An Insular Possession: Analysis of Major Characters
"An Insular Possession" explores the complexities of colonial life in 19th-century China through its major characters, primarily focusing on Gideon Chase, a young orphan and junior clerk. Initially impressionable and eager to learn, Gideon's journey leads him from being a passive observer to an active participant in challenging the moral implications of the British opium trade. His mentor, Walter Eastman, embodies a conflicted figure; while he criticizes imperialism, he indulges in the privileges it affords, ultimately revealing a lack of commitment to meaningful change.
Supporting characters like the cynical artist Harry O'Rourke and the Jesuit priest Father Joaquim Ribeiro provide contrasting perspectives, with Ribeiro particularly fostering Gideon's education and activism. Alice Remington, meanwhile, represents the superficiality of the colonial elite, illustrating the disconnect between their privileged lives and the harsh realities faced by the local population. The narrative ultimately invites reflection on themes of personal growth, ethical responsibility, and the complexities of human relationships in a colonial context.
An Insular Possession: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: Timothy Mo
First published: 1986
Genre: Novel
Locale: Canton, the Macao Peninsula, Lin Tin Island, and Hong Kong
Plot: Historical
Time: The 1830's and 1840's
Gideon Chase, a young man who, at the age of seventeen, is a junior clerk in the Canton offices of a large American trading firm, the Meridian Company. He is industrious, diligent, quick-witted, and curious. The youngest character and an orphan, he spends much of the first half of the novel watching (and learning from) the others, particularly on their escapades to the “flower boats” and forays into the city proper, as well as to the haven of Macao. Later, he is revealed as the main protagonist, acting on his own initiative, though to higher purpose than his friends; his rites of passage become a main focus of the book. Gideon is at first easily led by his mentor and father figure, Walter Eastman. Gideon absorbs many of Eastman's attitudes, particularly a distaste for the opium trade promoted by the British empire in China. The younger man soon surpasses the elder, in several ways. When Eastman is ignominiously discharged from his position at Meridian, Gideon resigns in support of his friend; moreover, his is the inspiration to begin the newspaper the two publish, The Lin Tin Bulletin and River Bee, and his is the more mature and reasonable rhetoric. Gideon also departs from Eastman in his ability (and his willingness) to see the Chinese as people and as individuals, not merely as an abstract value. This attribute is enhanced, if not fostered by, his study of the Chinese language, which, although against the law, allows him to enter the realm of the native. During his excursions through the war, from which struggles Canton emerges as Hong Kong, Gideon learns to see not only the humanity of the oppressed but also the brutality (and sometimes depravity) of the conquerer. Finally, Gideon becomes a more mature, a more discerning, and a more completely developed person than Eastman through his perception of the reality below the gaudy and often deceptive surface.
Walter Eastman, a twenty-four-year-old senior clerk with the Meridian Company in Canton. He is outspoken in his condemnation of the British opium trade, through which the empire financed its Indian ventures and realized a substantial profit for the greedy Crown. Eastman has no compunctions about enjoying the luxurious and often frivolous lifestyle of the foreigners in China, while the natives suffer untold deprivations under the tyrannical yoke of colonization. When dismissed from his position at Meridian for engaging in a love affair with a partner's niece, he uses the opportunity to attack the opium trade through the newspaper that he and Gideon establish, though he dared not leave his job on his own to espouse that same cause. He seems to take more pleasure in baiting his rival editor than in fighting the British imperialists. Eastman is a multifaceted person, though his talents are those of a dilettante; he is perhaps a man who could succeed at anything that he was motivated to do, but he lacks the ambition to apply himself wholeheartedly to any one goal.
Harry O'Rourke, an elderly Briton who is in Canton to escape family responsibilities and debtors. A fairly successful painter, skillful at impressionistic landscapes, he is reduced to attempting to maintain a drunken existence on the fees from selling amateurish portraits. He provides a counterpoint to the two younger men; though rather cynical, instead of discouraging them, he not only provides an impetus but also often offers practical suggestions to their idealistic endeavors. He helps to finance The Lin Tin Bulletin and River Bee as well as giving editorial advice, and he encourages Gideon in his study of Chinese. Still, he is not an admirable figure, and it is not difficult to imagine Walter Eastman evolving into just such a creature in the future, though Gideon surely will not.
Father Joaquim Ribeiro (hwah-KEEM rree-BA-roh), a Jesuit priest dedicated to improving the human condition, another mentor to Gideon and a confidant as well. Sympathetic to Gideon's efforts against personal inertia, he first begins to teach Chinese to Gideon, then finds a onetime mandarin, the venerable Ow, to further Gideon's study of the language, though it is at peril of all of their lives. He later discovers an ancient abandoned printing press for Gideon and Eastman to use in publishing their newspaper.
Pedro Remedios (PEH-droh rreh-MEH-dee-ohs), a pirate who is executed for continuing after the uneasy peace the acts that the British praised during the Opium War. He helps Gideon in his search for knowledge and understanding by guiding the younger man on his investigations for the newspaper during the war. He assists in distributing the paper to its readers.
Alice Remington, a niece of the Canton/Macao-based senior partner of the Meridian Company. She is admired by both Gideon Chase and Walter Eastman. When her secret engagement to Eastman is discovered by her uncle, Eastman is dismissed from his job and forbidden to see her again. She exemplifies the intolerant and glib attitude of the British colonists by her letters home: She describes, at great length, dinner parties, the play produced by Eastman and performed by the small group of Occidentals deemed suitable, and other social affairs, including the clothing, appearance, and demeanor of the guests. The outbreak of war is of slight notice to her, deserving only a postscript.