Moses and Sir Galahad: Deciphering Biblical and Arthurian Allusions in The Lonely Londoners Kristen Barrett College

In The Lonely Londoners by Samuel Selvon, Moses and Henry Oliver fight to overcome the discrimination they suffer due to prejudice in London towards immigrants. As insidious as the American South’s notoriously overt racism, London’s covert racism influences Moses’s critical view of London and forces Henry Oliver to come to terms with the flaws of his new city. Through artful allusions, Samuel Selvon’s The Lonely Londoners anchors Moses’ characterization in biblical history and Henry Oliver’s characterization in Arthurian legend. Consequently, the novel constructs a poignant illustration of how the oppressive environment of 1950s London affects Moses’s and Henry Oliver’s lives.

Like his biblical counterpart, Moses’s altruism and his authoritative voice contribute to his characterization as a caretaker. According to the Hebrew Bible, Moses valiantly led the Exodus of Israelites from 400 years of slavery in Egypt across the Red Sea to Mount Sinai where he received the Ten Commandments from God. Similarly, Selvon’s Moses leads immigrants who escaped the economic bondage of the West Indies for the Mother Country. In this particular narrative, “it is the same soft heart that have [Moses] now on the bus to Waterloo to meet a fellar...