Article #393-2 | Gutenberg Articles

Excerpt

Excerpt from The Blue Lagoon: A Romance, by H. De Vere Stacpoole

“There aren’t any,” replied Dick. “Mrs Sims said there weren’t.”

“Mrs James,” put in Emmeline, “said there were. She said she liked to
see children b’lieve in fairies. She was talking to another lady, who’d
got a red feather in her bonnet, and a fur muff. They were having tea,
and I was sitting on the hearthrug. She said the world was getting
too—something or another, an’ then the other lady said it was, and
asked Mrs James did she see Mrs Someone in the awful hat she wore
Thanksgiving Day. They didn’t say anything more about fairies, but Mrs
James——”

“Whether you b’lave in them or not,” said Paddy, “there they are. An’
maybe they’re poppin’ out of the wood behint us now, an’ listenin’ to
us talkin’; though I’m doubtful if there’s any in these parts, though
down in Connaught they were as thick as blackberries in the ould days.
O musha! musha! the ould days, the ould days! when will I be seein’
thim again? Now, you may b’lave me or b’lave me not, but me own ould
father—God rest his sowl!—was comin’ over Croagh Patrick one night
before Christmas with a bottle of whisky in one hand of him, and a
goose, plucked an’ claned an’ all, in the other, which same he’d won in
a lottery, when, hearin’ a tchune no louder than the buzzin’ of a bee,
over a furze-bush he peeps, and there, round a big white stone, the
Good People were dancing in a ring hand in hand, an’ kickin’ their
heels, an’ the eyes of them glowin’ like the eyes of moths; and a chap
on the stone, no bigger than the joint of your thumb, playin’ to thim
on a bagpipes. Wid that he let wan yell an’ drops the goose an’ makes
for home, over hedge an’ ditch, boundin’ like a buck kangaroo, an’ the
face on him as white as flour when he burst in through the door, where
we was all sittin’ round the fire burnin’ chestnuts to see who’d be
married the first.

Explanation

**Detailed Explanation of the Excerpt from The Blue Lagoon: A Romance by H. De Vere Stacpoole**

Context of the Source

H. De Vere Stacpoole’s The Blue Lagoon (1908) is a romantic adventure novel set on a deserted tropical island, where two children, Dick and Emmeline, are shipwrecked and grow up in isolation, eventually falling in love. The novel explores themes of innocence, nature vs. civilization, and the loss of childhood wonder. The excerpt provided does not take place on the island but rather in an earlier scene where the children, still in England, discuss fairies with Paddy, an Irish sailor. This conversation reflects the contrast between the rational, adult world (represented by Mrs. Sims and Mrs. James) and the magical, folkloric beliefs of Paddy, foreshadowing the children’s later immersion in a world where reality and fantasy blur.

Themes in the Excerpt

The Conflict Between Childlike Wonder and Adult Skepticism
- The children (Dick and Emmeline) are caught between two opposing views:
  - Dick (influenced by Mrs. Sims) dismisses fairies as nonexistent, representing the rational, disenchanted adult perspective.
  - Emmeline recalls Mrs. James, who wants children to believe in fairies, suggesting a nostalgic, sentimental adult who clings to magic but does not truly engage with it.
  - Paddy, however, speaks with absolute conviction, treating fairies as a lived reality. His story is not a whimsical tale but a testimony—his father’s terrifying encounter is presented as fact.
The Loss of Magic in the Modern World
- Mrs. James laments that the world is "getting too—something or another," implying a loss of enchantment. The adults in her conversation are more concerned with gossip ("the awful hat she wore Thanksgiving Day") than with fairies, showing how modernity displaces wonder with trivialities.
- Paddy’s nostalgia ("the ould days, the ould days!") contrasts with the children’s urban upbringing, suggesting that industrialized society has eroded belief in the supernatural.
Cultural Folklore vs. Urban Disbelief
- Paddy’s Irish heritage is central to his belief in fairies (the "Good People" of Celtic mythology). His story is rich with Irish dialect ("musha," "sowl," "tchune") and references to Croagh Patrick (a sacred mountain in Ireland), grounding his tale in a specific cultural tradition.
- The children, raised in England, are detached from such folklore, symbolizing the decline of oral storytelling in favor of "civilized" skepticism.
Fear and the Sublime in Folklore
- Paddy’s story is not just whimsical—it’s uncanny. The fairies are described with eerie details:
  - Their eyes glow "like the eyes of moths."
  - They dance in a ring (a motif in folklore often associated with danger—those who enter may be trapped).
  - The piper is "no bigger than the joint of your thumb," emphasizing the unsettling smallness of the supernatural.
- His father’s reaction—dropping the goose, fleeing in terror—shows that fairies are not mere figments of imagination but real, fearsome beings in Paddy’s worldview.

