Dunnet Landing Characters

Dunnet Landing was a beautiful described community but was gradually decaying. The young people moved elsewhere in search for new lifestyles and better jobs. The community that remained was much of the older people who were just living until they died. The narrator of the story, being a new face to the village, meets many of the people of Dunnet Landing through Mrs. Todd. Mrs. Todd is a widow of the community who makes medicine from the herbs she grows in her garden. As the narrator spend her summer in the village, she realizes most of the people were suppressed by the village life. The aging and separation of the village, lead to isolation of the people of Dunnet Landing. Although it has appeared that decreasing size of the village has brought

He was an old man that was retired from being a sea captain. He shared many of his stories with her about his life in the sea. He told these stories to keep the memories alive because the best times of his life were now in the past. Captain Littlepage misses the days of the shipping industry, and it is clear that he is not adjusting to modern ways. “Captain Littlepage was sitting behind his closed window…watching for someone who never came (pg. 89).” As the narrator passes by Captain Littlepage she sees the depth of his emptiness inside. He no longer is living to feel alive; he had begun to loose sight of what his purpose in life was. His wife has died and he has become an old man who tells old sea stories. Captain’s Littlepage solitude has led

Todd and Mrs. Fosdick begin to tell the narrator about Joanna Todd, who was the cousin of Mrs. Todd’s late husband. Joanna was abandoned by her fiancé, and moved to the remote Shell-Heap Island and became a hermit. Joanna again has lost her significant other, but not as a result of death. Instead of trying to bring meaning and importance back into her life, she separated herself from the villagers. Although they continued to watch over her, she kept to herself. She damaged herself being captivated in her own thoughts and not having someone else to share her pain with. At times, being alone can be refreshing but in a time of need everyone needs someone to turn to. Joanna has now spent the rest of her life by herself and suffering