People who engage in wrongdoing cannot escape from the consequences of their actions. Write an essay to support this claim basing your illustrations on John Lara’s The Samaritan.
Some people take part in illegal or dishonest deeds hoping that they will get away with it. Such misconduct usually leads to serious consequences. Characters like Bembe and Jaden engage in crime but when their sins are exposed they face repercussions and try as they may, they do not escape the long arm of the law.
Inspector Bembe takes part in an array of criminal activities including corruption and violation of human rights among others but eventually he pays for it. When he learns that he has been exposed on The Samaritan, he suggests that they should threaten some of the journalists(P22). Bembe is an evil man who is always secretive about his private affairs, so he is shocked to learn that people know about his hotel, Madingo Golf Club(P28). He suggests that they ban The Samaritan App(P27). He is accused of corruption, violation of human rights, drug peddling and extortion(P39). This exposé makes him drift into a coma since he has issues with his blood sugar(P38). ‘The Caribbean Watch’ newspaper claims that Bembe’s hotel and home are built on Maracas University land – which is public land. A lobby group is moving to court to have the land restored to the university. When Bembe learns of this, he breathes heavily while trembling. He sunk all his life savings in putting up the hotel and the home, and he is retiring in a few months time. Apart from that, Bembe is also a member of a shadowy gang – Ghettoboyz – that robs people. His hotel is called Motorists Highway Hotel since it was built with bribes collected from motorists. He has converted the municipal police force into a personal outfit for collecting bribes from the innocent and the guilty alike. Furthermore, he arrests Ms. Nicole on fabricated charges of stealing the school generator and disobeying authorities(P95,100). He orders his two officers to arrest Nicole. They cuff her and drag her on the floor. She is, however, released and the case dismissed. Bembe tells Mossi that they are doomed. He prefers to die than to be a derelict or an inmate. He asks the lord to have mercy on him. He suffers from a runny stomach. He cannot last a week in prison because he is diabetic. These are his last days, he says(P99). When she’s arrested, Nicole gets support from touts, hawkers, students, women and men of all walks of life.(P100.) Later, he apologises to Nicole. Claiming the arrest was a misunderstanding he admits his mistake and begs for forgiveness (131-132). He is later arrested. Trying to escape the dragnet, he staggers and almost falls as he struggles to take cover (P138). Clearly, no one can escape from the consequences of their actions.
Justice Ian Jaden pays for his sins after abusing his office and engaging in a number of unethical acts. He is a corrupt judge who thought he could get away with his misdeeds for he posits that you can fly into enemy territory and get away with it provided you do it below the radar. That what matters is not what you do but how you do it. He thinks that since he is educated and strategic he can beat the system and escape Scot free(P29). Jaden is unethical since his relatives are involved in doing business with the municipal council(P69). Jaden’s company, Prime Orchard Farm, is involved in a fraud case dubbed the ‘grain scandal’(P102). He is fraudulently awarded a contract for killing rats and other rodents ravaging rice and corn fields in the municipality(P106). He gets the contract through single sourcing rather than competitive bidding. Jaden then rules that given the urgency to safeguard the grains, single sourcing was permissible in the public interest(P107). He also rules in the favor of prime orchard farm when the company is sued for being the source of destructive rodents in the municipality(P108). Jaden takes bribes from litigants to determine cases in their favour and uses his office to amass a fortune for himself. When he is exposed, he suffers stomach ulcers and hallucinations when he starts seeing huge smelly sewer rats. He also helped some friends by making biased rulings in their favor as an interested party and he was given shares in the company as a reward for this illegality. He is now in a dilemma since the mayor is suing the said company. He suffers a myriad of challenges including seeing rats and other rodents running all over the place, catching the smell of sewer rats, wanting to throw up, stomach aches and having more severe ulcers(P116). He organizes a meeting with other leaders hoping to escape the risk of prosecution. His suggestions about double jeopardy or a temporal ban of the Samaritan app also hit a snag(P123). His attempt to lure Ms. Nicole with the promise of a plum position as the director general in the municipality is also futile(P134). He is arrested by Tajo, The anti corruption boss. He tries to crouch under the boardroom table to avoid arrest(P138). Indeed, no one can escape from the repercussions of their actions.
