The Albatross by Susan Hill
"The Albatross" by Susan Hill is a poignant narrative exploring themes of isolation, identity, and the struggle for independence. It follows the life of Duncan Pike, an eighteen-year-old with limited intellectual capabilities, who feels like an outsider in his small fishing village. The story emphasizes Duncan's complex relationship with his domineering mother, Hilda, who relies on him due to her own disabilities and continually undermines his abilities, further isolating him from the villagers. Despite his deep-seated feelings of inferiority and self-doubt, Duncan harbors a yearning for freedom, fueled by his admiration for Ted Flint, a local fisherman who treats him as an equal.
The plot takes a dramatic turn when Flint dies in a storm, prompting Duncan to confront his own mortality and desire for a life beyond his constrained existence. This moment catalyzes a series of rebellious actions against his mother, culminating in a tragic and violent bid for independence. The narrative examines the psychological complexities of Duncan's character, highlighting the limits of his understanding and the drastic measures he believes are necessary to escape his oppressive environment. Ultimately, "The Albatross" is a compelling reflection on the nature of freedom and the impact of familial relationships on personal identity.
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The Albatross by Susan Hill
First published: 1969
Type of plot: Social realism
Time of work: 1968
Locale: A fishing village in northeast England
Principal Characters:
Duncan Pike , the protagonist, a simple-minded workmanHilda Pike , his motherTed Flint , a fisherman
The Story
Duncan Pike is an eighteen-year-old man with limited intelligence and thus an outsider to himself and to the small fishing village in which he lives. His agonizing feeling of being an outcast is reinforced by his domineering mother, Hilda, who constantly reminds him, "We keep ourselves to ourselves in this town." His mother wants him to be alone; she clings to him for several reasons. For one, she is handicapped, like her son. Because she is confined to a wheelchair, she depends on Duncan to help her through each day. She also underestimates her son: She thinks him incapable of performing the simplest task without her instructions. This is also the attitude of the villagers toward Duncan; he can only feel further isolated because of this.
For Duncan, any contact with the villagers is extremely painful. "He dared not wonder what they really thought of him, or how they talked, as he went away. . . ." He has almost come to hate himself and doubt his abilities because he has listened too long to his mother and to the other residents of the village.
An incident at the opening of the story illustrates this well. Each Wednesday, Hilda sends her son to buy fish in the market for their supper. She writes down "not cod" as "she wrote everything down for him, every message, every demand, every list." Duncan resents this treatment; no matter where he goes, he thinks, he takes his mother with him. He has given up trying to defend or explain himself to her or anyone else. The villagers speak to him clearly, loudly, and slowly, thinking that he cannot understand them if they do not. He buys cod because that is all that is being sold, not bothering to ask for anything else or to go to another fish seller. Too mentally beaten down to explain the circumstances, Duncan endures the verbal abuse of his mother when he returns home.
Understandably, at eighteen, Duncan is beginning to want some independence, to break away from his mother and the village. His desire is particularly acute because of his isolation and his feelings of inferiority. He sits in rapture when his boss speaks of the outside world, which Duncan sees as "new, miraculous." He stands and looks out at the sea, longing for a new life. Slowly, reluctantly at first, Duncan begins to see that "I could go anywhere." His mother seems to sense his desire to leave, for she repeatedly reminds him that he could not make it at sea or anywhere else. "You stay as you are," she chides him. Duncan's desire to leave his old life nevertheless remains strong. With each view of the sea he reminds himself that "he could go anywhere, by himself."
Ted Flint, a fisherman, is Duncan's idol. He has done everything and been everywhere that Duncan would like to go. Ted treats Duncan as an equal. He offers to take him out in his boat, but Hilda's relentless words, "You leave going in boats alone," stop Duncan.
He continues to be fascinated by Flint, and Flint befriends the boy because he feels sorry for him. He good-heartedly offers to buy Duncan a drink at the local pub. He does not fear Hilda Pike, but Duncan does, and so he does not accept the invitation. Still, Duncan is thrilled, for he has had the chance to go, to be with the men, to assert his independence. It reinforces his feeling that perhaps he could do something about his life.
The turning point of the story, and of Duncan's life, happens when Flint is drowned in a sea storm. The incident crystallizes in Duncan's realization that he, too, could die without ever having lived. He is so affected by Flint's death that he leaves his mother in her wheelchair alone at the funeral because she taunted him, saying that he understood nothing about death. It is Duncan's first act of defiance.
The act of ignoring his mother's abuse and leaving her helpless in church is followed by Duncan's going by himself to the pub to buy a drink. He repeatedly tells himself, as if to convince himself, that he can do what he wants. Ultimately, a sense of calm overcomes him. "He was no longer anxious, he felt a new person, strong, by himself."
"Duncan thought of nothing, felt nothing. He had decided what he should do and could not remember a reason." What Duncan decides to do is to free himself, and he does that by poisoning his mother and burning all the things in the house that he hates and that remind him of her. Ceremoniously, he removes her sewing materials, her furnishings, and burns them in the grate. Then he dresses his mother, places her in her wheelchair, and pushes her into the sea. Duncan then gets into a boat and goes to sea himself—something his mother would never allow him to do.
That Duncan is limited mentally is apparent in his solution to his problems. He can be free only by killing his mother. He makes no plans for his future beyond being at sea in a boat. He is later found huddled in a grainbarn. The reader must assume that he will be tried but found mentally incompetent.