Literary Devices

Dialect and Oral Storytelling
- Paddy’s speech is rendered in Irish English dialect ("b’lave," "ould," "thim"), which:
  - Authenticates his voice as a working-class sailor.
  - Evokes the oral tradition of folklore, where stories are passed down through speech rather than writing.
  - Contrasts with the children’s more standard English, reinforcing the cultural divide.
Imagery and Sensory Details
- Visual: The fairies’ glowing eyes, the "big white stone," the tiny piper—these create a vivid, almost hallucinatory scene.
- Auditory: The "tchune no louder than the buzzin’ of a bee" adds to the eerie, otherworldly atmosphere.
- Kinesthetic: The father "boundin’ like a buck kangaroo" conveys panic and physicality, making the supernatural encounter feel real.
Foreshadowing
- The children’s debate about fairies mirrors their later experiences on the island, where they must navigate between reality and the unknown. The excerpt suggests that belief (or the loss of it) will shape their lives.
Juxtaposition
- The domestic, trivial world of the adults (tea, hats, gossip) is set against Paddy’s wild, supernatural tale, highlighting how modernity dismisses magic.
- The children’s uncertainty ("there aren’t any" vs. "there were") is contrasted with Paddy’s certainty ("there they are").
Symbolism
- The fairies symbolize the unseen, the mystical, and the fading traditions of the past.
- The goose (dropped in fear) may represent the loss of earthly comforts when confronted with the supernatural.
- The fire and chestnuts in Paddy’s story (a divination game for marriage) subtly connect to the novel’s later themes of love and fate.

Significance of the Excerpt

Establishing the Children’s Innocence
- Dick and Emmeline are at an age where they are still open to wonder but are being shaped by adult influences. Their later isolation on the island will force them to create their own beliefs, free from societal constraints.
Paddy as a Bridge Between Worlds
- As a sailor, Paddy represents a liminal figure—neither fully of the "civilized" world nor the "wild" one. His stories plant the seed of magic in the children’s minds, preparing them (and the reader) for the novel’s later themes of nature’s mysteries.
Critique of Modern Disenchantment
- Stacpoole, writing in the early 20th century, reflects a broader cultural anxiety about the decline of folklore and imagination in an industrialized world. The excerpt mourns the loss of stories like Paddy’s, which are being replaced by cynicism.
Foreshadowing the Island’s Mysteries
- The fairy debate hints at the novel’s central question: What is real? On the island, Dick and Emmeline will face situations where the boundaries between reality and myth blur (e.g., their evolving relationship, the island’s "paradise" qualities).

Close Reading of Key Passages

"Whether you b’lave in them or not, there they are."
- Paddy’s statement is a defiant assertion of faith. Unlike the adults who want children to believe (but don’t themselves), Paddy treats fairies as an objective truth, independent of belief. This challenges the children’s (and the reader’s) assumptions about reality.
"the Good People were dancing in a ring hand in hand, an’ kickin’ their heels, an’ the eyes of them glowin’ like the eyes of moths"
- The dancing in a ring is a classic folkloric motif (e.g., the "fairy ring" in Celtic myth), often a warning of danger.
- The glowing eyes suggest something inhuman, almost insect-like ("moths"), reinforcing the fairies’ alien nature.
"the face on him as white as flour when he burst in through the door"
- The simile ("white as flour") emphasizes the father’s terror, making the supernatural encounter visceral.
- The abrupt return to the domestic space (the family burning chestnuts) contrasts with the wildness of the fairy world, showing how the supernatural intrudes upon the ordinary.

Conclusion: Why This Excerpt Matters

This passage is more than just a whimsical fairy tale—it’s a microcosm of the novel’s central tensions:

Innocence vs. Experience (the children’s openness vs. adult skepticism).
Nature vs. Civilization (Paddy’s folklore vs. the urban adults’ gossip).
Reality vs. Myth (are fairies real? The island will later ask: is love? Is paradise?).

Paddy’s story serves as a warning and an invitation: the world is stranger than the children realize, and their journey will require them to decide what to believe—and what to fear. The excerpt thus sets the stage for the novel’s exploration of how humans construct meaning in a world that is both beautiful and terrifying.

Would you like further analysis on how this connects to the rest of The Blue Lagoon or its adaptations?

Questions

Question 1

The passage’s depiction of Paddy’s storytelling serves primarily to:

A. illustrate the generational transmission of Irish folklore as a dying art form in the face of British colonial assimilation.
B. contrast the rational skepticism of urban children with the superstitious credulity of rural immigrants.
C. underscore the psychological fragility of sailors who, isolated at sea, fabricate supernatural encounters to cope with loneliness.
D. evoke a liminal space where the boundaries between reality and folklore are deliberately blurred, inviting the reader to suspend disbelief.
E. satirize the Victorian upper class’s performative nostalgia for peasant traditions they neither understand nor genuinely respect.

Question 2

The "red feather in her bonnet" and "fur muff" mentioned in Emmeline’s recollection function most significantly as:

A. symbols of the frivolous materialism that distracts adults from engaging with children’s imaginative worlds.
B. markers of social status that highlight the class divide between the gossiping women and the working-class Paddy.
C. ironic juxtaposition to the fairy discussion, emphasizing how adults reduce the sublime to trivial fashion critiques.
D. foreshadowing of the children’s later isolation, where such artificial adornments will become meaningless in nature.
E. a critique of how modernity commodifies wonder, turning even magical beliefs into superficial social currency.

Question 3

Paddy’s exclamation—“O musha! musha! the ould days, the ould days! when will I be seein’ thim again?”—primarily conveys:

A. a sentimental longing for Ireland that undermines his credibility as a storyteller by revealing his emotional bias.
B. a performative lament intended to manipulate the children into adopting his folkloric beliefs uncritically.
C. the irreversible decline of oral traditions in an era where written records and empirical science dominate discourse.
D. a grief for a world where the supernatural was an accepted part of daily life, now lost to industrialized skepticism.
E. a subconscious admission that his father’s story was a drunken hallucination, not a genuine encounter.

Question 4

The structural effect of interrupting Paddy’s fairy tale with Emmeline’s memory of Mrs. James’ conversation is to:

A. demonstrate how children’s attention spans are fragmented by the competing narratives of adults.
B. expose the absurdity of adult hypocrisy—pretending to valorize imagination while dismissing it in practice.
C. create a dialectical tension between folklore and modernity, where neither perspective is granted narrative authority.
D. imply that Paddy’s story is a compensatory fantasy for the children’s lack of parental guidance.
E. suggest that Emmeline, unlike Dick, is more receptive to magical thinking due to her gendered socialization.

Question 5

The most defensible interpretation of the passage’s tone toward the existence of fairies is that it:

A. endorses Paddy’s perspective as objectively true, using his vivid details to validate the supernatural.
B. aligns with Dick’s skepticism, framing Paddy’s tale as a quaint but ultimately false cultural relic.
C. adopts Emmeline’s ambivalence, presenting fairies as a comforting illusion for those who choose to believe.
D. refuses to adjudicate, instead immersing the reader in the uncertainty that defines both childhood and folklore.
E. mocks all characters equally, revealing how both credulity and skepticism are equally naive responses to the unknown.

Solutions and Explanations

1) Correct answer: D

Why D is most correct: The passage does not resolve whether fairies exist; instead, it enacts the ambiguity inherent in folklore. Paddy’s tale is rendered with such sensory vividness ("eyes glowin’ like the eyes of moths") that it feels real, yet the children’s prior dialogue ("there aren’t any"/"there were") frames it as contested. The text invites readers into this liminal space—neither confirming nor denying—where the power of storytelling itself becomes the focus.