2014-15+Corvus+Paul+Theroux


 * Aim: Connor Griffin**



The aim of Paul Theroux was the general aim of any travel-writer in the industry. Most travel writers all shoot for the same goal, and that is to have a personal interpretation of the location that they visit, that is almost so intimate and descriptive that the words flow from the reader’s brain into their senses. These create a sense of reality in imagination of somewhere that they have never been, which was the aim of Mr. Theroux as a writer. As a person, however, his aim is to also convey human emotion through writing “Those who write are disturbed, dysfunctional, cranky, incomplete, not housebroken. Why else would I write the kinds of things I write if I were a nice normal person?” (Theroux 1). Therefore, his aim is explicitly stated in his writing, and in life as well. To add onto what the aim of his writing is, one writer describes Paul Theroux’s stories as “a strong and disturbing fable that illuminates the literature it draws upon even as it finds its own imaginative integrity” (Edwards 1). This enhances the fact that Mr. Theroux’s aim is to envelope the reader and make them question humanity through their own imagination. His aim is for every reader to imagine, develop, and comprehend in their own personal way. To take these personal comprehensions and put them towards society, and to question it. To question humanity as a being, and humanity as an adjective- and how those two apply to the reader’s life.

Works Cited: Edwards, Thomas. “Paul Theroux’s Yankee Crusoe.” //The New York Times//. The New York Time Company, 14 Feb 1982. Web. 5 Jan 2015.

Coyne, John. “Living on the Edge: Paul Theroux.” //Peace Corps Writers//. Ethiopia, 1962-64. Web. 6 Jan 2015.


 * Audience: Christina Evans**



Paul Theroux wrote to not only have his novels and short stories connect with the people in the time that he was writing, but also with the people of future times. He often wrote about topics that plague the general people in turn having a grand audience of people throughout the ages. According to an article published in The New York Times, “Theroux clearly admires Fox's very American refusal to settle for less than his mind can conceive of, but he also makes us [readers] feel an equally American anxiety about the hubris of imagination” (Edwards). In The Mosquito Coast, Allie Fox, the main character, goes through many situations that pull all kinds of audiences in to understand or even sympathize with the book character. Theroux often wrote books about true people or true event in order to pertain to all kinds of people. For example, he wrote “Girls at Play, a novel about ‘the futility of African politics and the disintegration of tribal life’” (Theroux). Paul Theroux used his novels and short stories in order to pertain to a wide variety of audiences as well as communicate the issues across the world rather than only issues pertaining to one type of people. Therefore, Paul Theroux does not have only one audience because he wrote his work in order to create a timeless communication of a vast array of topics.

Works Cited: Edwards, Thomas. “Paul Theroux’s Yankee Crusoe”. //The New York Times//. The New York Time Company, 14 Feb 1982. Web. 5 Jan 2015.

Theroux, Paul. Paul Theroux.com". //Houghton Mifflin.// Web. 5 Jan 2015.


 * Historical: Joey Giola**



Paul Theroux has written quite a few books regarding the issues plaguing America at the time of each book’s publication. An article written by The Daily Beast, it states, “The novel was published in 1982, in the midst of the severe recession that began shortly after Ronald Reagan took office and lasted until the middle of his first term” ("American Dreams..."). The time of when the book was written is during a gloomy period of recession where Americans simply do not like the country at that moment. Allie, the main character of the book, quite often makes statements referring to the multitude of problems in America during 1982. Everything from the slow political process to corporate greed during the book. With Reagan having just been elected, trickle down economics was supposed to turn things around for the lower classes, however time told us that it just made the rich even more rich. In an article written by the New York Times, it states, “This blooming profusion of exotic assignments is due, of course, to the success and well-deserved acclaim of Theroux's past travel books, particularly 'The Great Railway Bazaar' and 'Riding the Iron Rooster’” (Goodheart 1). Theroux through his travel writing has changed how people look at travelling to exotic places. This is through both his books and his articles that he writes for magazines such as the National Geographic. History will remember Paul Theroux from his writings about his travels because of the way that he changed how people view travelling to exotic places.

Works Cited: Goodheart, Adam. "Only Disconnect." //The New York Times//. The New York Times, 17 June 2000. Web. 6 Jan. 2015.

Rich, Nathaniel. “American Dreams: ‘The Mosquito Coast’ by Paul Theroux” //The Daily Beast//. The Daily Beast Company, 20 September 2012. Web. 5 January 2015


 * Cultural: Abby Gritis**

Speaking of the culture of the United States, Paul Theroux has made a large impact on how people view society. In an article by The Daily Beast, it states that “Allie’s misadventure can be read as a warning of the limitations of the American way—the folly of our imperial adventures, the pitfalls of technological progress, and the corrosive hubris of patriotism” (“American Dreams…”). Culturally, the works of Paul Theroux and the author himself lend as a warning to the American people that a lot could go wrong very fast. This impending doom has created an impact on the American people, or at the very least those who have read the book. However, a New York Times article fights against this point that Theroux was an outstanding author, stating that he “Theroux's book, I should hastily say, doesn't force us into these deep waters ... but under its unintimidating surface, I think, 'The Mosquito Coast' shows a cosmopolitan expatriate novelist pondering his imaginative sources as an American writer, and the relation of those sources to the world as it now seems to be” (“Paul Theroux’s Yankee Crusoe”). His book, like many others can sweep the nation for a short while but will eventually just become a fad, a distant memory of what was popular at the time. This book may have gripped the nation at one point, but today it holds little relevance as to what people are paying attention to. However to say that this book is not completely relevant would be a lie, since the ideas and themes in the book hold present today about technological mishaps and the human want to have more. This book has themes and ideas in it that make it relevant but in today’s society it has not stuck.

Works Cited: Edwards, Thomas. “Paul Theroux’s Yankee Crusoe.” //The New York Times//. The New York Time Company, 14 Feb 1982. Web. 5 January 2015.

Rich, Nathaniel. “American Dreams: ‘The Mosquito Coast’ by Paul Theroux” //The Daily Beast//. The Daily Beast Company, 20 September 2012. Web. 5 January 2015