The Blue Lagoon · Chapter
IV: Due South explained
Lestrange and Captain Stannistreet sail south on the schooner Raratonga in search of the lost children.
What happens
Lestrange and Captain Stannistreet sail south on the schooner Raratonga in search of the lost children. Lestrange is tormented by visions and a deep anxiety that the children may have been taken by natives and raised as 'savages.' Stannistreet offers a philosophical counterpoint, suggesting that a life close to nature might be happier than civilization. As they near the island, they discover a drifting dinghy containing a native girl and a baby, both asleep.
Themes in this chapter
Nature vs. Civilization
Lestrange and Stannistreet debate whether a life 'face to face with Nature' is happier than civilized existence, reflecting on the fate of the lost children.
Knowledge and Intuition
Lestrange experiences a 'waking dream' and a sensation of danger that defies rational explanation, contrasting with Stannistreet's practical seafaring knowledge.
Characters to notice
- Arthur Lestrange
Tormented by visions and anxiety about his lost children; debates the merits of civilization versus a natural life.
- Captain Stannistreet
The sympathetic and intelligent schooner captain who navigates the Raratonga and engages in philosophical discussion with Lestrange.
Key passages
““What does a man want to be but happy?” “Yes.” “Well, who is happier than a naked savage in a warm climate? Oh, he’s happy enough, and he’s not always holding a corroboree. He’s a good deal of a gentleman; he has perfect health; he lives the life a man was born to live face to face with Nature.””
Stannistreet argues that a 'savage' living in nature is happier and more fulfilled than a civilized person, enjoying perfect health and a life unmediated by industry.
Highlights the theme of nature versus civilization and Stannistreet's romantic view of indigenous life.
““Suppose those children had been brought up face to face with Nature—” “Yes?” “Living that free life—” “Yes?” “Waking up under the stars”—Lestrange was speaking with his eyes fixed, as if upon something very far away—“going to sleep as the sun sets, feeling the air fresh, like this which blows upon us, all around them. Suppose they were like that, would it not be a cruelty to bring them to what we call civilisation?””
Lestrange wonders if rescuing the children from a natural life would be a cruelty, suggesting that civilization might be a lesser state than the freedom of nature.
Captures Lestrange's internal conflict and the central philosophical dilemma of the chapter.