Article #464-2 | Gutenberg Articles

Excerpt

Excerpt from In the South Seas, by Robert Louis Stevenson

CHAPTER I—AN ISLAND LANDFALL

For nearly ten years my health had been declining; and for some while
before I set forth upon my voyage, I believed I was come to the
afterpiece of life, and had only the nurse and undertaker to expect. It
was suggested that I should try the South Seas; and I was not unwilling
to visit like a ghost, and be carried like a bale, among scenes that had
attracted me in youth and health. I chartered accordingly Dr. Merrit’s
schooner yacht, the Casco, seventy-four tons register; sailed from San
Francisco towards the end of June 1888, visited the eastern islands, and
was left early the next year at Honolulu. Hence, lacking courage to
return to my old life of the house and sick-room, I set forth to leeward
in a trading schooner, the Equator, of a little over seventy tons,
spent four months among the atolls (low coral islands) of the Gilbert
group, and reached Samoa towards the close of ’89. By that time
gratitude and habit were beginning to attach me to the islands; I had
gained a competency of strength; I had made friends; I had learned new
interests; the time of my voyages had passed like days in fairyland; and
I decided to remain. I began to prepare these pages at sea, on a third
cruise, in the trading steamer Janet Nicoll. If more days are granted
me, they shall be passed where I have found life most pleasant and man
most interesting; the axes of my black boys are already clearing the
foundations of my future house; and I must learn to address readers from
the uttermost parts of the sea.

That I should thus have reversed the verdict of Lord Tennyson’s hero is
less eccentric than appears. Few men who come to the islands leave them;
they grow grey where they alighted; the palm shades and the trade-wind
fans them till they die, perhaps cherishing to the last the fancy of a
visit home, which is rarely made, more rarely enjoyed, and yet more
rarely repeated. No part of the world exerts the same attractive power
upon the visitor, and the task before me is to communicate to fireside
travellers some sense of its seduction, and to describe the life, at sea
and ashore, of many hundred thousand persons, some of our own blood and
language, all our contemporaries, and yet as remote in thought and habit
as Rob Roy or Barbarossa, the Apostles or the Cæsars.

Explanation

**Detailed Explanation of the Excerpt from In the South Seas by Robert Louis Stevenson**

Context of the Source

Robert Louis Stevenson’s In the South Seas (1896) is a travelogue and ethnographic account of his voyages through the Pacific Islands in the late 19th century. Written during the final years of his life, the book blends personal narrative, cultural observation, and vivid descriptions of island life. Stevenson, already a celebrated author (Treasure Island, Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde), was suffering from tuberculosis and sought a warmer climate to prolong his life. His journey to the South Pacific was both an escape from illness and a pursuit of adventure, leading him to settle in Samoa, where he died in 1894.

This excerpt, the opening of Chapter I—"An Island Landfall," sets the stage for Stevenson’s transformation from a dying man in Europe to a revitalized explorer embracing a new life in the Pacific. It establishes key themes: mortality, renewal, cultural fascination, and the allure of the exotic.

