During the 1950s, change was at an all-time high in Britain with immigrants arriving from places such as Africa and the Caribbean, a newly formed youth culture changing the scenes and the popularity of jazz music and bars. Authors of 1950s literature, such as Colin Macinnes, Shelagh Delaney and Sam Selvon manage to encapsulate these changes in their work, whilst also portraying the different ideas of ‘Home’, or lack of, for their characters. With the authors having very different backgrounds, and also due to the difference in gender, we are able to explore the different ideas of ‘Home’. Additionally because the authors wanted to address social issues they felt were present during the 1950s in Britain, the result is very present in their work.
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The introduction to the novel opens with Moses Aloetta, a “veteran black Londoner on his routine journey to welcome yet another newcomer into the fold,” (pg. v) suggesting that he does this quite often, which seems normal considering the increase in immigrants arriving in England during the 1950s. As the title of the novel suggest, it is about immigrants living in London who are lonely, and although not alone physically due to the increasing number of newcomers that are from the same countries, but emotionally due to leaving their families and coming to the exciting, ever-changing and highly segregated London. One character in particular, Moses Aloetta, who although has lived in London for 10 years, grows more and more homesick each day. His loneliness could be due to the segregation that is forced upon the immigrants by the British public at this point due to the colour of their skin, and their accents, forcing them to form a group themselves. The changing London society that Selvon wrote about could no longer be ignored, with his characters appearing haunted and melancholy at having to try and survive in London, especially Moses, who describes the lively and hectic city as being “divide[d] up in little worlds, and you stay in the world you belong to and you don’t know anything about what [‘s] happening in the other ones except what you read in the papers.” (pg. 60) The characters in The Lonely Londoners are so segregated from society due to the colour of their skin that it seems they are unable to make themselves a home, or feel a belonging, especially considering they are not in their native
The introduction to the novel opens with Moses Aloetta, a “veteran black Londoner on his routine journey to welcome yet another newcomer into the fold,” (pg. v) suggesting that he does this quite often, which seems normal considering the increase in immigrants arriving in England during the 1950s. As the title of the novel suggest, it is about immigrants living in London who are lonely, and although not alone physically due to the increasing number of newcomers that are from the same countries, but emotionally due to leaving their families and coming to the exciting, ever-changing and highly segregated London. One character in particular, Moses Aloetta, who although has lived in London for 10 years, grows more and more homesick each day. His loneliness could be due to the segregation that is forced upon the immigrants by the British public at this point due to the colour of their skin, and their accents, forcing them to form a group themselves. The changing London society that Selvon wrote about could no longer be ignored, with his characters appearing haunted and melancholy at having to try and survive in London, especially Moses, who describes the lively and hectic city as being “divide[d] up in little worlds, and you stay in the world you belong to and you don’t know anything about what [‘s] happening in the other ones except what you read in the papers.” (pg. 60) The characters in The Lonely Londoners are so segregated from society due to the colour of their skin that it seems they are unable to make themselves a home, or feel a belonging, especially considering they are not in their native