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What Is The Theme Of The Return By Alistair Cleod

434 Words2 Pages

Alistair MacLeod’s collection of short stories, captioned ‘Island’, explores the traditions and family lifestyles on Cape Breton throughout the 1960’s to the 1990’s. Throughout many of the stories, MacLeod demonstrates how the surroundings of the character affects their identity. The culture and tradition of Cape Breton affect the views of the characters and the home of the characters affect who they are. It is then the family that surrounds them that affects the morals of the character and who they really are. The vision of the characters is affected by the culture and tradition life of Cape Breton. Calum in ‘The Road to Rankin’s Point’ demonstrates his affection for the culture through his love for Gaelic music. Calum is ‘very moved by the ancient music’, reflecting how in touched he is with the Gaelic traditions and how he truly appreciates it. Throughout ‘The Return’, the views of the grandfather are very much the views of a tradition Cape Breton miner. He was a man who fishes and chews tobacco, as ‘it is a part of [their culture] and their way of life.’ The culture and traditions of Cape Breton surround the characters, having a wide …show more content…

The mother in ‘The Return’ is a city woman and was quite proper compared to the Cape Breton working class. She was unwilling to relate to the culture, as she was fearful towards it. The mother sees the area as ‘filthy and dirty’ and feels she ‘must have been out of [her] mind to agree to this trip’, indicating she does not appreciate Cape Breton and views herself more at home, where things are clean and professional. On the other side, the protagonist in ‘Second Spring’ is a farmer, having a large effect on who he is, as a large portion of his life revolves around the farm on which he lives. The home of the character’s, being a main surrounding in their life, influences the identity of the character, as well as the

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