Ship of Fools by Katherine Anne Porter
"Ship of Fools" by Katherine Anne Porter is a novel set aboard the North German Lloyd SA Vera in 1931, as it journeys from Veracruz, Mexico, to Bremerhaven, Germany. The story unfolds through a diverse cast of characters, each representing various nationalities, backgrounds, and social statuses, who all wait to board the ship. Among the passengers are an elderly professor and his wife, a brash young woman named Lizzi, and a group of Spanish performers, all of whom interact in a microcosm that reflects broader societal tensions.
As the voyage progresses, the passengers’ relationships evolve, revealing personal histories, prejudices, and conflicts, including themes of anti-Semitism and class struggles. Notably, the ship also carries deported Cuban workers, highlighting issues of displacement and inequality. The novel culminates in a chaotic fiesta that serves as a critique of the characters' superficial interactions and the illusions they cling to. As the journey concludes, the passengers disembark in Germany, seemingly unchanged and still hopeful about their futures. Porter's work poignantly captures the complexities of human relationships against the backdrop of a shifting socio-political landscape.
Ship of Fools by Katherine Anne Porter
First published: 1962
Type of work: Novel
Type of plot: Allegory
Time of plot: August 22–September 17, 1931
Locale: Aboard a ship at sea
Principal Characters
Jenny Brown , a young American painterDavid Scott , another painter, with whom Jenny livesMary Treadwell , an American divorcée returning to ParisDr. Schumann , the ship’s elderly doctorLa Condesa , a middle-aged déclassé noblewoman, formerly resident in CubaWilhelm Freytag , a young German businessman
The Story
Many people of various nationalities wait in the heat of Veracruz, Mexico, on August 22, 1931, to board the North German Lloyd SA Vera, scheduled to arrive at Bremerhaven, Germany, on September 17. Some have urgent errands to perform before embarkation, while others are simply passing the time. An elderly professor and his wife, the Huttens, share their lunch with their fat bulldog; a shrill, obnoxious young woman, Lizzi Spkenkieker, strides about with a little pig-snouted man, Siegfred Rieber; a solitary Swede, Arne Hansen, expresses indignation over the behavior of Mexican revolutionaries; a German couple, the Baumgartners, hush their young son, dressed in a hot leather riding costume; an American girl in slacks, Jenny Brown, strolls aimlessly with her boyfriend, David Scott; four pretty Spanish girls with their young men, a small zarzuela company, prowl through the streets and shops with disobedient six-year-old twins Ric and Rac; and a middle-aged American woman, Mrs. Treadwell, incredulously considers a painful bruise on her arm, inflicted in the street by a beggarwoman.
Aboard the Vera Dr. Schumann, the ship’s elderly physician, watches passengers mount the gangplank: a hunchbacked dwarf, Herr Glocken, who sold his newsstand in Mexico City; a dying old man in a wheelchair, Herr Graf, pushed by his young nephew, Johann; a young Mexican woman with her baby and their Indian nurse; two Mexican priests; a Texan youth, William Denny, who continually leers at the Spanish girls; a German Jew, Herr Löwenthal, lugging a sample case containing Catholic religious articles; and a beautiful bride and groom on their honeymoon. When the ship sets sail, the passengers examine the facilities and settle into their cramped cabins. Dinner at the captain’s table that evening, presided over by Dr. Schumann, is served to a select German group, which includes the Huttens, Lizzi and Rieber, two elderly widows traveling alone, and Wilhelm Freytag, a presentable young German in the oil business. They eat and drink with pleasure and speak joyfully of their return to their fatherland.
During the first pleasantly monotonous days of the voyage, both friendly and hostile encounters occur among the passengers as they become acquainted. Jenny’s discreet flirtation with Freytag angers David; Lizzi’s loud vulgarity annoys her cabinmate, Mrs. Treadwell; the Huttens and their dog suffer from severe seasickness; Baumgartner embarrasses his family by failing to control or to hide his chronic alcoholism; and Jenny befriends her cabinmate, an unattractive Swiss teenager returning home with her parents, hoping there to marry. Löwenthal, seated apart in the dining room, cautiously seeks amicable conversations with approachable Gentiles.
When the Vera docks in Havana, many disembark to amuse themselves on shore while new passengers are taken aboard. Deported from Cuba to their native lands because of a market failure, 876 Spanish sugarfield workers are crowded into steerage, where inadequate accommodations and inhumane conditions await them. Six Cuban students make themselves conspicuous by singing “La Cucaracha” endlessly. A mysterious Spanish countess, deported as a dangerous revolutionary by Cuban authorities, arouses considerable curiosity: About fifty, she remains beautiful, dresses elegantly, and adorns herself with jewels; Dr. Schumann treats her nervous disorder with drugs that she habitually uses.
As the Vera pursues its course toward Germany, the passengers discover more about each other’s personal histories and private lives, and their early affinities and animosities deepen. Many of the Germans voice anti-Semitic attitudes; Freytag confides to Mrs. Treadwell that his wife is Jewish—a confidence she later betrays; Ric and Rac throw things overboard, including the Huttens’s bulldog (a woodcarver in steerage loses his life saving it); the quarrels of Jenny and David threaten their already unstable relationship; Dr. Schumann and the countess resign themselves to the futility of the love that arises between them; and the young bride and groom float about the ship blissfully untouched by all these matters.
To celebrate the last night of the voyage, the zarzuela troupe organizes a fiesta designed to affront and insult the fundamental dignity of all the passengers. During this grotesque masquerade, not attended by Dr. Schumann, the dancers usurp the captain’s table for themselves; Glocken sports a pink necktie bearing the words “Girls, follow me!”; and the drunken Baumgartner leads the children in a Nazi goose-stepping march. The guests disperse to seek their private pleasures and despairs in fights, amorous encounters, confrontations, or reconciliations. Johann loses his virginity to a Spanish prostitute, for a high price; Mrs. Treadwell, mistaken for a prostitute, hits a passenger in the face with the heel of her shoe. The next morning the passengers, behaving as if nothing unusual took place, face one another with indifferent and incommunicative faces, disembarking at Bremerhaven with their illusions apparently intact, fully expecting to create happiness for themselves by fashioning new lives in other countries.
Bibliography
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