Blogs
Mosquito Coast
In Mosquito Coast by Paul Theroux, the character Allie Fox parallels the Europeans in Heart of Darkness in that he attempts to take over the lives of the natives who he is, in theory, granted power over, while, instead of trying to exploit them for personal economic gain, attempts to build and manipulate their lives for the sake of his own societal ideals and philosophical goals. In this way, too, he epitomizes Cohen’s Experimental theory of travel, in that he is on a “quest for meaning” away from the “awfulness” of America. Overall, though, despite his good intentions, he is hypocritical; by imposing his views on people who did not ask for them is no better that the people in America ‘forcing’ Allie to deal with their ways of life.
I agree Allie Fox is an
I agree Allie Fox is an extremely controling character. He wants to create a new America his own way so it will be "better," but in doing this he negelects the rights of the natives. For instance, he says he wants to help the native people, but in reality he takes over their land and gives them orders. He never really stops to consider if they want his new inventions and in the end he destroys their home.