His defense to his mother is, "Is not my fault really. Is just Trinidad. What can anyone else do here except drink?" (Naipaul 167). His mother is encouraging him to leave Miguel Street so that he doesn't get stuck here.
It's important to see the narrator is quickly becoming like all the other men on Miguel Street. All the drinking and womanizing is something that can only be avoided by leaving. The narrator's mother sees this and single-handedly saves him from becoming like Hat, George or any of the other permanent residents of Miguel Street. The mother is the one who beats the narrator, and takes charge on her son's future. She gets him out of there on a scholarship to study drugs.
In the novel Annie John by Jamaica Kincaid, Annie befriends two girls who are very different in character and appearance. Gwen is much like Annie and complies with her mother's every wish. The Red Girl is completely different" dirty and tomboyish. Both characters though leave a lasting effect on Annie. .
Annie met her first best friend, Gwen, at school. Gwen always had her hair combed, neat clothes, and polished shoes. Gwen didn't climb trees like a boy and play marbles. She and Annie met every morning to walk to school together and share secrets. Her mother approved of their relationship. Annie forgot about her problems when she was with Gwen. Gwen and Annie were inseparable, they would walk to school everyday, and Annie longed for this. .
The Red Girl on the other hand is a wild and adventurous person. Her habits unladylike. She hardly bathes or changes her clothing. And even though this is so, Annie admires her. Annie defies her mother because of the Red Girl by being friends with her even though her mother forbade it. The first day Annie met the Red Girl, was when she wanted a guava that she couldn't reach in a tree so the Red Girl climbed the tree and got it for her. According to Annie she climbed a tree better than any boy could.