Small Island Chapter 2 Blog
The book is polyperspective and in the first chapter, it is narrated by Hortense, a Jamaican woman who went to England in order to reunite with her husband Gilbert Joseph. Here the author mainly uses Compare and Contrast Organizational Patterns through out the chapter, in order to discuss the disappointment of Hortense's expectations that her husband Gilbert fed her.
Gilbert sent Hortense a letter before her arrival in England stating that he will be there to meet her at the dock with longing and enthusiasm, and in the letter, Gilbert also described the grand house they shall live in. However, Hortense arrived at the dock with no sight of her husband. She took the initiative to go to the address written in the letter and found it hard to communicate with the locals for directions. In the end she managed to arrive at the right apartment and did not greet her husband with enthusiasm. It is when Hortense entered the house her disappointment came along. Instead of seeing a grand house to live in, she was stuck with an apartment room where a few steps would take you to another part of the house. Hortense was not afraid to hold back her thoughts repeatedly saying that she went all the way to England only to stay at a shabby household. This irritated Gilbert.
My personal reaction, if I was Hortense, I would give Gilbert some slack. If the story took place after World War II then it is only expected that England is still rising form ruins and that they were even fortunate enough that they have a roof under their heads.
