Flotsam and Jetsam

Flotsam and Jetsam

Essay

The short story ”Flotsam and Jetsam”, which appeared in the collection Elsewhere: There in 2012, is written by the Scottish writer Alan Bissett. The story narrates a Scottish woman named Kate on her holiday in the African country of Zanzibar. On her holiday, she quickly finds herself being the target of locals trying to sell her boat snorkelling trips. Irritated by the sell attempts, she flees of to a local restaurant ordering seafood. Whilst eating her dish, she takes part in a discussion with the waiter Mustapha. Kate reflects on her treatment by the locals, since she arrived to the country, the way she had been treated as a rich Westerner and her surroundings. This discussion commences both of them into a rather heated conversation, where the core meaning of the short story unfolds.

More on, we have our main character Kate, who isn’t described physically besides being Scottish. We know that her soul purpose for going on this vacation is her hunger for adventure unlike her friend, who rather stayed home fearing the worst: ““They don't like white people in Africa, Kate. Haven't you seen the news?”” (P.3, L.29-30). She is constantly bothered by the locals trying to sell her boat snorkelling trips and therefore wanders off to the sanctuary of a beach restaurant, where she meets Mustapha. After a short conversation, Kate ways in on her views on Britain and Scotland: “Things in Britain are very bad, very gloomy. Bad politics. Bad economy.” (P.5, L.136-137) and “But God, Mustapha, things feel so desperate back home. Everyone’s depressed. Everyone’s empty.” (P.6, L.177-178). However, after hearing Mustapha on the living standards of Zanzibar she can’t understand how fondly Mustapha portraits the country: “My god, thought Kate, he thinks these are decent living standards? She considered imparting her view of the shanty towns, of the crumbling roads, of the chaotic airport” (P.6, L.165-166). She feels a little bit guilty in comparison to the people of Zanzibar, but only a bit, but after hearing the history of Zanzibar she becomes rather humble.

Moreover, the setting takes place in Africa, or more accurate Zanzibar. We, as the readers of the text, are being deceived by the superficial exterior of the Zanzibarian island. We read about the almost paradise like beach: “The sand glowed a Zanzibarian yellow. Waves hissed. Endless, sweet hours of nothing stretched before her” (P.2, L.15-16), the prestige and highly upper class like feel of the hotel: “The hotel gates had opened to her as though it were preordained from birth, uniformed Zanzibarians bowing as she’d entered.” (P.5, L.112-113). But the readers quickly realise what lies behind the surface of the Zanzibarian sand. As Kate walks over to the restaurant she realises that Zanzibar in fact is two sided, in