Sign in or 
Share this
Melal : A Novel of the Pacific
BARCLAY, Robert., Melal : A Novel of the Pacific. Honolulu, Hawaii: University of Hawaii Press, 2002. 300p. ISBN 0-8248-2591-8 (pa), $14.95.
In Melal: A Novel of the Pacific, first-time novelist Robert Barclay weaves an intriguing story that reveals the conflicts of modern life in the Marshall Islands, as tradition, Western influence, racism, and the repercussions of U.S. nuclear testing intersect.
Melal is a Marshallese word, defined at the start of the novel as a, “Playground for demons; not habitable by people.” This title sets the tone for the story, as it follows three plot lines that occur on Good Friday 1981, set in the Kwajalein atoll, the largest in the world. One of the main characters, Rujen Keju is a middle-aged widower, his wife died from cancer as a result of the fallout from the United States nuclear testing that occurred on the Bikini atoll in 1954. Rujen lives on Ebeye, an overpopulated island where many Marshallese were relocated to after their homes were subjected to nuclear fallout, as well as U.S. military ballistic missile testing. He works at the Kwajalein sewage plant and on Good Friday, 1981, he faces a series of mishaps on his way to work and throughout the rest of his day.
Rujen’s two teenage sons, Jebro and Nuke, have taken his boat to the abandoned island, Tar-Woj, where their family once lived, to spend the day fishing. The island is now illegal because of its alignment with the missile range. Jebro yearns to reconnect with his traditions and tries to convey this to his younger brother Nuke, who is becoming Americanized. Their story takes a dramatic turn when they encounter three young Americans out for a joyride on a speedboat.
The story is interwoven with the story of Etao, a Marshallese trickster, and Noniep, a mythical character striving to preserve Marshallese traditions. Although the juxtaposition of the different stories seems abrupt at first, Robert Barclay skillfully joins them together, and all of the characters intersect by the end of the novel. This story brings to light the issues faced by Marshallese people today, and highlights the negative affects of the ongoing U.S. military occupation. Barclay uses strong symbolism and imagery to convey his message, as he wrestles with the complexity of the issues in the novel. This is an excellent insight into the modern Pacific, and is an engaging story, ripe with subtle and not so subtle messages about the abuse of American power.
Robert Barclay wrote this book as a doctoral candidate in the English department at the University of Hawaii. He is not Marshallese, but moved to Kwajalein when he was ten years old, when his father took a job as an engineer at the U.S. Missile Range facility.
Melal has received much recognition since its publication in 2002. Barclay won the 2002 Harriet Goldsberry Award in Creative Writing, and Melal was put on the 2002 Barnes and Nobles’ “Discover Great Writers” list. It was also nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in 2002, won a Palapala Pookela Award for Excellence in Literature in 2003, and was nominated for the 2004 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award.
This is a much needed work in a Pacific fiction collection because there are so few novels set in the Marshall Islands, and this work does an excellent job to convey the dark history of the colonial presence there, which the Marshallese still deal with today.
In Melal: A Novel of the Pacific, first-time novelist Robert Barclay weaves an intriguing story that reveals the conflicts of modern life in the Marshall Islands, as tradition, Western influence, racism, and the repercussions of U.S. nuclear testing intersect.
Melal is a Marshallese word, defined at the start of the novel as a, “Playground for demons; not habitable by people.” This title sets the tone for the story, as it follows three plot lines that occur on Good Friday 1981, set in the Kwajalein atoll, the largest in the world. One of the main characters, Rujen Keju is a middle-aged widower, his wife died from cancer as a result of the fallout from the United States nuclear testing that occurred on the Bikini atoll in 1954. Rujen lives on Ebeye, an overpopulated island where many Marshallese were relocated to after their homes were subjected to nuclear fallout, as well as U.S. military ballistic missile testing. He works at the Kwajalein sewage plant and on Good Friday, 1981, he faces a series of mishaps on his way to work and throughout the rest of his day.
Rujen’s two teenage sons, Jebro and Nuke, have taken his boat to the abandoned island, Tar-Woj, where their family once lived, to spend the day fishing. The island is now illegal because of its alignment with the missile range. Jebro yearns to reconnect with his traditions and tries to convey this to his younger brother Nuke, who is becoming Americanized. Their story takes a dramatic turn when they encounter three young Americans out for a joyride on a speedboat.
The story is interwoven with the story of Etao, a Marshallese trickster, and Noniep, a mythical character striving to preserve Marshallese traditions. Although the juxtaposition of the different stories seems abrupt at first, Robert Barclay skillfully joins them together, and all of the characters intersect by the end of the novel. This story brings to light the issues faced by Marshallese people today, and highlights the negative affects of the ongoing U.S. military occupation. Barclay uses strong symbolism and imagery to convey his message, as he wrestles with the complexity of the issues in the novel. This is an excellent insight into the modern Pacific, and is an engaging story, ripe with subtle and not so subtle messages about the abuse of American power.
Robert Barclay wrote this book as a doctoral candidate in the English department at the University of Hawaii. He is not Marshallese, but moved to Kwajalein when he was ten years old, when his father took a job as an engineer at the U.S. Missile Range facility.
Melal has received much recognition since its publication in 2002. Barclay won the 2002 Harriet Goldsberry Award in Creative Writing, and Melal was put on the 2002 Barnes and Nobles’ “Discover Great Writers” list. It was also nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in 2002, won a Palapala Pookela Award for Excellence in Literature in 2003, and was nominated for the 2004 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award.
This is a much needed work in a Pacific fiction collection because there are so few novels set in the Marshall Islands, and this work does an excellent job to convey the dark history of the colonial presence there, which the Marshallese still deal with today.
Review submitted in April 2006 by Annie K. Thomas, Master’s of Library and Information Science candidate, University of Hawaii at Manoa
DrDrewHonolulu |
Latest page update: made by DrDrewHonolulu
, Jan 1 2008, 10:36 PM EST
(about this update
About This Update
Edited by DrDrewHonolulu
1 word added 1 word deleted view changes - complete history) |
|
Keyword tags:
Melal : A Novel of the Pacific
More Info: links to this page
|
There are no threads for this page.
Be the first to start a new thread.
