Sandra Street by Michael Anthony: Summary and Analysis

Michael Anthony: Author Background

Michael Anthony was born in 1930 in Mayaro, Trinidad. His father was Nathaniel Anthony and his mother was Eva Jones Lazarus. The young Michael Anthony was brought up in San Fernando, amid the busy industrial development of Trinidad at that time. He found himself working in the heat and dust of a foundry even as a young boy, and this experience pushed him toward imagining an entirely different occupation for himself. He began considering journalism as a viable option but lacked the necessary qualifications for such a career. Michael Anthony soon traveled to England to work toward a Diploma in Journalism. In 1963, he produced his first publication, The Games Were Coming, and thereafter there was no looking back for this talented figure among writers of his generation. (Anthony, Michael. "A Giant among Us")

Overview of Sandra Street

Michael Anthony's "Sandra Street" is a short story that centers on Steve, a student who lives on Sandra Street. Steve is generally unhappy with what he has and with the place where he lives. He fails to appreciate the gifts that surround him — the inherent beauty of a blossoming mango flower, and the ageless beauty of the hills that form the backdrop of both his home and his school. Steve instead focuses on the negative aspects of his companions and of the street itself. His teacher, Mr. Blades, reminds him that such negativity is entirely pointless, and that Steve must learn to appreciate the good around him in order to live a fulfilled and happy life.

The author reinforces the view that people, in general, fail to appreciate what they actually possess. They prefer to compare themselves unfavorably with others, generating unnecessary unhappiness. They always want more than they have instead of finding satisfaction in what they already possess. The story opens with Steve having submitted a composition about Sandra Street to his teacher, Mr. Blades — a composition enthusiast who takes great pleasure in assigning topics to his class every Tuesday. The latest topic being "Sandra Street," from which a number of boys in the class came, the teacher reads one of the submitted compositions aloud.

The Composition Contest and Steve's Conflict

One boy, who lived on the other side of town, had criticized Sandra Street by calling it very quiet and unremarkable — home to little more than a school and a few widely spaced houses. According to him, there was also a vast wilderness of trees, the largest in the whole town. These trees grew on Sandra Street, making the street almost entirely different from the rest of the town, as though it hardly belonged there at all. The boy then contrasted this with his own side of town, where boys could play on the savannah — a proper open space — while the boys of Sandra Street had only the road.

The boy eventually described Sandra Street as a silly girl who could only run and hide in the bushes when threatened. The boys who lived on Sandra Street had written their own compositions celebrating the beauty of the place, and they were not pleased by the other boy's remarks. Mr. Blades, aware of their displeasure, promised them the opportunity to write about the other side of town the very next week. This cheered the boys of Sandra Street, who resolved to do justice to the topic. However, one boy — Steve — remained dissatisfied. He felt that the teacher was merely trying to appease him, and he began to sink into melancholy. He concluded that the other boy's composition had been truthful after all, and he now saw Sandra Street through that boy's eyes: a place with nothing to commend it.

What happens next is an inevitable consequence of the rivalry the compositions have stirred: boys from both sides of town come to blows in defense of their own streets and homes. The teacher, however, seems unaware of this conflict and simply invites them to write again on topics of interest, Sandra Street among them.