The South Pacific vs. AmericaGetting Stoned with Savages by J. Maarten

TroostJenna Schaztmann

P.7

SummaryGetting Stoned with Savages by J. Maarten Troost follows escapist Troost and his wife, Sylvia, on outstanding adventure through the South Pacific. Troost and Sylvia lived a wealthy, successful life in Washington, D.C. until they felt as if something was missing in their lives which was happiness. The couple decides to pack up everything and move to the South Pacific, for the second time, to live the life they have always wanted to live, full of danger and excitement.

ThesisThe South Pacific islands, including Vanuata, can be compared with the United States because they are very different but also similar to each other.

“Escapism is not without it’s costs. Life had been desperate in Kiribati” (Troost 7).There are some places

in the United States where people struggle to live just like in Kiribati. Not every place in Kiribati or the United States will call for desperate measure’s to survive but some will.

“Packing for the South Pacific is different from packing for other regions. This was more like packing by subtraction” (Troost 15).In the United States,

people can own an abundance of things because most homes are permanent. When they are going to a place, such as Vanuatu, they have to be able to have a small amount of items because their home might not always be stable.

“This is because Vantuatu’s eighty-some islands lie directly on the Pacific Ring of Fire, which, as the name implies, is a rather fearsome place to find oneself” (Troost 15).

Although some of the United States can be found along the Ring of Fire, most of it can not which can lead most people to safety. Vantuatu’s islands all lie directly on it so they are more prone to disaster.

“The islands are young, temperamental adolescents, prone to mood swings and sudden growth spurts, and it is not uncommon for an island in Vanuatu to experience a sudden jolt and find itself thrust upward a yard or two” (Troost 16).

The United States have been around for quite some time now so it doesn’t move as much as younger, smaller islands do. Vanuatu is younger island so it is still developing and moving around which causes the growth spurts that America doesn’t have

“On Tarawa, fish migrations determined what one had for dinner; a rain squall meant that, finally, there would be enough water to wash your hair; and the tides limited how far you could travel on an island” (Troost 18).

Many islands in the South Pacific don’t have the luxuries that the United States have so they have to depend on nature to provide for them. Everything people in the United States need is reachable to them to a certain extent which differs from how islanders obtain what they need.

“In Kiribati, when people see a shark, they gleefully dive in and try to catch it. Geography, as they say, is destiny” (Troost 18).The way people live depends

on what they are used to and where they live. Islanders grow up near fish including sharks so they are used to having them around. Most people in the United States, however, have not even seen a shark because they grew up in a place without them. They would react differently to the sight of a shark than an islander would.

“Sundays were for devotion. There is no quieter place on Earth than a Pacific island on a Sunday” (Troost 28).Some cultures may worship

or praise different things but some may be very similar. In the United States, they worship most religions on Sunday’s and in South Pacific islands, they worship and devote their time to something on Sunday’s as well. Not everyone is as different in cultures as most people seem to think.

“Vanuatu is notorious for shark attacks, and to tempt fate by swimming near a reef without first enquiring about the resident shark population is exceedingly rash and ill-advised” (Troost 31).Not many places in the United

States have shark attacks and if they do, it can only be shores which is not a big majority of the United States. Sharks might not even be anywhere near the shores of America so people wont know the dangers of the them. Islanders experience more shark attacks because a lot of their home is close to an ocean so they know more about the attacks than most Americans.

“Malaria is a huge problem on the outer islands. Literacy rates are among the lowest in the pacific. The status of women is a fraction higher than that of pigs. And crime is a big problem in Port Vila” (Troost 41).Smaller, less developed places,

like some islands, might have more problems and different ways than higher developed places, like the United States. The United States has less diseases, high literacy rates, a fair crime system and everyone is treated equally which is different from a majority of islands in the South Pacific. This may be because of financial issues or that the United States has just been around longer and has developed.

“The presence of Wala and Atchin and the encircling population of sharks suggested there was a coral reef” (Troost 99).Things in the South

Pacific such as sharks and coral reefs aren’t common in other areas because of where they are located. One could find coral reefs or even sharks somewhere along the United States shores but not everywhere like one can in a majority of islands.