Literary Analysis of James Albert Michener’s Novel Tales from the South Pacific

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Recommended: Gender roles during world war 2

The men stationed in the Pacific Theatre of World War II faced many challenges and hardships. The fighting that occurred with the Japanese far surpassed the level of brutality in the European theatre. Some American military units faced relentless fighting throughout the entire war, while other units waited for the entire war for orders to deploy into combat, and never actually saw any action. Only a few stories surrounding both ends of the spectrum of men in the Pacific Theatre exist, and even a fewer number do the men and women that served during that time justice. One of these authors who captured the nature of life during World War II in the Pacific Theatre, James Michener, did so in the novel Tales of the South Pacific. Michener not only offers an in-depth perspective of life during the time, but also brings up key themes of issues that existed during that period. He introduced a new outlook on the South Pacific during World War II, showing that a variety of people scattered around the Pacific joined for the common goal of a successful military operation. The primary purpose for this collection of tales from around the South Pacific focused on telling the tale of everyone who spent the war there. Michener used varying points of view within the plot line to strengthen this point. Within the main focus he brings up three themes: the first being of camaraderie and fellowship, the second the issues of power struggle, and finally racism in World War II. Michener utilizes diction to help characterize individuals to help literary convey these three themes. James Albert Michener brings up the issues of racism and power struggle in the South Pacific, while portraying the men that lived there during that period and the fellowship they s...

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...ale, 2003. Student Resource Center - Silver. Gale. EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP HIGH SCHOOL. 16 Feb. 2010 .

Ikari, M. "History and Story: Unconventional History in Michael Ondaatje’s The English Patient and James A. Michener’s Tales of the South Pacific." History & Theory 41.4 (2002): 43-55. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 16 Feb. 2010.

McGuigan, Cathleen. "Theater Of War." Newsweek 151.14 (2008): 52-53. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 28 Mar. 2010.

Michener, James A. Tales of the South Pacific. New York, NY: Fawcett Books, 1973.

Mills, Nicolaus. "Reviving James Michener: The Relevance of South Pacific." Dissent (00123846) 2008: 85+. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 16 Feb. 2010.

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