The extract from Earl Lovelace's novel, “The Dragon Can't Danceâ€, is a highly descriptive prose which reveals the feelings the character Aldrick Prospect has for the loss of his community's traditional warrior mentality. The piece of prose provides us with a third-person yet detailed account of how ancient customs in Aldrick's home (presumably Trinidad and Tobago, as the capital of Port of Spain is mentioned as being a part of his locality) are disappearing in the face of more modern and temperate customs.Aldrick, the protagonist of the prose, yearns to reignite the people's passion for celebrating traditional carnivals, which he portrays in uniquely violent, sinister, vivid and energetic depiction. He has a sense of nostalgia for the past, when carnivals were more beastly. Even with this rather austere rendering of past carnivals, Lovelace insists that ancient traditions supersede the significance, awe and entertainment of modern carnivals, which present ‘clowns' and ‘fancy robbers'.
