‘Did you used to chew tobacco? Yes, a very long time ago, before you were ever thought of. And was it hard for you to stop? Yes It was, Alex, he says quietly, more difficult than you will ever know.’ – The Return
In Alistair MacLeod’s intricate oeuvre of short stories Island, he depicts a microcosmic community that is on the cusp of socioeconomic and cultural change. MacLeod explores the conflict between the past and present through these torn characters with in Island to reveal the hardships they face, he suggests it is not possible for the past and present to coexist as they ‘exclude each other in a manner that [is] so blunt and too clear.’ Despite the inevitable need for the Cape Bretoners to change their ‘old ways’ and move into the present …show more content…
The fathers are those who go into ‘deep mineshafts’ every day and experience the physical torment of their tedious jobs, the repercussions that a rise include their physical rigidity and deterioration. Despite being described as ‘rigged jigsaw puzzles’ that have lost their ‘fingers’ and ‘toes’, MacLeod still romantics these ‘big men’ as ‘heroes’ and ‘gladiators’. Not only have these men sacrificed their physical wellbeing but also their own ambitions and self-fulfilment to meet the expectations of their predecessors. Particularly, the father with in The Boat represents the embodiment of someone that is trapped by their past. Despite his attempt to maintain the ‘present’ which is metaphorically represented as his room and the books that he indulges in to escape his ‘prison’ of a life. He is unable to balance both due to the community’s resilience to change and accept the ‘present’. Like him, many fathers do not want their children to follow the exhausting lifestyle they have, hence they attempt to facilitate the freedom needed for them to leave and lead better lives. Again, the fathers here sacrifice themselves, they realise that if they let their children lead ‘fatly affluent’ lives, they won’t be able to ‘follow what they do not
In Alistair MacLeod’s intricate oeuvre of short stories Island, he depicts a microcosmic community that is on the cusp of socioeconomic and cultural change. MacLeod explores the conflict between the past and present through these torn characters with in Island to reveal the hardships they face, he suggests it is not possible for the past and present to coexist as they ‘exclude each other in a manner that [is] so blunt and too clear.’ Despite the inevitable need for the Cape Bretoners to change their ‘old ways’ and move into the present …show more content…
The fathers are those who go into ‘deep mineshafts’ every day and experience the physical torment of their tedious jobs, the repercussions that a rise include their physical rigidity and deterioration. Despite being described as ‘rigged jigsaw puzzles’ that have lost their ‘fingers’ and ‘toes’, MacLeod still romantics these ‘big men’ as ‘heroes’ and ‘gladiators’. Not only have these men sacrificed their physical wellbeing but also their own ambitions and self-fulfilment to meet the expectations of their predecessors. Particularly, the father with in The Boat represents the embodiment of someone that is trapped by their past. Despite his attempt to maintain the ‘present’ which is metaphorically represented as his room and the books that he indulges in to escape his ‘prison’ of a life. He is unable to balance both due to the community’s resilience to change and accept the ‘present’. Like him, many fathers do not want their children to follow the exhausting lifestyle they have, hence they attempt to facilitate the freedom needed for them to leave and lead better lives. Again, the fathers here sacrifice themselves, they realise that if they let their children lead ‘fatly affluent’ lives, they won’t be able to ‘follow what they do not