Thoughts on the Little People

People have been writing a little about what they think of the opening pages of Taulapapa McMullin's book. I just thought I'd throw in my two cents. Apologies if this is repeat from class.

The modern silhouettes (in suits and dresses) at the bottoms of the opening pages give the book an Americanized (or at least westernized) feeling. On the page that reads, “The whole world was Moana,” the picture is that of six youthful men and women, standing casually. It looks more like a scene at a bar than the mystic world the words might create by themselves. This gives the book an urban edge despite the pervading ocean landscape. Here, people and society have been printed over the natural world, and they are crisp and well defined, in contrast to the hazy, disorienting, even dreamlike ocean world. While the ocean is a prominent theme, these small figures remind the reader of the gritty title, which also evokes ideas of mistaken or feigned identity. The two facing pages that read, “I am afraid” and “I am not afraid” show the reader how a woman’s dress and posture can make corresponding statements. Although the reader gets the sense of the coquettish damsel and the brazen hussy from the two silhouettes, we are reminded that they are just outlines, recognizable shapes, and of course, things are not always what they seem. Although the absence of a glossary explaining the Samoan in this collection has already been mentioned, it is interesting that the figures on the opening pages are seemingly westernized, and therefore familiar to a wider audience.

Noel