| "Amy Foster" | |
|---|---|
| Author | Joseph Conrad |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Published in | Illustrated London News |
| Publication date | December 1901 |
"Amy Foster" is a short story by Joseph Conrad written in 1901. It was first published in the Illustrated London News (December 1901), and was collected in Typhoon and Other Stories (1903).
"Yanko Goorall", a Polish[1][2] immigrant en route for America is shipwrecked on the shores of Kent, England. The name he assumes is a corruption of his actual name, Janko Góral, which means "Johnny Highlander" in Polish. Speaking no English, he is treated as a madman and is whipped, stoned, beaten and imprisoned by the locals. Eventually he is given a job by a Mr. Swaffer, learns to speak English, and falls in love with Amy Foster, an English girl who had shown him kindness. They marry and have a son.
Several months later, Yanko falls severely ill and, suffering from a severe fever, begins to rave in his native language. Amy, frightened, takes their child and flees for her life. The following morning, Yanko dies of heart failure. It is revealed that he had simply been asking, in his native language, for water.
The character of Yanko Goorall shares some similarities with Conrad himself. Like Yanko, Conrad too is a Pole living in England, far from his native land; the pivotal scene of Amy being scared by the fevered Yanko is based on an actual incident which occurred during Conrad's honeymoon, Conrad reverted to his native Polish when in fever and at first his wife was scared when he was in delirium.[2] The book is believed to reflect Conrad's own social alienation in English society.
In 1997, "Amy Foster" was made into the film, Swept from the Sea.
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