Nicole's Determination in John Lara’s The Samaritan.

 In life, one must stand for something in order to gain something. Write an essay to validate this statement with close reference to Nicole in John Lara’s The Samaritan.

Nicole, the Ethics and Innovation teacher at Sagrada Secondary School, is the embodiment of an unwavering moralist determined to bring positive change to Maracas Municipality./ Despite facing serious resistance from the leaders, her effort bears fruit when the corrupt leaders are apprehended. Resoluteness in doing the right things brings victory.

S1. MAYOR

• Nicole stands firm when the Mayor of Maracas Municipality orders for a halting of activities related to the Samaritan App and her firmness pays off.
• The aim of the Samaritan App is to expose corruption and agitate for the prosecution of the culprits.
• When he realises that the App may expose his failures, ineptness and corrupt deeds and possibly lead to his prosecution, Mossi-oa-Tunya declines to launch it or award Alvita and Montano
• He alleges that the App may turn out to be a platform for misinformation, lies and witch-hunt.
• Although he acknowledges that the school is doing a good job in nurturing visionaries and innovators, he has jitters about giving the Samaritan App the green light.
• The skit by Nicole, Alvita and Montano clearly demonstrates that the App can be used to share sensitive information like the Municipal Procurement Process.

 

• The Mayor is hesitant to allow its commissioning. In an attempt to stop the operations of the App, he claims he needs time to think, and will launch the App at his own convenient time.
• He orders Nicole and Principal Narine to halt all activities regarding the App until his office gives them the clearance. He demands that they write to the Ministry of Education citing fundamental errors.
• Nicole firmly rebuts that the App passed all tests done by senior officers at the Ministry of Education and skillful software engineers.
• The Mayor tries to intimidate Nicole when he states that he is Mossi-oa-Tunya: the smoke that thunders and a Mayor with express mandate by the people of Maracas.
• He raises his voice and points his walking stick at Nicole. He demands that she pens the letter and send a copy to him in an hour’s time.
• Nicole is adamant that the matter is beyond her since the App was taken over by the National Information and Communication Technology Corporation and she determinedly says that she will only do what is right.
• Madam Principal confirms Nicole's resolute nature when she claims she is bound to ignore the Mayor’s orders since she usually doesn’t compromise on what she thinks is right.
• In the long run, Mayor Mossi fails to intimidate Nicole and operations of the App are not halted. Mossi is exposed as a corrupt leader and is eventually arrested. Nicole’s determination pays off.

 

S2. PRINCIPAL NARINE

• Moreover, Narine, the principal, admonishes Nicole hoping that  she would abandon her quest for a better Maracas but Nicole remains steadfast until the end when her effort bears victory.
• The principal acknowledges that the Samaritan App has sent shockwaves across the municipality, driving leaders into terrible panic.
• She advises Nicole to think long and hard about the Samaritan App. Narine says she is single-handedly focused on providing students under her care with quality education.
• She vows that she will not allow any teacher to deviate from this course.
• She appears to be persuading Nicole to stop the operations of the Samaritan App. She advises her, as a senior administrator and her mother’s age mate , to know which battles to wage, which ones to avoid, and those to defer.
• She avers that a young girl like Nicole cannot battle against an elephant like Mossi. Standing firm, Nicole tells her boss that an elephant that kills a rat is not a hero.
• She also wonders if the principal would rather that they abandon the Samaritan, an ingenious innovation, with great potential of improving the Municipality to appease an egocentric political class.

 

• The principal offers no support for Nicole. She instead chooses to step back. This does not dampen Nicole's spirit. The principal feels Nicole is a headstrong girl.
• She is fed up. She says she is not a house help or a secretary to keep receiving calls on behalf of Nicole.

 

• She also feels threatened when the leaders call saying that they are visiting Nicole at school. The principal feels that the App will not change anything and counsels Nicole with the wise words that, “The bamboo that bends is stronger than the oak that resists”.

