Samuel Selvon's second novel "An Island Is a World" (1955) introduces the readers to the middle-class protagonist, Foster. As the narrative unfolds, Foster is exposed as an introspective cogitating protagonist whose actions do not positively correlate with his thought processes. He can be seen as, "a character whose attractiveness or interest consists of the inability to perform deeds of bravery, courage or generosity." Consequently, it can be said that Foster possesses traits of the common unheroic working-class protagonist present in twentieth century literature. His progress in terms of evolution is cyclical, paralleling the arrangement of the novel which "is circular; its beginning is its end, and the prologue is in effect an epilogue."
Foster is different from Selvon's first protagonist, Tiger, in "A Brighter Sun" who had an intimate relationship with the land. Tiger is of peasant background whereas Foster belongs to the "thought-burdened middle-class." Foster, like the author himself, comes from an urban middle-class background and enjoyed the benefits of "creolized life: social freedom, sufficient leisure, and an enviable general mobility." Tiger on the other hand is not endowed with these characteristics but must negotiate a life that he inherited through tradition. He knows poverty, is forced into an arranged marriage and is initially illiterate. However, he is able to transcend these obstacles because he has a clear aspiration and actively goes about to achieve the goals he has set for himself.
Foster seems to be "afflicted by an existential despair" and his mission in life remains ambiguous. Foster demonstrates an inherent passivity. He refuses to be drawn into decisive action. At his brother's wedding he m...
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...ck, Roydon. The Novels of Samuel Selvon. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2001.
Ibid.
Ibid
Barratt, Harold. "An Island Is Not a World: A Reading of Sam Selvon's An Island Is a World." Ariel 27.2 (April 1966), 25-34.
Salick, Roydon. The Novels of Samuel Selvon. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2001.
Barratt, Harold. "An Island Is Not a World: A Reading of Sam Selvon's An Island Is a World." Ariel 27.2 (April 1966), 25-34.
Looker, Mark. Atlantic Passages: History, Community and Language in the Fiction of Sam Selvon. New York: P. Lang, 1996. (50)
Eliot, T. S. Selected Poems. London: Faber and Faber Ltd., 1961.
Barratt, Harold. "An Island Is Not a World: A Reading of Sam Selvon's An Island Is a World." Ariel 27.2 (April 1966), 25-34.
Salick, Roydon. The Novels of Samuel Selvon. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2001.
Ibid
Gorinson, Stanley M., and Kevin P. Kane. “The Accidental Three Mile Island: The Role of
The second idea of the island archetype is that isolation reduces humans to their most basic tendencies. The absence of law, structure, and order either leads to complete serenity, insight, and innocence, or the opposite: destruction, chaos, and confusion. In both of the stories, the latter is what occurred. One example of this from Lord of the Flies is shown in the quote “The rock struck Piggy a glancing blow from chin to knee; the conch exploded into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exist” (181). One way this shows complete chaos is how they kil...
While the boys stranded on the island begin with the basis of a plan to keep order, as time progresses, they are faced with conflicts that ultimately brings an end to their civilized ways. Initially, Ralph, the assumed leader, ran a democratic-like process on the island; however, later in the story, Jack, one of the boys, realizes that there are no longer any consequences to their wrongdoings for the reason that there was no control. This ties in with the ideal that moral behavior is forced upon individuals by civilization and when they are left on their own, they return to their fundamental instinct of savagery. Furthermore, there is a differentiation in beliefs that result in chaos due to the fact that some favored an uncultivated manner of life over an ordered structure. Opposing ideas are commonly known t...
...rlett, Donald L and James B. Steele. "Fantasy Islands". Time. November 16, 1998. Ideas & Institutions in American Society Course Reader, New York University. Spring 2001.
H.G. Wells, The Island of Dr. Moreau, copyright 1996 by Dover Publications, Inc., USA [This is a reprint of the London 1896 edition.]
Woodcock, George. "Brave New World: Overview." Reference Guide to English Literature. Ed. D. L. Kirkpatrick. 2nd ed. Chicago: St. James Press, 1991. Literature Resource Center. Web. 25 Mar. 2011.
Harmon, William, and C. Hugh Holman. A Handbook to Literature. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1996.
[9] Nicholas Everitt, Round the world in strange company; America, British Columbia and the west (London: T. W. Laurie Ltd., 1915), 270.
Fernandez-Aemesto, F. (2011). The World: A History (Combined ed., Vols. 1 - 2). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
The story takes place on a deserted island that is somewhere near the Pacific Ocean. The island on which the characters land is unique in that it has a small mountain on it and plenty of wildlife and food. The island influences the main character very much and influences the other characters as well. The setting of this story causes the main character to act the way that he does; he puts forth many rules and actions that help the others on the island to deal with what they are living in.
This extract emphasises the lonely, outworld feeling that would have been felt living in such settings. This puts into perspective the feeling that will be felt during the coarse of the plot development.
there was a peace, however as soon as that was disrupted the island became chaotic. The novel
2. Knight, Franklin W. The Caribbean: The Genesis of a Fragmented Nationalism, 2nd edition. New York: Oxford University Pres, 1990.
...t, Stephen, gen. ed. “Paradise Lost.” The Norton Anthology of English Literature. 9th ed. Vol. 1. New York: Norton, 2012. Print. 36-39.
Puchner, Martin. The Norton Anthology of World Literature. Vol. A. New York: W.W. Norton &, 2012. Print.