Demolished Center

In the JungleAllie Fox travels in order to form a utopian community abroad. However, in his attempt he destroys not only his utopia but also the primitive community in which he hoped to create it.
Allie tries to escape American capitalism by moving his family to the Honduran jungle. He does not believe in the American education system, dropping out of Harvard and keeping his children out of school. He instead believes in the intrinsic worth of common sense and life experience that explains his choice to move to a more primitive environment. Furthermore, Allie is fed up with people like Polski who exploit the American consumers by driving up prices. So, instead of making Polski the “Fat Boy” he builds a larger one for himself in Honduras. Ironically, however, the Fat Boy destroys his first attempt at his utopia and in effect the practical hopes of one at all.
Even after the failure of Fox’ first encampment he pushes on, going so far as to tell his family that the US has been destroyed. In his haste to create a second utopia, not that the first was one at all, he builds it too close to the river and upon the spring rains it is also destroyed. This second destruction leads to Allie’s mental break down and ultimately his demise.
I think that Allie is so desperate to find a center that he is at a lost as to what that might be. He’s not sure if he should be an American patriot, debasing foreign goods and living a truly American life of farming or if he should leave it all behind and create his own center. It is the destruction of his created center that leaves him inept.
The Fox’ struggle is interesting when compared to Marlow and Kurtz in Heart of Darkness. While they aren’t colonizing Jeronimo per se, they do try to change it for their own needs much like Marlow and those who gather ivory in the Congo. Just like Kurtz who goes a bit too far in his search for authenticity or truth or perfection, Allie loses his mind and in turn his life.