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Hortense, Queenie, Gilbert and Bernard
- The novel has four main characters—Hortense, Queenie, Gilbert and Bernard—who each tell the story from their point of view.
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Hortense Roberts, one of the novel’s protagonists, is a young Jamaican woman who immigrates to England. Hortense is born out of wedlock to a famous Jamaican bureaucrat, Lovell Roberts, and a penniless maid, Alberta … read analysis of Hortense Roberts.
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- Gilbert Joseph
Gilbert Joseph, one of the novel’s protagonists, is a young...
- Hortense Roberts
Hortense Roberts, one of the novel’s protagonists, is a...
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- Philip Roberts
- Hortense
- Queenie
- Gilbert Joseph
- Bernard Bligh
Hortense is propelled through life by a reverence for manners and etiquette which clashes with the harsh reality of life in England. She is an illegitimate child who is raised by her aunt and uncle. Their cold and emotionally distant treatment of her combines with the education she has at a teaching college to forge a personality that equates good ...
Queenie's life is a constant struggle to escape the circumstances of her birth. Queenie grows up on a farm run by her father whose primary business is as a butcher. Queenie is repulsed by life on the farm and the bloody business of butchering. She escapes temporarily to live with her aunt in London, but her aunt's death threatens to send Queenie st...
Gilbert Joseph has big ambitions but lacks the personality to realize his dreams. He is a charming, witty man who delights in making people laugh. His childhood in Jamaica makes him dream of being a lawyer and respected for his intelligence. He joins the Royal Air Force and travels from Jamaica to the United States and Britain. He realizes that the...
Bernard Bligh hates himself and is forced to watch as his worst nightmares are realized. He works a dull job as a bank clerk and then finds himself marrying a woman who uses him to escape life on a farm. The marriage between Bernard and Queenie is a loveless husk of passive-aggressive resentment. Bernard sits in silence while Queenie purposely anno...
Characters. The novel has four main characters—Hortense, Queenie, Gilbert and Bernard—who each tell the story from their point of view. Mainly set in 1948, the plot focuses on the diaspora of Jamaican immigrants, who, escaping economic hardship on their own "small island", move to England, the Mother Country, for which the men have fought ...
- UK
- Andrea Levy
- 2004
- Headline Review
The other main characters, Hortense and Gilbert Joseph, are Jamaican immigrants to England. Born of a peasant mother and a well-to-do, respected married man, Hortense was sent as a small...
Small Island's important quotes, sortable by theme, character, or chapter. Small Island: Characters Description, analysis, and timelines for Small Island 's characters.
Prologue: Queenie. The novel opens as Queenie, one of the protagonists, visits the British Empire Exhibition as a young girl. She goes with her parents, who run a butchery together, and is chaperoned by two of their employees, Emily and Graham.
Jan 1, 2004 · *Although we are given long sidetracks about the four main characters’ past and present lives, I have not come to feel close to any of them. The four main characters are Queenie, Bernard, Hortense and Gilbert. Actually five, since Michael is an important character too. Queenie and Bernard are married, white and Cockney-speaking British.