 

• Nicole does not heed even when Narine adds that, “If you can’t turn the wind, turn the sails”. Nicole stays firm. She cannot give in and allow the plunder of public resources.
• Her resoluteness pays off when the leaders including Bembe and Mossi are arrested by Tajo, the head of Anti-Corruption Investigations Bureau. Surely, resoluteness results in victory.

 

S3. INSPECTOR BEMBE

• Nicole chooses to stand firm when the Inspector General of police, Bembe, tries to unnerve her by arresting her on trumped-up charges.
• When Mossi and Bembe realise that the Samaritan App was being used to air their dirty linen in public, they plan to visit and talk to Nicole.
• Mossi correctly points out that Nicole may be a very difficult person.
• Nicole is determined to do the right thing. Bembe insists that he has a way of making people switch allegiances. Bembe has a ploy to accuse Nicole of theft of school furniture, a computer or a generator.
• He plans to get people to steal the school  generator and accuse Nicole of the crime then ask the judge to put her in.
• True to his word, Bembe goes to Sagrada Secondary School to arrest Nicole citing a wide range of accusations including disobeying authorities, being located at the scene of a murder and stealing the school generator.
• Nicole is not intimidated. She knows that her obligation is to do what is right, not to obey leaders blindly.
• A leader cannot compel her to do the wrong things. Her choice to do the right thing is not negotiable.
• Even in the face of an impending jail term, she is not subdued by Bembe's preposterous fabricated charges.
• She tells him that it will get him nowhere and that that will be the darkest day of his career. Bembe orders the police to handcuff Nicole and the strong-willed teacher resists until she is overpowered.
• Bembe is only but trying to intimidate Nicole to stop pursuing the activities of the Samaritan App claiming it poses grave danger to society.
• Nicole replies that she is but a simple teacher trying to do what is right.
• While Bembe posits that Nicole has an evil plan, she insists that The Samaritan App has no personal agenda and is a people’s platform of protecting and promoting public good.
• When she is arraigned in court, thousands of protesters from all walks of life mob the court precincts in solidarity with Nicole, leaving Bembe with an egg on his face.
• Furthermore, his bosses summon him over the impropriety. Eventually, Bembe is arrested for his involvement in a wide array of crimes and abuse of office.
• Nicole’s determination to do good ends in victory.

 

S4. ALVITA AND MONTANO

• Apart from that, Alvita and Montano try but fail to plead with miss Nicole to give up the Samaritan App and she tells them to stand firm with the App and this pays off when the corrupt leaders are arrested.
• When the unscrupulous leaders are whisked away by the police, Alvita cries triumphantly that, “You can never escape from the consequences of your actions”. These are the exact words of the resolute miss Nicole.
• The apprehensive students are the brains behind the Samaritan App. But they are now worried that as a result of the Mayor’s ultimatum, the App may get their beloved teacher in trouble.
• Nicole insists that the Samaritan App is an excellent platform for them to speak out against wrongdoing and share ideas that will make their lives better.
• The leaders of Maracas municipality are like the priests and Levite who ignore the injured Samaritan.
• They do not care about the people. Neither do they come to their aid.
• They only pursue their own selfish interests. The students still think that miss Nicole is in grave danger.
• The teacher is determined to stand for a cause that can bring a better tomorrow for everyone.
• The Samaritan has been all over the media platforms and Alvita thinks it has grown so big that it is no longer good for them anymore.
• The two students suggest that she transfers to a different school. Nicole asks them not to chicken out at every trial or threat.
• They must stand firm and demand that their leaders do the right thing. She demands that they are not discouraged and that they stay brave.
• This is not an effort in futility. The corrupt leaders including Mayor Mossi are eventually arrested.

S5. BRIBE

• Also, Nicole remains steadfast when the Mayor approaches her and tries to beg for mercy seemingly penitent of his evil acts and attempting to sway Nicole to eliminate some negative information about him from the Samaritan App.
• The Mayor starts by apologizing to Nicole for being a bit hard on her earlier.
• He wants to have an honest talk with her. He concedes that he made some mistakes and is ostensibly there to make the clean breast of everything and to seek Nicole’s  understanding and help.
• Nicole is taken aback by the change of heart from the initially overbearing Mossi-oa-Tunya, the untouchable smoke that thunders.
• He even offers Nicole a bribe. He asks her to quote her figure.

·         Looking straight at him, Nicole affirms in a firm voice that she can never be part of such a scheme. She is disappointed that a man entrusted to fight corruption is instead the chief perpetrator. He even offers Nicole a bribe. He asks her to quote her figure.

• Looking straight at him, Nicole affirms in a firm voice that she can never be part of such a scheme. She is disappointed that a man entrusted to fight corruption is instead the chief perpetrator.
• Stuttering, the penitent leader claims he was offering to invest in the Samaritan App. Mossi feels he is being wrongly accused on the Samaritan.
• Nicole reminds him that as the overall leader the buck stops with him.
• Mossi tries to exonerate himself by slinging mud at his fellow politicians for instance Ramdaye, deputy Mayor, for misappropriation of funds; Ted King, the secretary of Health and Environment; Seymour, the secretary in charge of Planning and Development and Judge Ian Jaden.
• The Mayor claims that he cannot do anything about the rot in the municipality, inadvertently admitting his ineptness.
• Nicole notes that the whole Municipal Council is a criminal enterprise. Mossi admits that he steals at most three slices of the loaf meant for the people.
• He points fingers at everyone else for eating the whole loaf including the wrapping and the vendor where applicable. Nicole resolutely suggests that all those he accuses are answerable to him.
• When he realizes that Nicole wasn’t going to be swayed by his emotional pleas, he turns to threats.
• He demands that she deletes every post that cast him in the negative light or else she will discover why he is called Mossi-oa-Tunya: the smoke that thunders.
• Nicole remains resolute to do the right thing. Eventually, Mossi-oa-Tunya, the smoke that thunders, is arrested by the anti-corruption police. Indeed, standing firm in doing the right thing brings positive results.

 

S6. APOLOGY

• The leaders of Maracas Municipality attempt to appease Nicole by playing power politics and offering her a high office in the Municipality but she declines the offer, standing her ground until the felonious leaders are arrested.
• The eight leaders meet at the Chamber of the Principal Judge with the aim of saving their skins from The Samaritan.
• They have assembled to figure out a way to escape being thrown behind bars at Baneta Express Prison. Basdeo suggests that they talk to Nicole. Mossi warns him that she is very firm.
• He tried appealing to her mercy, she couldn’t budge. He tried intimidation and still she couldn’t yield. Basdeo suggests that they give her a powerful position at the municipal council.
• They plan to let her tell them the position she wants and voila! she becomes part and parcel of the municipal leadership.
• Jaden suggests that they bring her a box of chocolate as an incentive but Mossi cautions him that she won’t take it.
• When they meet Nicole, they all grovel. Jaden seeks for forgiveness for intruding into Nicole’s busy schedule.
• Bembe apologizes profusely for arresting Nicole. Mossi also apologizes for treading on her toes.
• Although she is puzzled, Nicole accepts the apologies and also expresses regret in the event that she offended any of them. She politely declines Ted's offer of a golden ring.
• The leaders admit serious mistakes in the leadership that have brought the Municipality to a crisis. They avow that the ship is sinking.
• They request Nicole’s contribution in enhancing service delivery to the people and she accepts.
• They ask her to name the senior position she would like to occupy. Jaden proposes that she should assume the role of Director General.
• Nicole declines the offer telling the gentleman that they don’t need new laws, contracts or positions but a change of spirit among the people and especially among the leaders.
• Nicole tells them that to salvage the bleak situation they should do the right thing; that is, make a U-turn about dipping their fingers in the public till and pursuing personal gains.
• At this point, her efforts bring good tidings when the corrupt officials are arrested and escorted to the Anti-Corruption investigation Bureau.

 

Conclusion

Success is a result of an unwavering spirit especially when we champion for good. Nicole's determination to stamp out corruption in Maracas Municipality and to have the disreputable leaders brought to book ends in when they are all arrested signaling a new dawn.