Mosquito coast
Mosquito coastThe Mosquito Coast
In today’s society it is easy for one to lose ones head. With all the advanced technology, endless activities and the pressure to do as much as possible in a twenty four hour day, some of us may feel as though we are going crazy. Perhaps maybe joke about being a ‘mad’ man. However in Paul Theroux’s novel ‘The Mosquito Coast’ Allie Fox was more then just a little over worked or too idealistic. Allie Fox was a Mad Man. He proves his insanity time and time again through out the novel by the way he is with his son Charlie, other members of his family, and people he meets along the way.
The first incidence in the novel, ‘The Mosquito Coast’ that proves Allie is a mad man is when he asks his oldest son Charlie to prove his braveness to him by sitting on a rock and waiting for the freezing cold tide to come in and hit him. “The tide’s coming in, father said……..Who’s going to show me how brave he is?” page 63. No father who was mentally sane would ever put their own flesh and blood at such a risk for something so senseless.. Allie didn’t see it as a risk, but as a game.
Another time Allies madness is shown in an act towards Charlie is when they are aboard their boat, the Unicorn in the middle of a storm. While walking along the deck past the kingpost, davit and shrouds, Allie decides once again to challenge Charlie to a dangerous dare. He ordered him to climb to the top of the shrouds. “Any fool can climb a ladder, father said. But those shrouds-if you climb those, you’ll be hanging right over the water.” page 86. This is a true act of madness. With the slightest slip of his hand or an easily misplaced foot Charlie could fall and die instantly. But Allie was more than willing to risk that for a little fun.
A third time Allie risks Charlie in an act of madness is when the Fox family is living in Jeronimo and Allie makes the mistake of inviting two Guerillas to stay with them. Allie had finally achieved what he had considered his ideal world when all of a sudden his perfection was threatened by two men who wanted to take over and be in control. Instead of packing up his family and leaving his hard earned lifestyle to keep his family safe he decides to stay in Jeronimo and put an end to Guerillas by freezing the men in Fat Boy, their freezer unit. Instead of asking Mr. Haddy, his trusted friend or one of the other men to help him with his plan he puts his son at risk of being caught by the guerillas...
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