even offers her a post at the municipal council. He shakes her hand vigorously when he mistakenly thinks that she had accepted the offer. The truth about his unethical deeds is, however, all over the app and mainstream media. Mossi tries to hide behind Nicole when he and others are accosted by Tajo, the National Anti-corruption Investigation Bureau boss. He is arrested and cuffed and escorted to the National Anti-corruption Investigation Bureau headquarters. Indeed, no one can escape from the consequences of their actions.
Secondly, Inspector Bembe tries to hide his unscrupulous deals but when the truth comes out he faces the music. Inspector Bembe has always been very discreet about his private affairs. His face is covered with an expression of horror when it is revealed that people are demanding for information about the source of funds he used to build Madingo Golf Club. Mossi reminds him that there is nothing you can do on earth without someone knowing about it(P26). The secretive policeman is exposed on the Samaritan app and accused of an array of illegalities including; corruption, drug peddling, violation of human rights and extortion(P38). ‘The Caribbean Watch’ newspaper reports that his hotel and his home are built on Maracas University land – which is public land. A lobby group has moved to court to have the land restored to the university(P40). He is also exposed for gang involvement – being a member of Ghettoboyz. His hotel is famously known as Motorist Highway Hotel since it was built using proceeds of corruption; bribes from motorists. His officers collect bribes from the guilty and innocent alike. The police force has been converted into his own personal outfit(P41). To conceal his immoral deeds, Inspector Bembe suggests that they threaten some of the reporters(P22) and that they ban The Samaritan app in Maracas Municipality. He is ready to enforce the law(P27). He then tries to intimidate Nicole by accusing her of stealing the school generator, being at a scene of a murder, disobeying authorities and being too strong-willed for a school teacher (P94-95). He then arrests her on trumped up charges while demanding to know where The Samaritan is hidden. When this fails, he tries to apologize to Nicole as they attempt to lure her with a job offer(P131). When faced by Tajo, the anti-corruption police boss, he staggers and almost falls as he seeks cover(P138). He is then arrested and handcuffed. As a diabetic, he is bound to face a rough time in prison (P99). When evil deeds come to the light, the perpetrators suffer the consequences.
Justice Jaden tries to strategically conceal his dirty deals but he suffers when his secrets are divulged. Mossi reveals that judges in Maracas municipality are worse than temple robbers. He tells Jaden that they all have some skeletons in the closet. Jaden thinks of himself as a strategic schemer. He posits that what matters is not what you do, but how you do it. He claims that you can fly into forbidden territory and get away with it, provided you do it under the radar(P29). Indeed, he is part of the syndicate just like Mossi insinuated. A company linked to him – Prime Orchard Farm – was involved in the “rats and other rodents scandal”. He is a shareholder in the company(P105). He gives biased rulings in favour of Ivy, his mistress, considering single sourcing for her company as opposed to a competitive bidding and also in favour of Prime Orchard Farm when the company is sued for being the source of destructive rodents. The farm rears rats that are released into farms to undermine production of grains in order to increase demand for imported grain since Prime Orchard Farm is one of the largest importers of corn in the municipality. The specially trained cats at the farm eat chicken instead of rodents. Jaden also uses his public office to amass a fortune for himself. He is also corrupt since he takes money from litigants to determine cases in their favour. When he realizes his evil deeds have been exposed, he beseeches Harvester to organize a meeting with Mossi, Basdeo and others with the view to saving their skins from their Samaritan app and concealing their unethical acts. He also plans to apply the principle of double jeopardy, that is initiating prosecution in order to preempt any legal move against them. He then suggests temporarily halting activities of the Samaritan app citing intrusion of privacy(P123). To further conceal his misdeeds, he is part of the schemers offering Nicole a lucrative post in the municipal council. His exposure causes him immense suffering. He experiences hallucinations when he sees rats and other rodents and catches the smell of sewer rats, nausea and stomach ulcers. When accosted by Tajo, the National Anti-corruption Investigations Bureau chief, he crouches under the boardroom table. He is then arrested and cuffed. Indeed when misdeeds are exposed, the miscreants suffer adversely.
Seymour insists on reallocation of budget items or submission of a supplementary budget in order to use the money to fight the impending cases against them when his misdeeds are exposed. When his fraudulent acts are exposed, he suggests that they talk to the people posting on the Samaritan app and pay them to stop(P24). Companies linked to him are exposed on the Samaritan app and the newspapers for supplying air to the municipality then bill the municipal council huge sums of money without rendering any service. He supports Bembe’s idea of banning the Samaritan app, and justifies this by claiming it is a suspect spy app. He also cites absurd reasons like theft of confidential information like bank details, cyber bullying and pornography in schools(P27). Seymour suggests that they should rely on Justice Ian Jaden should the issue escalate to court(P29). In addition to that, he posits that the leaders should talk to Alvita and Montano(P30) or use money from the municipal council coffers to bribe witnesses as they fight the cases(P31). In a bid to further hide his wickedness, he proposes that Mossi should allow reallocation of funds, ostensibly to manage the waste disposal system. In real sense, some of the money would be used to fight the cases against him. He has been a culprit in such misallocation of funds in the past by compelling the mayor to irregularly part with funds for regular travel with enhanced allowances, unnecessary committee meetings and loans and mortgages. He pushes the mayor to the wall in an effort to compel him to approve the supplementary budget in order to conceal his wrongdoing. Seymour was once a poor, jigger-infested hoodlum. Now he lives in grandiose villas and mansions, indulges in sumptuous delicacies in classy hotels and drives swanky state-of-the-art vehicles(P35) thanks to his corrupt ways. He is behind protracted delays in the issue of building approvals, bribes to get a building plan, and gang violence with Black Swan gang, selling drugs and ruining the lives of the youth in Maracas municipality. Eventually he is arrested, cuffed and escorted to the anti-corruption headquarters by Tajo. He shuffles around Nicole on his feet in confusion. Surely, when ones evil deeds come to the light, they regret the consequences of their actions.
In conclusion, indeed unethical people attempt to conceal their misdeeds albeit unsuccessfully. Eventually, they face the music when their sins are exposed.
