I |
l. Philoctete
shows his wound to the tourists, as well as the cutting of the trees for canoes. |
| ll. The cutting
of the trees is treated as a sacrificing of the gods. We observe canoe building, including
the naming of Achille's canoe, as In God We Troust, a mistake with
real truth in it. The Aruaks, the island's original inhabitants are mentioned in
passing. |
| lll. We see the
happiness of Achille as he prepares to fish in the ocean. |
| II |
l. Philoctete's
wound is discussed in more detail, and we learn of the names that the fishermen give their
canoes. |
| ll. Seven Seas,
the blind Homer-figure is introduced. Likewise, Omeros as a figure is invoked:
"O open this day with the conch's moan, Omeros/as you did in my boyhood, when
I was a noun/gently exhaled from the palate of the sunrise." Omeros becomes a
figure of colonial history who, "scanned the opening line of our epic horizon." |
| lll. Antigone
teaches Walcott to pronounce "Omeros." The name strikes him as
representative of Antilles and of the past. |
| III |
l. A duel of
Hector and Achille, on the surface about bailing tin, but really over Helen. |
| ll. Ma Kilman's
No Pain Café, where Seven Seas and Philoctete are often helped. |
| lll.
Philoctete believes his wound is the wound of history. |
| IV |
l. Philoctete
visits his yam garden. There, he treats his crop as if they were colonial
oppressors. |
| ll. Philoctete,
seeing the sea swift, asks God's pardon and decides to endure. |
| lll. Walcott,
while at a resort, observes Helen's beauty. |
| V |
l. We are
introduced to Major Plunkett and wife Maud. The Major reflects on the history of
colonialism, as well as his WWII experience. The Major has a wound as well. |
| ll. Plunkett
recalls how he was wounded in action. Walcott, as the narrator, explains that all
the characters are expressions of a fictionally "I." Plunkett reflects on
his life with Maud. |
| lll. Maud
distrusts Helen because the later stole a dress from her. The Major decides that Helen
needs a history, one equal to a classical Trojan history. |
| VI |
l. Helen, who is
pregnant, is looking for work. |
| ll. Helen must
decide to confront change, and she thinks of the Beatles' song, Yesterday." |
| lll. Helen
imagines a battle as she walks through the smoke. Walcott reflects on having
confronted her beauty once. |
| VII |
l. The
marketplace is a polyglot of past and present. Helen leaves Achille for Hector. |
| ll.
Achille remembers when he had first suspected Helen and Hector. |
| lll.Achille
recalls a happier time and compares it to his present grief. |
| VIII |
I. We learn of
the crusted wine bottle in the museum and the kind of faith that surrounds a belief in
buried treasure. Achille dives for money to please Helen. |
| ll. A kind of
descent to the Underworld. Achille questions why he has come down. |
| lll. Philoctete
tries to end the argument between Achille and Hector. |
| IX |
l. During
hurricane season, Achille goes to work on Plunkett's pig farm and struggles with his
thoughts of Helen. Maud misses Ireland. |
| Il. Hector fails
to save his canoe from the storm. |
| Ill. The
hurricane is pictured as the gods having a fête. |
| X |
l. The Major is
depressed by the weather, reflecting on Maud's soon passing, etc. |
| Il. Plunketts
travel in their Land Rover to the mountain named for Ma Kilman. The landscape has
the memory of the colonial atrocities of Bennett and Ward. |
| Ill. Plunkett
prefers St. Lucia to old England, even though Maud has only partially made her peace with
the island climate--in the form of gardens. |
| XI |
l. Plunkett
decides to frame Helen's actions within the terms of colonial history and sets out to
write a local history. |
| ll. Plunkett and
Maud are separated by his research. |
| Ill. Maud
reflects on the beauty of the place, esp. her house, but also Achille's canoe. |
| XII |
l. Walcott
returns to his boyhood home, which is now a printer's. He meets the ghost of his
dead father, Warwick. |
| ll. He travels
with his father's ghost on a tour. |
| Ill. Walcott
looks on the ghosts of the past and admits to his disbelief in an afterlife. |
| XIII
: |
l. Warwick takes
Walcott to an old barbershop, whose barber was both an Adventist and a Garveyite. |
| ll. Warwick and
Walcott look an ocean liner and reflect on the beauty and strength of black women.
Walcott is charged with giving voice to them. |
| Ill. The work and
vocation of the poet. Walcott's invocation/prayer to "O Thou, my Zero." |