POST-COLONIALISM

Palace of the Peacock

By Wilson Harris

Genre: Novel

Synopsis:

              Donne, a ruthlessly ambitious skipper, whose name nevertheless evokes the Renaissance poet and an imaginative potential, leads a multiracial crew through the rainforest on a nameless river in pursuit of Amerindian folk he wants to use as cheap labour on his plantation. The obstacles they meet on the river and their conflicting relationships turn their pursuit of the folk into a quest for salvation. When Donne reaches the waterfall above which the folk have taken refuge, the narrative turns into a visionary sequence in which Donne becomes at last fully conscious of the hell he has built. The resurrected crew and the folk are evanescently united in the Palace of the Peacock and an alternative to disaster is offered through consciousness and imagination. 

Analysis:

              This novel talks about the cruelty of Donne, the cruel task master of the natives of the Savannahs. It deals with the awful conditions created by Donne to the people of Savannahs with his desire to rule the land. Focuses also to the dictatorship of the place. The brunt of his cruelty to Mariella, the mistress of Donne. In which the brother of Donne dreamt of an ambush of his brother done by Mariella as he rides on horseback to the mission in the Savannahs. Its theme is all about disparate cultures and traditions.