The Blue Lagoon · Chapter
II: Under the Stars explained
Arthur Lestrange, a consumptive passenger aboard the Northumberland, reflects on his impending death and his desire to shield his children, Dick and Emmeline, from the concept of death.
What happens
Arthur Lestrange, a consumptive passenger aboard the Northumberland, reflects on his impending death and his desire to shield his children, Dick and Emmeline, from the concept of death. He asks Captain Le Farge to dispose of his body without their knowledge. The chapter also introduces Emmeline's sleepwalking and her obsessive attachment to a mysterious box, which she frequently loses and searches for, often found by Paddy Button. The scene shifts to the serene yet majestic night sky, contrasting Lestrange's inner turmoil with the beauty of the stars.
Themes in this chapter
Death and Mortality
Lestrange's consumption and his request to conceal his death from the children highlight the pervasive theme of mortality and the attempt to shield innocence from it.
Innocence and Loss
The children's ignorance of death, Emmeline's sleepwalking and attachment to her box, and Dick's childish resistance to bedtime underscore the fragility of innocence in the face of loss.
The Sublime and Terrible Nature
The description of the starry sky, the Milky Way, the Southern Cross, and the Coal Sack evokes the awe-inspiring and overwhelming power of nature, contrasting with Lestrange's personal despair.
Characters to notice
- Arthur Lestrange
Consumptive father and uncle, deeply concerned about protecting his children from the knowledge of death, contemplates his own mortality under the stars.
- Emmeline
Eight-year-old niece of Lestrange, a sleepwalker who is obsessively attached to a mysterious box, often losing and searching for it with a troubled expression.
- Dick
Lestrange's young son, reluctant to go to bed, described as having a sleep-freighted voice and being hauled out from under the table by the stewardess.
- Captain Le Farge
Sea captain of the Northumberland, of French descent and naturalized American, who listens to Lestrange's request about disposing of his body without the children's knowledge.
- Paddy Button
Mentioned as the one who usually finds Emmeline's lost box, noted for his appeal to children despite often doing the wrong thing in adult eyes.
- Mrs. Stannard
Stewardess who efficiently hauls Dick out from under the table for bedtime, demonstrating her no-nonsense approach.
Key passages
“Captain, those children know nothing of death.”
Lestrange emphasizes to Le Farge that Dick and Emmeline have no concept of death.
Reveals Lestrange's protective intent and the central conflict of the chapter.
“I just said they must have run away. In a week he had forgotten all about her—children soon forget.”
Lestrange explains how he handled the death of the children's cat by telling them it ran away, confident they would quickly forget.
Illustrates Lestrange's strategy of shielding children from death by avoiding the truth.
“Stars in the sky, stars in the sea, stars by the million and the million; so many lamps ablaze that the firmament filled the mind with the idea of a vast and populous city—yet from all that living and flashing splendour not a sound.”
The night sky is described as filled with countless stars, creating an image of a bustling city, but completely silent.
Highlights the sublime and silent beauty of nature, contrasting with human turmoil.