Themes in the Excerpt

Mortality and Rebirth
- Stevenson begins by framing his journey as a near-death experience: "For nearly ten years my health had been declining... I believed I was come to the afterpiece of life, and had only the nurse and undertaker to expect."
  - The "afterpiece" metaphor (a short, often comedic play following a tragedy) suggests he sees his life as nearing its end, with only a brief, perhaps absurd coda left.
  - His decision to travel is initially passive—"I was not unwilling to visit like a ghost"—implying he expects to be a spectator, not a participant, in his own life.
- Yet, the voyage becomes a rebirth. By the end of the passage, he is no longer a "ghost" but an active builder ("the axes of my black boys are already clearing the foundations of my future house"), symbolizing his reclaiming of agency and vitality.
The Allure of the South Seas
- Stevenson describes the islands as a fairyland, a place where time distorts ("the time of my voyages had passed like days in fairyland"). This romanticizes the Pacific as a realm of escape from the mundane and the morbid.
- The seductive power of the islands is emphasized: "No part of the world exerts the same attractive power upon the visitor... the task before me is to communicate to fireside travellers some sense of its seduction."
  - He positions himself as a mediator between the "fireside travellers" (armchair explorers in Europe) and the exotic realities of the Pacific.
Cultural and Temporal Displacement
- Stevenson highlights the paradox of the islands: though inhabited by "our own blood and language" (referring to European colonists and missionaries), the people are "as remote in thought and habit as Rob Roy or Barbarossa, the Apostles or the Cæsars."
  - This juxtaposition of familiarity and alienation underscores the Pacific as a place where time seems to collapse—modern Europeans live alongside cultures that feel ancient or mythic.
- The reference to Lord Tennyson’s hero (likely Ulysses, who yearns for adventure despite old age) contrasts with Stevenson’s own choice to stay rather than return home, reinforcing the islands’ irresistible pull.
Colonialism and Belonging
- While Stevenson does not overtly critique colonialism here, his decision to settle ("the axes of my black boys") reflects the colonial dynamic—he is a white man establishing a home in a foreign land, employing local labor.
- His attachment to the islands ("gratitude and habit were beginning to attach me") suggests a personal colonialism, where he finds belonging in a place that is not his by birth but becomes his by choice.

Literary Devices and Stylistic Choices

Metaphor and Simile
- "Like a ghost, and be carried like a bale": Stevenson compares himself to a specter (suggesting his frailty) and a piece of cargo (emphasizing his passivity in the early stages of the journey).
- "The time of my voyages had passed like days in fairyland": The simile reinforces the dreamlike, almost unreal quality of his experiences.
- "The palm shades and the trade-wind fans them till they die": Personifies the islands as nurturing yet inescapable, like a gentle but final embrace.
Juxtaposition and Contrast
- Life vs. Death: The opening focuses on decline ("nurse and undertaker"), but the end shifts to construction ("foundations of my future house").
- Familiar vs. Foreign: The islands are inhabited by "our own blood and language" yet are as distant as historical or mythical figures ("Rob Roy or Barbarossa").
Irony and Understatement
- "I was not unwilling": A dry understatement for what becomes a life-changing decision.
- "Less eccentric than appears": His choice to stay in the Pacific seems radical, but he normalizes it by noting how many others do the same.
Symbolism
- The Schooners (Casco, Equator, Janet Nicoll): Represent stages of his journey—from sickness to exploration to settlement.
- The "black boys" clearing land: Symbolizes both his adoption of a new life and the colonial power dynamics of the era.
Tone and Voice
- The tone shifts from melancholic ("afterpiece of life") to optimistic ("life most pleasant").
- Stevenson’s voice is intimate yet authoritative—he speaks as both a patient and an explorer, a dying man and a storyteller.

Significance of the Passage

Personal Transformation
- This excerpt marks Stevenson’s physical and spiritual resurrection. The South Seas become a cure not just for his tuberculosis but for his existential despair.
- His decision to write from the islands ("I must learn to address readers from the uttermost parts of the sea") signals a new identity—no longer a Scottish invalid but a Pacific chronicler.
Literary and Cultural Impact
- Stevenson’s work contributed to the Romantic myth of the Pacific as a paradise of escape, influencing later writers like Somerset Maugham and Jack London.
- His ethnographic observations (though sometimes problematic by modern standards) offered European readers a glimpse into Polynesian cultures at a time when the Pacific was being rapidly colonized.
Postcolonial Readings
- Modern critics might analyze Stevenson’s position as a white settler—his "attachment" to the islands is framed as natural, yet it reflects the privilege of colonial mobility.
- The phrase "our own blood and language" erases the complexity of indigenous cultures, reducing them to European terms.
Existential and Philosophical Themes
- The passage grapples with how place shapes identity. Stevenson’s rejection of his "old life of the house and sick-room" suggests that geography can redefine a person’s fate.
- The contradiction between transience and permanence—he arrives as a visitor but stays as a resident—mirrors broader human struggles with belonging.

