The Twenty-One Balloons
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| Author | William Pène du Bois |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Children's novel |
| Publisher | The Viking Press |
| Released | 1947 |
| Media Type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| ISBN | NA |
The Twenty-One Balloons (1947) is a book by William Pène du Bois which won the Newbery Medal for excellence in American children's literature in 1948.
[edit] Plot summary
The novel begins in medias res with the rescue of Professor William Waterman Sherman, who was picked up by a steamer whilst floating amidst a strange wreck in the North Atlantic. Sherman, a recently retired schoolteacher, was last seen leaving San Francisco, having determined to circumnavigate the globe via hot-air balloon. As the story unfolds, Sherman reveals that he had an uneventful journey over the Pacific but, due to an unfortunate accident involving a seagull and the carcass of a smoked turkey, was forced to land on the island of Krakatoa. He discovers that the island is populated by twenty families of four who share the wealth of a secret diamond mine - the richest in the world - which they operate as a cartel. Once a year, the citizens of Krakatoa take a load of diamonds, sail to another country, and sell the diamonds to buy more supplies for the next year.
Each of the island's residents has some talent or skill that they contribute to their society, most notably in the construction of whimsical and elaborate houses which also serve as restaurants. They have a calendar with a 20-day month. On 'A day', everyone eats in Mr. and Mrs. A's American restaurant; on B day, in Mr. and Mrs. B's British chop house; on C day, in Mr. and Mrs. C's Chinese restaurant; on D day, in Mr. and Mrs. D's Dutch restaurant, and so forth. Professor Sherman's best friend, Mr. F, runs a French restaurant containing a replica of the Hall of Mirrors. The houses are full of eccentricities; Mr. M's Moroccan house features many ingenious (and well-depicted) inventions, such as a living room in which the furniture is mobile like amusement-park bumper cars.
When the volcanic Krakatoa explodes, the families and Sherman escape on a flying platform kept aloft by twenty balloons (the balloon Sherman used to reach the island makes the eponymous total of twenty-one). As the platform sails westward around the globe, the families make parachute jumps off the platform at various locations: their ability to start new lives in their new homes is much augmented by the diamonds sewn into the linings of their parachutes. In the end Sherman decides to remain on the platform aloft to try to reach America: and after ultimately achieving his goal of returning to San Franscisco - although not at all in the manner he intended - he reveals his intention to continue his airborne exploits.
As an interesting aside, Pène du Bois places Krakatoa and the Sunda Strait in the Pacific Ocean, whereas it is in fact is an arm of the Indian Ocean. Perhaps because of this, there are many other incorrect references to Krakatoa being in the Pacific Ocean, notably the movie "Krakatoa, East of Java", while Krakatoa is actually west of Java.
[edit] Comparison to "The Diamond as Big as the Ritz"
The story is preceded by an "Author's Note"[1] in which du Bois says that just before publication his publisher noted a "strong resemblance" between the book and F. Scott Fitzgerald's 1922 story, "The Diamond as Big as the Ritz."[2][3] Du Bois says it is "not only quite similar in general plot, but was also altogether a collection of very similar ideas." He says this was "the first I had heard of the story" and "The fact that F. Scott Fitzgerald and I apparently would spend our billion in like ways right down to being dumped from bed into a bathtub is, quite frankly, beyond my explanation."
The stories have in common the conceit of a giant diamond mine ("One diamond, one cubic mile without a flaw" in Fitzgerald's story), and the resulting need to protect the secret of its existence. It is interesting to compare just how two different imaginations make use of the same central idea, for the stories are utterly different in tone, style, and many story details. Fitzgerald's story has no balloons, nothing resembling the Utopian colony and its "restaurant government", and nothing resembling Du Bois's gift for fantastic mechanical invention.
Fitzgerald's story is dark and ironic in tone. The mad owner of the mine has constructed "a large hollow in the earth shaped like the interior of a bowl. The sides were deep and apparently of polished glass, and on the slightly concave surface stood about two dozen men clad in the half costume, half uniform of aviators." These are unfortunates who had discovered the mine and must now be imprisoned for life.
The protagonist has a sexual encounter with the daughter of the mine owner, and discovers that he is one of a long succession of visitors who, having been seduced, must be executed. He resolves to escape. As he attempts to do so—with his inamorata—a full-scale aerial bombing raid against the mine commences, apparently having been called in by an aviator who had escaped earlier. As John watches from a distance, the mine owner blasphemously asks God to save the mine, offering as sacrifice a large diamond, then gives up, descends with his remaining family by a trapdoor into the mine's interior. Du Bois's mine is blown up naturally by the eruption of Krakatoa; Fitzgerald's, by high explosive prepositioned and detonated by the mine owner, leaving only "a black waste from which blue smoke arose slowly, carrying off with it what remained of vegetation and human flesh."[4]
However, the difference between the two stories can best be understood by their entirely different intentions and audiences: "The Twenty-One Balloons" is a children's story, with only a mild, playful interest in social commentary. By contrast, "The Diamond as Big as the Ritz" is a parable for adults; it articulates large social themes that preoccuppied Fitzgerald throughout his career as a mature writer, and which found their way into his major novels, notably, "The Great Gatsby." For example, the corrupting power of wealth, so much a part of "Gatsby", is a major thematic element in "Diamond." The venality, vapidity — and ultimate insanity — of the mine-owning family is a reflection of the corruption caused by possessing near-infinite wealth. Further, in naming the family who discovered and owns the diamond, "Washington" — and making them direct descendents of George Washington — Fitzgerald is making an obvious (perhaps overly-obvious) point about the deep roots of American materialism.
[edit] References
- ^ (1947) The Twenty-One Balloons. The Viking Press.; page headed Author's Note preceding Table of Contents
- ^ The Diamond as Big as the Ritz. The Board of Trustees of the University of South Carolina (1998-01-22). Retrieved on 2006-07-15.: first appeared in the magazine "The Smart Set", 1922. Full text online.
- ^ Fitzgerald, F. Scott [1920, 1922] (1998). "The Diamond as Big as the Ritz" and Other stories. Courier Dover Publications. ISBN 048629910., copyright page attributes a story as having been published in (1922) Tales of the Jazz Age. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons.
- ^ Fitzgerald, F. Scott [1920, 1922] (1998). "The Diamond as Big as the Ritz" and Other stories. Courier Dover Publications. ISBN 048629910.; story details from "The Diamond as Big as the Ritz;" aviators in polished bowl p. 18; fate of daughters' lovers, p. 24; air attack, p. 27; sacrifice of diamond to God, p. 31; blows up mine, pp. 33-4
| Preceded by: Miss Hickory |
Newbery Medal recipient 1948 |
Succeeded by: King of the Wind |
