47 pages • 1 hour read
Paul TherouxThe Mosquito Coast
Paul TherouxFiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1981A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Themes
Rebellion Against Parental Belief Systems
The theme of coming-of-age features heavily throughout The Mosquito Coast. In the relative isolation in which the Fox children have grown up, few reference points are accessible to Charlie and Jerry through which they might perceive themselves relative to their peers. Though they understand their father to be remarkable and their lifestyle unconventional, they can neither engage in and learn from social interactions customary for their age group, nor draw comparisons between their family dynamics and those of other children. The occasion for direct comparison arises over the course of Charlie’s interactions with Emily Spellgood. He reflects:
Emily Spellgood was from that other world that Father had forbidden us to enter. And yet it seemed glamorous to me. It was something you could boast about. It made our life seem dull and home-made, like the patches on our clothes. But if I could not have that life, then I was glad we were going very far away, where no one would see us.
Even though Charlie and Jerry’s experiences are extreme, the emotional evolution and intellectual processes which influence their perceptions and actions are typical of their developmental ages. Both boys are disappointed and angered by their parents’ flaws. They both accept the notion that there are certain aspects of their lives that should remain secret unto themselves or only shared with other children. Both boys evaluate their evolving roles within the family and contemplate the extent to which they should be responsible for the well-being of their family members.
As the novel progresses, Charlie and Jerry both begin to consider their own emerging values, separate from family doctrine, as they calcify them independently. Their growth is revealed when they abandon the competitive relationship engineered by their father. Maturing beyond their rivalry, the boys begin relying on each other. They share a sense of relief over their father’s possible demise when Allie fails to reappear after diving for the boat’s propeller. Charlie says, “Jerry had stopped looking. He was staring at me. His face was relaxed—very white and hopeful, like someone sitting up in bed in the morning” (329). Where once Charlie had stated that he was certain the family was lost if Allie were to die, he and his brother have found themselves in circumstances under which their father’s death feels like a relief and an opportunity.
The Pretense of Colonial Attitudes
The concept of “savages” and “savagery” factor heavily in Allie’s dialogue. While he is critical of government systems he deems oppressive, Allie’s attitudes toward the Indigenous people in the jungles of the Mosquito Coast have much in common with the paternalistic attitudes of western colonizers who changed the course of Honduras’ history. Allie views the wilderness as his personal sanctuary, a place where he can carve out an existence according to his own expectations, goals, and personal preferences. Ensuring that he enjoys as many conveniences as he can design and manufacture for himself, Allie has molded and modified the jungle to suit the lifestyle expectations he brought with him from his experiences in the western world. He is convinced that his way of life is superior to the established lifestyle of the people from the region, and his savior complex is demonstrated not only through his optimism at the notion he will radically improve the lives of those in their vicinity but through his frustration when he is not received with the gratitude he thinks he deserves.
Allie’s preoccupation with the conduct of those he views crude and simplistic is hypocritical. For all his engineering talent, Allie himself is uncouth and ill-mannered, qualities associated with a western idea of “savagery.” His treatment of his family becomes increasingly brutal, as he subjects them to the punishing rigors of a progressively precarious survivalist existence and to the dramatic escalation of the emotional abuse they have long suffered. When Mother characterizes the abysmal state of their new camp on the lagoon as creepy, Allie’s response is that she is “bitter” (278). He responds to Mother’s concern that Jerry might drown with nonchalance. Though their situation devolves because of Allie’s actions, Allie continues to believe himself superior, though the reader sees him for what he is: an obsessive megalomaniac.
Truth, Lies, and Knowing
It is unclear whether the events of The Mosquito Coast are conveyed contemporary to their occurrence or are told retrospectively. Charlie is forthcoming with disclaimers, especially in supplying historical information about Allie that he cannot confirm, but he provides little biographical information of his family overall. There are no indications to suggest that Charlie’s perceptions of the events of the novel are inaccurate, but like any first-person narrator, his story is shaped by his perspective. However, Charlie demonstrates a sense of awareness beyond his years through his ability to recognize the limitations of his own frame of reference, and through his concession that his foundational sense of reality is based in his father’s sovereignty. He establishes this early in the novel, stating, “I grew up with the belief that the world belonged to him and that everything he said was true” (11). Charlie’s growth in The Mosquito Coast is largely centered around both his rejection of his father’s sense of truth, and his decision to trust his own insights in embracing the truth as it exists in his own experience of the world.
Lying and delusion are pervasive throughout the novel. Charlie is constantly wondering whether his father is intentionally lying, merely exaggerating, or honestly representing the truth as he believes it to be. Allie’s ability to thoroughly realize his inventions from concepts to working apparatuses suggests advanced intelligence in the realm of design and engineering. His ability to correctly interpret cause and effect and to change approaches to projects shows an ability to adapt, but these insights are entirely absent from the increasingly irrational judgements he makes as the novel progresses. Charlie struggles with the notion that his father can comfortably make statements directly contrary to observable fact. This behavior not only causes Charlie to question Allie’s sanity but also further casts doubt on Allie as a leader. Jerry (vocally) and Charlie (introspectively) both come to accept that their father is unable to grasp the gravity of their collective circumstances. Although their father has not received any information which Charlie and Jerry have not, and both boys are already mostly convinced that the United States has not been transformed into a war zone in their absence, their need for confirmation from Emily Spellgood that the United States is just as they left it is an example of some of the lingering effects of their father’s indoctrination. The finality of her assurance solidifies Charlie and Jerry's resolve to escape from Allie's influence.
Unlock all 47 pages of this Study GuidePlus, gain access to 8,800+ more expert-written Study Guides.
Including features: