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Essay / The Use of Allegory in 'The Man Who Loved Islands' by Dh Lawrence
In 'The Man Who Loved Islands' by DH Lawrence, the plot is used as a vehicle for an allegory about different ideals of life – “community, marriage” and independence” (Francis 121), represented by the three islands. Through the use of allegory, Lawrence delivers a cautionary tale that goes beyond the plot of a simple man who lives on three different islands, warning against the "idealization of loneliness" (Son 156) and emphasizing that socialization is a necessary part of our lives. humanity. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay The first island, which represents a creation of the ideal community revolving around oneself, is a resounding failure. The problem with such a community is that Mr. Cathcart regards the island community as "a world of its own" (210), "the perfect place, all filled with its own graceful and flowery spirit" (212-213), "Paradise » (213). Essentially, he sees the island as an idealization of a paradise on earth, and him playing God at the center of his utopia. He assumes a fantasy role of “Master” (214), “Our Savior” (215) and “source of this happiness and this perfection” (214) on this “Happy Island” (212). So although there is a community around him, Mr. Cathcart is not properly socialized into it, instead he focuses on minimizing or negating the other islanders, exercising his selfish and self-centered vision and ideal, this which is contrary to the community spirit of the island. first place. Therefore, it logically fails since its ideal conception of a community excludes the interests of the islanders. In fact, it is the lack of awareness of oneself in relation to others that leads to the failure of one's own vision of this community. Thus, Lawrence emphasizes the need to respect the social order and equality of a community, and illustrates the physical alienation and ostracism that are the consequence of failing to do so. The second island represents married life, which results in the settling of ambitions, when the man no longer seeks to pursue an ideal vision of his world. He sees the second island as a kind of refuge, “as if he and his few dependents were a small flock of seabirds [that] landed on this rock” (221). The rock is an image that speaks of sedentary life and stability, while seabirds, migratory by nature, have found on this rock a resting place sheltered from harsher climates. Here he seems to have achieved a kind of happiness, when he says to himself: "I don't feel anything or I don't know what I feel." Yet it seems to me that I am happy. (222) The island characterizes for him a slow transition from the “material island” (212) to that of simple pleasures, “without desire, without boredom” (222). Even as he attempts to publish his book, he realizes that the book is of no importance to him, because it represents "the race for progress" (222), and he is more than happy to abandon a such a worldly quest and such a need for recognition. . However, the love between him and Flora is described as "mechanical, automatic" (223) and "driven out of the will" (224), it "broke him, filled him with a kind of death" (223-224). . While the stability of married life seduces him, the passion that is missing between the two of them proves to negate all the happiness he had found in this “new calm of lack of desire” (224). As a result, the island is now “defiled and spoiled” (224), and he can stay there longer. By illustrating the island as a metaphor for married life, Lawrence seems to equate this stability and peace with true happiness in life, while warning against marriage in.