Conclusion: The Passage’s Core Message

Stevenson’s opening chapter is a meditation on renewal through displacement. He presents the South Seas as a liminal space—neither fully life nor death, neither home nor foreign land—where a man on the brink of oblivion can reinvent himself. The excerpt is both a travelogue and a eulogy for his old self, marking the moment when Robert Louis Stevenson, the ailing European, becomes Tusitala ("the storyteller") of Samoa.

His writing here is not just descriptive but transformative—it invites the reader to see the Pacific not as a distant curiosity but as a place of profound personal and cultural significance, where the boundaries between observer and participant, sickness and health, past and present, dissolve in the trade winds.

Questions

Question 1

The passage’s depiction of Stevenson’s physical and psychological state undergoes a structural shift from the first paragraph to the second. The most precise characterization of this shift is that it moves from:

A. resignation to defiance, as Stevenson rejects societal expectations of a dying man.
B. detachment to immersion, as his initial passivity gives way to an embrace of indigenous customs.
C. nostalgia to pragmatism, as his romanticized memories of youth are replaced by the realities of colonial life.
D. spectral passivity to embodied agency, as his self-description evolves from a "ghost" to an active participant in constructing his future.
E. existential dread to stoic acceptance, as he reconciles himself to the inevitability of death in a foreign land.

Question 2

Stevenson’s reference to "Lord Tennyson’s hero" serves primarily to:

A. invoke a literary precedent for the romanticization of maritime adventure, aligning his journey with Ulysses’ restless spirit.
B. highlight the paradox of his own choice to remain in the islands, contrasting it with the conventional narrative of the aging explorer’s return.
C. critique the colonial mindset of European travelers who impose their cultural values onto indigenous societies.
D. underscore the universality of human longing for home, suggesting that his own yearnings are shared by all who venture abroad.
E. establish his intellectual superiority by demonstrating familiarity with canonical poetry while describing his personal transformation.

Question 3

The phrase "the axes of my black boys are already clearing the foundations of my future house" is most effectively interpreted as:

A. a straightforward description of labor, emphasizing the practical steps Stevenson is taking to establish residency in Samoa.
B. an ironic commentary on the exploitation of indigenous workers, revealing the colonial power dynamics underlying his settlement.
C. a metaphor for the destructive nature of European colonization, where "clearing" symbolizes the erasure of local cultures.
D. a layered image that simultaneously asserts his renewed vitality, his adoption of a colonial role, and the literal construction of a new identity.
E. a nostalgic reflection on the simplicity of island life, contrasting it with the complexity of his former existence in Europe.

Question 4

The passage’s treatment of time is most accurately described as:

A. linear and progressive, charting Stevenson’s journey from illness to recovery in a chronological narrative.
B. cyclical and repetitive, emphasizing the monotonous routine of life in the South Seas.
C. fragmented and disjointed, mirroring the disorientation of a traveler uprooted from familiar surroundings.
D. fluid and distorting, where the islands create a timeless, fairyland-like experience that defies conventional temporal boundaries.
E. urgent and accelerated, as Stevenson races against his declining health to document his experiences before death.

Question 5

The "seduction" of the South Seas, as described in the passage, is most fundamentally rooted in its capacity to:

A. offer a climatic cure for physical ailments, as evidenced by Stevenson’s regained strength.
B. provide an escape from the moral and social constraints of Victorian Europe.
C. serve as a blank canvas for European fantasies of primal freedom and unspoiled nature.
D. dissolve the distinctions between self and other, past and present, life and death, thereby enabling a radical reinvention of identity.
E. function as a commercial hub, where the trading schooners symbolize the economic opportunities that bind visitors to the islands.

Solutions and Explanations

1) Correct answer: D

Why D is most correct: The passage opens with Stevenson describing himself as a "ghost" and a "bale"—images that connote disembodiment, passivity, and a lack of agency. By the end, he shifts to active verbs ("decided to remain," "preparing these pages," "axes... clearing the foundations"), which signal his transition into an embodied, agentic figure constructing both a physical and metaphorical future. This evolution from spectral passivity to embodied agency is the most precise characterization of the structural shift.