Summary Part 7

I thought that this particular section was one of the more interesting ones in the whole reading. Not only do we get to dive deeper into the hellish world that is I-Kiribati culture, we learn about an American impact on how their world was formed. And although I don’t find it to be entirely the point of the chapter, there is a brief illustration of the ignorance of Americans towards the outside world.
Chapter 17 starts off with yet another risky decision from Troost in deciding to fly Air Kiribati. I picture the plane he’s riding on as a World War era hunk of junk, fixed up by adding some power to the engines, and by repairing the rusted frame with masking tape. Now I’m no expert but a commercial jet liner isn’t usually using engines from the 60’s along with a masking tape fuselage. After the horrifying voyage Troost finally arrives on another remote island called Butaritari. The FSP was actually there to present the members of the island with a play or skit to demonstrate the effects and proper treatments for respiratory infections, and diarrhea. Hopefully the locals took it to heart. That play would be followed by a fine meal of eel, which in turn probably caused excess diarrhea. Something very interesting happened while Troost and Sylvia were eating. The tribe actually studied them for about fifteen minutes as they ate. Troost had turned into the subject of the research, not the researcher. Eventually Troost would find his way out of Butaritari via Air Tarawa, late as usual.
Since the author uses absolutely no transitions here neither will I. Troost dives into a world of history surrounding all of his findings in regard to the battle of Tarawa during WWII. It was a Japanese controlled island designed to protect the South Pacific conquests of the Empire. The Americans invaded the South Pacific Japanese islands in the 1940’s in an attempt to eventually take control of Japan. The battle of Tarawa was a 3 day long battle in the multi-year conquest of the South Pacific by the United States. Troost finds only one memorial to the many soldiers lost by US soldiers in the struggle. It’s covered in overgrown grass. What a fine memorial for the 3,500 casualties for the United States Marine Corps.
Finally there is a short chapter that illustrates the isolationism of such a small country in the Pacific. Troost calls the US to inquire about a subscription to The New Yorker. When placing the order he is faced with much difficulty as, he is not able to enter a legitimate phone number, address, state, country, or even island. The database for the magazine wouldn’t recognize any form of information he gave them. In fact, it hadn’t been updated since the war. I think that expresses the level of neglect for the South Pacific fairly well.