Contemporary village on the island of Gareda is a representation of villages in the Solomon Islands; here Crichton has created conflicting ideas of village life. One of the characters sees the beauty of village life, and the expression of culture and community spirit as well being located in the heart of nature. The other character sees poverty, disease, famine. Terrell, (1977) in his paper discusses the distribution of villages of some of the islands in the Solomon’s; the population distribution is affected by the geographical formation of the islands where most are volcanic, mountainous and covered forest which Crichton, (2004) has represented in this section of the novel.
Terrell (1977) explains how close the people are to the land through local plots for agriculture and use of local materials to construct the small hamlets and villages in the Solomon’s. The villages are considered as a cultural unit due to the large variation in culture and linguistics between villages, and this is what Crichton has represented in the view of one of the characters. The use of media material has helped to create a different representation of the contemporary village in the Solomon Islands; there are reports of disease such as Malaria, disease and famine. National governments have also warned tourists about visiting the Solomon Islands due to the risks of civil unrest, risk of certain diseases as well as natural disasters and severe weather (Australian Government, 2007). Through these different resources a geographical representation of contemporary village life can be re-defined which is what is seen by the other character. This creates conflicting geographical views of the village and this is based on a person’s individualistic interpretation of village life, and this creates the basis of humanistic interpretations of what village life is like in the Solomon’s.
“Isn’t it gorgeous, he said, Look at the water. Crystalline and pure. Look at the depth of that blue, Look at those beautiful villages in the heart of nature...Don’t you think, Bradley said, that its the white man, who wants to conquer nature, to beat it into submission....I find that people who live closer to the earth, in their villages, surrounded by nature, that those people have a natural ecological sense and a feeling for the fitness of it all....the villages were clustered of corrugated tin shacks,, the roads red mud ruts. The people look poorly dressed and moved slowly. There was a depressing, disconsolate feeling about them” (p 595 - 596)
"the jungle slid beneath them, mile after mile of dense forest. In places, wisps of mist clung to the trees, particularly at the higher altitudes. Sarah was surprised at how mountainous the island was, how rugged the terrain" (p607)
Terrell (1977) explains how close the people are to the land through local plots for agriculture and use of local materials to construct the small hamlets and villages in the Solomon’s. The villages are considered as a cultural unit due to the large variation in culture and linguistics between villages, and this is what Crichton has represented in the view of one of the characters. The use of media material has helped to create a different representation of the contemporary village in the Solomon Islands; there are reports of disease such as Malaria, disease and famine. National governments have also warned tourists about visiting the Solomon Islands due to the risks of civil unrest, risk of certain diseases as well as natural disasters and severe weather (Australian Government, 2007). Through these different resources a geographical representation of contemporary village life can be re-defined which is what is seen by the other character. This creates conflicting geographical views of the village and this is based on a person’s individualistic interpretation of village life, and this creates the basis of humanistic interpretations of what village life is like in the Solomon’s.
“Isn’t it gorgeous, he said, Look at the water. Crystalline and pure. Look at the depth of that blue, Look at those beautiful villages in the heart of nature...Don’t you think, Bradley said, that its the white man, who wants to conquer nature, to beat it into submission....I find that people who live closer to the earth, in their villages, surrounded by nature, that those people have a natural ecological sense and a feeling for the fitness of it all....the villages were clustered of corrugated tin shacks,, the roads red mud ruts. The people look poorly dressed and moved slowly. There was a depressing, disconsolate feeling about them” (p 595 - 596)
"the jungle slid beneath them, mile after mile of dense forest. In places, wisps of mist clung to the trees, particularly at the higher altitudes. Sarah was surprised at how mountainous the island was, how rugged the terrain" (p607)
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