In The Mosquito Coast, the author uses characteral design to enhance the story by bringing attention to the most outstanding character of Allie Fox. It shows his unusual view upon the world, creating friction and tension with other characters, highlighting themes such as control, obsession, and father/son relationship. This can be shown through his interaction with other characters, how the character develops throughout the novel and how he reacts in certain situations. The life of Allie Fox, the protagonist of The Mosquito Coast, illustrates the truth of Blaise Pascal’s wry but terrifying epigram on human nature: “Man is neither an angel nor beast; and the misfortune is that he who would act the angel acts the beast.” Allie, or “Father,” as …show more content…
Give us the wretched refuse of your teeming shores. Have a Coke. Watch TV.” This quote is important given his immediate representation of what America has come to. When speaking to his eldest son Charlie, he influences him as well to look at America as a rotten, corrupt country. Allie Fox has always represented himself as a strong independent man. This led him to develop as a character and further show these traits. When not wanting to reside in America any longer, he decides to change his way of life and start a new one; a utopia where he can create his ideal civilization. This passage is important because it shows the motivation and dedication of Fox. As well an immoral and obsessive side, when not paying the natives and forcing them to work 7 days a week for perfection. Furthermore, when Allie states that, “It's an absolute sin to accept the decadence of obsolescence. Why do things get worse and worse? They don't have to. They could get better and better. We accept that things fall apart” we can see how the character reacts in situations. This quote shows the clash of ideas and a defense mechanism shown within Fox. He raises his voice proving his point in a strong, almost manipulative …show more content…
It depicts the most important theme of starting-over and creating anew life. This can be shown through the use of its relationship of that setting to the actual world, time period and features of the physical setting. While having the novel take place in the 1980s, this period showed many leaps in technology advancement which is quite ironic considering Allie refused to take in any of it. He believes that the system and government were corrupt, therefore adding in tension and a strong dislike for America. Although originally beginning the novel on a farm in Northampton, Massachusetts, and not being located directly in a big city the pastoral scene wasn’t as calming and screen as a country living life is perceived to be. When they moved to Honduras, Allie and the Fox got a new reality check, “They welcome visitors, son. It's an old custom of theirs from the jungle. Be kind to strangers they say, you never know when you might be one yourself. That's the law of the jungle.” Fox spoke indicating to Charlie the new customs of the jungle and completely a new location. Even though they were outsiders, they were accepted and praised by the natives, giving Allie a self-esteem boost and motivation to continue with his plans of creating a utopia, for himself and his
isolation which is a stage during early adulthood was present throughout the entire movie. In this stage people are looking for someone to share their lives with. I think that this stage happened a lot sooner in Noah and Allie lives because they were not looking for each other but rather they ended up finded that they did love each other and that they both already knew that they were the only people that they wanted to be with. During the movie Allie leaves Noah to go to school, Noah wrote a letter to her every day for a year, but he never heard back from Allie since her mother was hidding the letters. Noah’s father soon died of old age and he was left alone, Noah soon fell into a depression and he isolated himself from everyone because he lost everything he ever wanted. Allie on the other hand found someone else who she felt made her feel like the person her mother wanted her to be. Allie soon found out that Noah was alive and he had finished their dream home and that’s when Allie discovered that she was always meant to be with Noah and no one
Her realization that she is not alone in her oppression brings her a sense of freedom. It validates her emerging thoughts of wanting to rise up and shine a light on injustice. Her worries about not wanting to grow up because of the harsh life that awaits her is a common thought among others besides the people in her community. As she makes friends with other Indians in other communities she realizes the common bonds they share, even down to the most basic such as what they eat, which comforts her and allows her to empathize with them.
mere escape from the present. This is a direct result of the strife Allie’s death left on
It reminds us of a time not so different from where we live now, a world filled with lies, hatred, and moral ambiguity. It’s a story that largely reminds us as humans who we are, prone to mistakes and preconceptions that can lead to disastrous results, but also capable of growth and redemption. This story really allows you to understand different philosophies, perceptions, and differing opinions of morality and
reflects upon the theme of the novel. As it highlights the fact that if people in the society
Noah reads their love story to Allie everyday in hopes that she will remember him and everything they have experienced together. Throughout most of the day as he reads to her, she does not recall that the story is about herself and Noah. She also does not remember who her children and grandchildren are when they come to visit. At the end of the film Allie becomes lucid for a few moments and realizes that the story Noah is reading is their own and they begin to dance together. After a few short moments Allie relapses into Alzheimer’s and has no idea who Noah is and why he is there with
This book teaches the importance of self-expression and independence. If we did not have these necessities, then life would be like those in this novel. Empty, redundant, and fearful of what is going on. The quotes above show how different life can be without our basic freedoms. This novel was very interesting and it shows, no matter how dismal a situation is, there is always a way out if you never give up, even if you have to do it alone.
Ever since she was a young girl. Jeannette had set high goals for herself. Since she was so advanced in school and genuinely enjoyed learning, it made sense that she would want to do big things with her life. Whether it was being a veterinarian or a geologist, her dreams extended far beyond her homes in little desert towns or Welch, West Virginia. However, because of her poverty-stricken home life, many people believed it didn’t seem likely that she would be so successful. One day, while living in Welch, Jeannette goes to the bar to drag her drunk father back home. A neighborhood man offers them a ride back to their house, and on the ride up he and Jeannette start a conversation about school. When Jeannette tells the man that she works so hard in school because of her dream careers, the man laughs saying, “for the daughter of the town drunk, you sure got big plans” (Walls 183). Immediately, Jeannette tells the man to stop the car and gets out, taking her father with her. This seems to be a defining moment in which Jeannette is first exposed to the idea that she is inferior to others. Although this man said what he did not mean to offend her, Jeannette is clearly very hurt by his comment. To the reader, it seems as if she had never thought that her family’s situation made her subordinate to those
It shows the need for people to conform to societal expectations to survive and thrive in society. It also shows the consequences of going against those expectations to purse matters of the heart, whether that is helping a condemned man or trying to keep your family from being taken away. Fighting these societal expectations puts a target on these people’s backs, which is why so many people decide to just succumb to these expectations, which is much easier on these
All in all, Jeannette’s character development through the course of the novel is immense. Her personality begins to ripen, and she starts to discover the truth about her life and family. Numerous instances occurred in the novel; firstly she discovers the truth about her parents and realizes that she misperceived their personalities. To continue, Jeannette begins to learn a bit more about the issues the Walls face. The life of adventure began to seem dangerous and unstable. Lastly Jeannette starts to develop her own personality and focus on her future. She never had these thoughts previously; she always concerned herself with the dilemmas of others. Throughout Jeannette develops tremendously, she begins to see the world through her own eyes and no longer has a barrier of youth to protect her.
...ch other, and sometimes you cannot help how you feel about another person regardless of their social standing, and because her mother exposed her to her previously feeling for a labor worker, I believe it made it easy for Allie to make a decision about whom she wanted to spend the rest of her life with Differences and Complementary Needs. Because her mother presented herself as being equal to her daughter, it allowed Allie to ease up, and become empathetic to her mother’s feelings.
The man, Noah, is a poet in Allie's eyes and he expresses love as, "Our souls were one, if you must know and never shall they be apart; With splendid dawn, your face aglow I reach for you and find my heart" (183). As teenagers, the two of these "love birds" had one summer of intense passion that was ended abruptly by Allie's parents disapproval. When Allie left New Bern the couple planned to keep in touch by writing letters, but because Allie's moms did not approve of Noah, she hid all his letters from her without Allie knowing. Noah continued to write but without a reply, his hopes dissolved. While Noah sat on his porch playing his guitar with his three-legged dog Clem, he reminisced about the adventures they had, foreshadowing the events that followed. "And if, in some distant place in the future, we see each other in our new lives, I will smile at you with joy, and remember how we spent a summer beneath the trees, learning from each other and growing in love. And maybe, for a brief moment, you'll feel it too, and you'll smile back, and savor the memories we will always share together" (151). There are surprises one would never expect and descriptions that one can't even imagine; they pull the reader in and paint a picture in the mind. This novel will make the reader cry, gasp, sigh, and cry once more.
The beginning of the novel introduces the reader to Esther O'Malley Robertson as the last of a family of extreme women. She is sitting in her home, remembering a story that her grandmother told her a long time ago. Esther is the first character that the reader is introduced to, but we do not really understand who she is until the end of the story. Esther's main struggle is dealing with her home on Loughbreeze Beach being torn down, and trying to figure out the mysteries of her family's past.
This very thought encapsulates Allie’s “delusional” outlook of the modern world that fueled his yearning desire to pursue life abroad. Consequently, Allie’s direct objection to the developing world through his actions of leaving enabled him to be free of the afflictive and “controlling country” he lived in; he “could not bare to see the things he [hated] destroy the country he loves.” Allie was able to escape the fears he developed in America; he believed there were “Ten year old homicidal maniacs on every street corner… and that people [would] [stick] knives in [his] ribs” because of this, the idea of change satisfied Allie’s aspirations. In the final
This theme is a big lesson learned throughout the whole story of Allie and Noah. She loves Noah with all of her heart when she is a young woman, and yet when they were separated for a period of time she finds her way back to him. When Allie sees Noah again for the first time in years, she realizes she never stopped loving him and her heart belongs to him. When she has to choose between Noah and Lon, she follows her heart and chooses the man to whom she loves most.