Part 1, Chapters 4–6 Summary and Analysis
Part 1, Chapter 4
On the evening following the unsettling dream about Aunt Cuney, Avey’s body was oddly sore, as if she had indeed been in a fight during the previous night. When she spotted herself in a mirror, she did not recognize her own reflection at first; this had happened to her several times recently.
After eating a small dinner so that she could treat herself to dessert, Avey was at first excited to indulge in a few “sinful” spoonfuls of peach parfait. However, as she began scraping the topping off so that she could locate the peaches underneath, Avey’s hand was suddenly paralyzed. The sounds in the dining room seemed amplified, and Avey firmly returned her spoon to the table. Noting her hesitation, Clarice had inquired about Avey’s avoidance of the dessert. Assuring her friends that she just had a bit of indigestion, Avey slid the parfait to Clarice.
The feeling of discomfort didn’t subside until the friends took their traditional after-dinner stroll around the promenade deck. Yet later when a waiter appeared to take their drink orders, the feeling flared up again. Avey felt as though she had eaten the entire parfait as well as all of the foods she had actually avoided in an effort to fully enjoy her dessert. She felt neither nausea nor pain—only a swollen and clogged feeling. After taking an antacid before bed, Avey was surprised to awaken the next morning with the same discomfort. Worse, it felt as though the ship suffered from the same malaise and was rolling and tossing her. Thomasina assured her that the ship was as “steady as a rock.”
Due to her discomfort, Avey decided to seek some solitude. Telling her friends that she didn’t feel like eating breakfast, she promised to meet up with them for lunch. Avey discovered that it was much more difficult to be alone than she had envisioned; every time she settled into a place of solitude, she was interrupted by “a small mob” of people who talked loudly and brought smells of food with them.
Scenes around the ship rattled Avey. The shuffleboard players reminded her of “Neanderthal” men who beat each other with their “murderous sticks.” The thud of hempen rings during a quoit game reminded her of the sound of an instrument striking human flesh and produced memories of a night when she and her husband had witnessed a policeman beating a man with a nightstick. The clay pigeons being used for target practice seemed human and alive. When a man offered her a seat by the pool, Avey envisioned all his skin falling away, leaving only a skeleton in red-and-white striped trunks.
Almost running, Avey finally found the library and remained there until dinnertime. She tried to calm herself after her unexplainable hallucinations and finally decided to abandon the cruise altogether.
Part 1, Chapter 5
When Avey returns to her room to collect her bags, she finds that Clarice remains a “shrunken” figure who has not moved since Avey’s announcement. Thomasina’s stare holds the expected hate and anger toward Avey, but Avey is surprised to find that her gaze also reflects a “grudging respect.”
Contrary to her expectations, Avey finds that there is no taxi awaiting her when she arrives on the island. In fact, she cannot see a vehicle of any sort and finds that the small island is flooded with neatly dressed people who carry umbrellas, overnight bags, and brightly colored packages. People press forward toward the harbor, which is filled with the small, scarred boats typically used to carry locals between islands.
Avey stops...
(This entire section contains 1426 words.)
Unlock this Study Guide Now
Start your 48-hour free trial and get ahead in class. Boost your grades with access to expert answers and top-tier study guides. Thousands of students are already mastering their assignments—don't miss out. Cancel anytime.
Already a member? Log in here.
a man to inquire about a taxi and is taken aback when he responds in Patois. She suddenly realizes that the crowd around her is speaking Patois exclusively, which she heard for the first time in Martinique only three days ago. Festive voices pass by her, but Avey is unable to understand or communicate with them. She grows increasingly frantic as she wonders why such friendly people seemingly cannot understand that she is a tourist in need of assistance.
The sun bears down on Avey, and she notices that the crowd continues to grow. She is unsettled when she believes a woman is trying to steal her purse and then realizes that the old woman’s umbrella has accidentally become hooked on Avey’s purse. Finally, a man emerges from the crowd, saying in English that Avey appears to be in need of a taxi.
Part 1, Chapter 6
Avey learns that the flight to New York has already left for the day but that another will depart the following day at 4:00 p.m. She then recalls Thomasina’s vehement prediction that Avey would not even be able to find a decent hotel on such a small island, but the taxi driver assures Avey that Grenada has “the best” accommodations.
Avey then inquires about the presence of all the festive people she saw before he picked her up. He explains that they are “out-islanders,” people from the small island of Carriacou who now live and work in Grenada. Once a year, they all return home for a few days. He refers to this as the “Carriacou Excursion.” When Avey mentions that they all spoke to her in Patois, the driver tells her that they can all speak “the King’s English” as well as he can, but as soon as they prepare for their excursion, they only speak Patois. This baffles him, as does their insistence on wearing nice clothes just to go to a “little two-by-four island up the way.”
The taxi driver shares with Avey that he once liked a girl from Carriacou. She begged him to go with her on the excursion, but he dismissed her, saying that it would be a waste of time. After years of fighting about it, she finally grew so annoyed by his attitude that she found another boyfriend, one who would go with her on the yearly excursions to Carriacou.
The out-islanders, he tells Avey, are “serious people.” They work hard and have a practical business sense. They look out for each other and have earned his respect, but he simply can’t understand the excursion.
He chooses a “towering structure of stark white concrete . . . with hundreds of balconies” as Avey’s hotel, assuring her that it is “the best” and that it mostly caters to white tourists. Upon checking in at the front desk, Avey asks the clerk to make her plane reservation and then arranges for the taxi driver to return the next day to drive her to the airport.
Returning inside, Avey takes in the sleek hotel and is again filled with the “mysterious welling up in her stomach” which has troubled her since the peach parfait. She begins to feel a flood of doubt and attempts to focus her thoughts on her return home. Under her hat, Avey’s eyes reflect the “wide frightened look of someone given to visions that were beyond her comprehension,” and she finds that she is shivering despite the tropical heat.
Analysis
In these chapters a sense of mysticism arises that pulls Avey in a direction she might never have otherwise chosen. Her actions are typically practical and well-planned, and she acknowledges how ludicrous it seems to leave an expensive trip after only a few days. Yet Avey cannot quell the desire to disembark the ship immediately, hoping to find some relief from her recent physical and mental discomforts. Avey’s hallucinations are grotesque and dark, showing her images of decay and death. Her dream about Aunt Cuney ends in physical violence, which is not reflective of the relationship they shared when Avey was a young girl. It seems that powers beyond Avey’s control are aligning to force her to confront some deep and hidden truths, particularly around the clash between her heritage and the white society she predominantly finds herself in. It is interesting that the cab driver believes it is beneficial to boast to a Black woman that her hotel has a mostly white clientele; even more interesting is that Avey doesn’t question the significance of this information. As she is pulled toward Grenada, her discomfort is not immediately lessened as she expected; this foreshadows that Avey must soon face the truth behind those visions that have upended her sense of peace. She may have removed herself from the ship, but she has not escaped the truth that seems intent on revealing itself.
