Failing to Map the Islands in D. H. Lawrence’s “The Man Who Loved Islands”

초록

This paper examines why Cathcart fails to create his own world in D. H. Lawrence’s “The Man Who Loved Island.” Using Yi-Fu Tuan’s definitions, where space is an abstract site with no specific meaning and place is a realm with concrete meaning, I argue that his failure mainly stems from Cathcart’s inability to fill the islands’ space with his personality (place). Cathcart cannot fill the space of the island with his personality because of the darkness of the space at night on the first island and the invasions of the space by Flora and outsiders on the second island. When trying to make sense of the space of the third island, a snowstorm hits, turning the island completely white and making it impossible for Cathcart to map it. The island’s space, now blanketed in white, transforms into a pure and abstract realm that resists being linked to a specific place (Cathcart’s personality). Cathcart, who loves islands and hopes to turn one into a paradise by unifying space and place, no longer makes the space meaningful, and this failure ultimately leads to his death.

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