Mayor Mossi involves himself in dishonest deeds and inevitably faces the ramifications with actions. He is accused of many crimes including municipal capture – which is the worst form of corruption and abuse of office, in which his private interests determine the direction of public policy(P39). When he learns that The Samaritan app could be used to expose the rot in the municipal procurement process, he declines to launch it claiming that the municipal leaders need time to reflect on the implications of the app(P15). He even instructs Nicole to write to the officials concerning his reservations(P18) and oders Ms. Nicole and Ms. Narine to halt any activity concerning the app in a bid to conceal the illegalities the leaders are engaged in(P16). He convenes meetings with other leaders in an effort to escape the consequences of his actions(P20). He also asks Harvester to buy all newspapers from all vendors using public funds, since they contain damaging information about the leaders(P21,41). After a disagreement, Seymour and others want to move a vote of no confidence in Mossi. Mossi loses consciousness when he learns that he may end up in the uninhabitable Baneta Express Prison(P38). He also plans to use press conferences to fight the allegations against him(P43). Mayor Mossi admits taking part in an ethical deeds(P60). However, he tries to downplay his role in the plunder of public resources when he says that unlike other leaders who gobble up the loaf meant for the people, he only takes a slice or two or three(P68-69). He wants Nicole to prevail over the kids who made the Samaritan to eliminate some negative information about him on the app(P60). The corrupt mayor even has the audacity to offer Nicole and the children a bribe claiming that everybody needs money(P61). On the issue of development, he is accused of inflating the cost of projects and overseeing shoddy municipal works. When Nicole refuses to budge, he accuses the people of electing evil people into public office and later on whining(P71). He also orders Nicole to delete every post that casts him in negative light on the Samaritan App(P73). Mossi tries to lure Nicole with a plum job and promises of changes in the municipality for example; that public resources will no longer be stolen, justice will be served and not preserved for the rich, the police will stand with the innocent and not the crooks or lawbreakers and lawmakers will promote public interests rather than feathering their own nests(P133-134). Mayor Mossi pays for his immorality when he is arrested by Tajo, the anti-corruption chief. He tries to hide behind Nicole, when Tajo declares that he was there to escort them to the anti-corruption headquarters(P138). Indeed, wrongdoers cannot escape the ramifications of their actions.
Hon. Seymour also engages in a number of criminal activities and ultimately faces the consequences of his actions. He is the municipal secretary in charge of planning and development(P20). He is accused alongside Hon. Ted of supplying air. Their companies bill the municipal council huge sums of money every month but they do not render any services. This illegality is exposed on the Samaritan app(P24). Springing to his feet with clenched fists, Seymour declares that no one can write that kind of stuff about him. In a trembling voice, he says that those are fake documents and declares war against those behind the allegations(P25). He suggests that they think creatively about a way to stop the Samaritans App(P27), or the need to rely on Justice Jaden should the matter escalate to court(P29). He also suggests that they persuade Alvita and Montano to drop the matter(P30) or simply use public money from the municipal fund through reallocation of budget line items to fight the cases(P32-33). This money, according to Ted, could be used to take care of investigators, lawyers prosecutors and judges(P33). Seymour makes it clear that the money will be used to fight off cases against them, but they can justify the relocation on the ostensible need to fix the problem of the terrible waste disposal system, which is a serious health hazard(P33). This is illegal. Seymour was elected as a poor and jigger-infested hoodlum but now he lives like a king in grandiose villas and drives swanky cars thanks to stealing public money(P35). In the department of planning and development, he is behind the protracted delays in the issue of building approvals, and one needs to part with dollars in order to get building plans. They rotten inspectorate unit under him approves improper buildings as long as you part with dollars(P66). His law degree was printed downtown(P66). He also leads the murderous Black Swan Gang which is responsible for shootings and violence and disappearance of people. Seymour takes part in the selling of narcotics and this has ruined the lives of many people(P67). As a result, his eldest son is always at the rehab, the other one is always inebriated at the casino and the wife is a perpetual drunk(P70). He faces the consequences of his actions when he is arrested by Tajo, the head of the Anti-corruption Bureau. He shuffles on his feet in confusion when the policeman introduces himself. He is handcuffed by uniformed police officers, bundled out and escorted to the anti-corruption headquarters(P138). Clearly, an ethical people cannot escape from the ramifications of their misdeeds.
Ramdaye, the deputy mayor, is a leader that takes part in dishonest deeds but eventually pays for his imprudence. Despite being a leader, Ramdaye is a notorious swindler. He sells Bembe public land that belongs to Maracas University. That is how he has earned his livelihood for all these years. He has ruined the lives of countless people through his greed(P42). Only his companies and those of his relatives win tenders for the road construction, construction of bridges, drains and water courses. They misappropriate the funds and do a shoddy job(P63). Ramdaye also swindles people by printing ten title deeds for the same plot and selling it to ten different people(P63). He is a corrupt and dishonest leader since he is bribed by Ivy in order to keep mum about the rodent gate affair. He is also made a shareholder of Prime Orchard Limited. Eventually, he faces the consequences of his actions when he is arrested by Tajo, who is in charge of anti-corruption. Ramdaye shuffles around on his feet in confusion before two uniformed officers handcuff him and bundle him out of the room. Truly, one cannot escape from the consequences of their actions.
In conclusion, it is clear to see that when one engages in unethical acts for example corruption, gang involvement, nepotism etc. they cannot escape punishment. Ultimately, they pay for their sins.
