Quizzer Part 3

What is the significance of books and CD's from home to Troost and what do they symbolize?

For Troost, CD's and books play a substantial role in his entertainment and sanity. His lack of CD’s from home hits home when he found that "La Macarena" is the only form of music found on Kiribati. Troost is a foreigner amidst a strange place with no job duties except survival and biding his time. He has yet to start the novel which he finds will use his time up on the island, but he has boredom and yearns for the music and novels he left in America. The items symbolize the civilization left behind replaced by the new culture and ways of the I-Kiribati. He waits several months for these precious items to arrive.

How do the different cultures deal with "neighbor issues"? (I-Kiribati vs. Americans)

Troost learns from Tiabo that in Kiribati it is rude and unimaginable to ask neighbors to be quiet, (for example) to ask them to turn their music down. He finds this a very strange custom in comparison to the American way of getting what you want. In America (as Troost explains) that a simple "turn it down asshole" would suffice to achieve prompt results. He goes on to conclude that nobody disturbs another for such a request in Kiribati for "peace." While in America, dealing with noisy neighbors and settling a disturbance is the only way to achieve peace.

Why do the I-Kiribati, including Tiabo, think the I-Matang are strange?

The I-Kiribati consider the I-Matang strange individuals for their different cultural backgrounds and behaviors. One example from the text was that Troost was about to burn some of the waste inhabiting his backyard when Tiabo abruptly stopped him. Her reasoning was not that burning waste is bad for the environment or anything of the sort, but it was for the belief that burning soiled diapers would "burn baby's bums." In the same sense that the I-Kiribati find I-Matang strange, I-Matang find the I-Kiribati's behaviors strange. All of this has to do with culture-shock and different backgrounds of the 2 mixed cultures upon the small island of Kiribati.

What is the significance of Troost's "history lesson" in chapter 10?

The significance of Troost telling the reader about much of Kiribati's historical background is that this shows the effect the I-Matang has had upon the islands in the South Pacific. The I-Matang has "civilized" the islands in some ways: by conforming the religious beliefs and clothing the "savages." But in turn the I-Matang has also swept through and changed the gene pools significantly by mating with the native women on the island. All of these effects relate to the relationship that exists between the I-Kiribati people and the I-Matangs inhabiting the island. Troost wanted to let the reader know Kiribati's history so that they would have a better understanding of his situation upon the island as well as his relationship to the native people there.