The Coral Island
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 Title page, illustrated 1893 edition of The Coral Island |
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| Author | R.M. Ballantyne |
|---|---|
| Country | Scotland |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Adventure novel |
| Publisher | W. & R. Chambers |
| Released | 1857 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 184 pp |
| ISBN | NA |
| Preceded by | The Young Fur Traders (1856) |
| Followed by | Martin Rattler: A Boy's Adventures in the Forests of Brazil (1858) |
The Coral Island is an 1857 novel written by Scottish author R.M. Ballantyne. It was voted as one of the top twenty Scottish novels in the 2006 15th International World Wide Web Conference [1]. The book's value as a realistic portrayal of being stranded on an island has been questioned, but it was still a success, and remains in print.
The novel belongs firmly in the mould of popular Victorian children's fiction, espousing 'muscular Christianity', and the virtues of cleanliness, truthfulness and honour. This is graphically contrasted with the lives of the 'heathen natives', whose only redemption can be found in abandoning their traditional ways in favour of Christianity.
William Golding's Lord of the Flies was written in response to the unrealistic behavior and racism found in the book.
[edit] Plot summary
Three boys, fifteen-year-old Ralph Rover (the narrator), eighteen-year-old Jack Martin and fourteen-year-old Peterkin Gay, are the sole survivors of a shipwreck on the coral reef of a large but uninhabited Polynesian island. At first their life there is idyllic; food, in the shape of fruits, fish and wild pigs, is plentiful, and using their only possessions; a broken telescope, an iron-bound oar and a small axe, they fashion shelter and even construct a small boat.
Their first contact with other people comes after several months when they observe two large outrigger canoes land on the beach. The two groups are engaged in battle and the three boys intervene to successfully defeat the attacking party, earning the gratitude of the chief Tararo. The Polynesians leave and the three boys are alone once more.
Soon after more unwelcome visitors arrive in the shape of pirates. The three boys conceal themselves in a hidden cave, but Ralph is captured when he sets out to see if the pirates have left. He is taken aboard the pirate schooner, who make a living trading, or stealing, sandalwood. Ralph strikes up an unexpected friendship with one of the pirates "Bloody Bill", and when they call at an island to trade for more wood meets Tararo again. On the island he sees all facets of island life, including the popular sport of surfing, as well as the practice of infanticide and cannibalism.
Rising tension leads to an attack by the inhabitants on the pirates leaving only Ralph alive and Bloody Bill mortally wounded. However they manage to make their escape in the schooner. After Bill dies, making a death-bed repentance for his evil life, Ralph manages to sail back to the Coral Island to be re-united with his friends.
The three boys sail to the island of Mango where a missionary has converted part of the population to Christianity. The boys find themselves in the middle of a conflict between the converted and non-converted islanders, and attempting to intervene are made prisoners. They are only released a month later after the arrival of another missionary, and the conversion of the remaining islanders. The 'false Gods' of Mango are consigned to the flames. The boys then set sail for home, older and wiser.
