Lack of improvement
Herrick had managed to accept the fact that his life wouldn’t become better. It had never been. The man had got used to it. Herrick “continued in the islands his career of failure” in “the new scene and under the new name.”He was shocked to realize that he “suffered no less sharply than before.” The irony was that Herrick did believe that such a simple procedure as a name change would reduce his suffering. Herrick’s main problem had nothing to do with either his name or his place of birth.
Even worse
Not long before, a ship from Peru “had brought an influenza,” and it now raged “in the island, and particularly in Papeete.” “From all round the purao arose and fell a dismal sound of men coughing.” The sick natives “had crawled from their houses to be cool, and squatting on the shore or on the beach canoes, painfully expected the new day.” The clerk fell ill too, but, unlike the sick natives he had not any house to go to. “They can’t be worse off than we are, and that’s the comfort,” he said. “I defy the devil to make me worse off,” the man continued. The irony was that “the devil heard him.” There was a roar and a terrible storm started.
Not perfect
Herrick was not an ideal person. He was a terrible failure who couldn’t either take matters into his own hands or find his place in this world. The captain was different. Unlike Herrick, he used to have a decent job and a family which he loved and supported. The day when the captain told him his story that destroyed his image of a successful man made Herrick liked him even more. “Thank you, captain,” said Herrick. “I never liked you better.” The irony was that Herrick was just glad that the captain turned out to be even the bigger failure than Herrick was.
