Essay Questions

How might the story have been effectively used as propaganda for the temperance movement sweeping across English-speaking nations at the time?

A fundamental thesis of the temperance movements which were simultaneously gaining ground in England, Canada and the U.S. around the time of the novel’s publication was that even if alcoholic consumption did not prove to be an evil in and of itself for some, it was consequentially a gateway to improper and uncivilized behavior. Evil might not take the form of drinking liquor, necessarily, but even among otherwise temperate personalities it could be the fuel which drove such people to regrettable impulsivity. Naturally, the consequences would be multiplied exponentially when alcohol was consumed by personalities already flawed by tendencies toward misbehavior. The apparent overreaction—almost to the point of melodrama—at what will prove to be a comparatively minor crime of stealing the champagne is summed up in a way almost perfectly devised for temperate propaganda:

“The Rubicon was crossed without another struggle. The captain filled a mug and drank.”

What is the significance of the defective chronometer?

A chronometer’s usefulness is dependent upon its precision. A watch can give one the time, but a chronometer is only as useful as its ability to perform calculations with crystal-clear precision. A chronometer that is off even slightly can result in longitudinal measurements capable of potential long-term consequences of guiding a ship into being lost at sea. It is this imprecise measuring ability and the consequences of getting lost as a result that is of symbolic value as it becomes relative to the concept of measuring morality. From the moment they board the ship, the ability to precisely measure ethical and moral decisions lapses and with each new attempt to measure the status of morality of decision-making, the characters move steadily closer to becoming permanently lost with no hope for rescue.

What point does the author appear to be making with the opening paragraph of the novel?

The very first sentence of the book strongly situates the arrival of European explorers, travelers, missionaries and potential conquistadors as a pestilential race whose presence has served only to denigrate and reduce the unspoiled natural qualities of the cultures of the Pacific islanders. The white man’s enforced introduction into the daily activities of natives is immediately ensconced within a web unsavory infiltration. The imagery of white men taking over islands as masters juxtaposed with less successful types who’ve been reduced to marrying native women and “going native” themselves not to thrive but merely to survive reduces the whole of European colonialism to a pathetic state of incapable assimilation and stunted dreams of glory. The final line of the opening paragraph hints very strongly that there are those who have failed even to attain these less-than-stellar accomplishments, but in focusing the story on examples of this latter group, the novel implicitly admits that these types represent the norm rather than any particular notable exception. Thus, the men whose stories will be told should be viewed as the embodiment of European failures in presenting themselves as representatives of a cultural superiority.