This page was created by Andrew Olsen.  The last update was by Erika Strandjord.

Star of the Sea : A Postcolonial/Postmodern Voyage into the Irish Famine

Land as Abstract Ideas (Non-Spoiler)

The setting in Star of the Sea spans across both Ireland and England, and in the vast sea between Europe and America. In Ireland, an important concept of setting to understand is the importance of the influence of land. Land has a multifaceted value to characters in Star of the Sea. The first value land finds is in abstract ideas relating to a connection with specific lands, leading to ideas of “Irishness” or “Englishness.” The effect of David Merridith’s schooling in England supports this discourse, as he falls in between the distinction of Irish and English, not really fitting firmly in either. The British students at his school show him prejudice as his accent reveals his Irish identity and he catches flak from Irish characters once back in Ireland for being Upper class and resembling the British in his mannerisms establishing in his education. This example shows that “otherness” manifesting from ideas being connected to different geographical lands directly works against cohesion between characters in the book. In a larger context, it can be associated with the self-fulfilling stereotypes displayed in Star of the Sea. The Irish stereotype operates with ideas of the Irish being ignorant, lazy, and undeserving of outside help. The British stereotype operates with ideas of the British being intelligent, well-mannered, and somewhat snotty. While the blend of stereotypes resulting from this perception of otherness varies, the importance of land in the equation does not. 

Works Cited
O'Connor, Joseph. Star of the Sea. Orlando: Harcourt, 2002. Print.
Researcher/Writer: Ben Deetz
Web Designers: Madison Luke and Andrew Olsen

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