Unfamiliar Fishes (2011) (edit title/settings)

Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit

Write a ridiculously simplified synopsis.

Summary edit see section history

Characters/People edit see section history

• Theodore Roosevelt: Expansionist American politician.
• Sanford Dole: only president of the Republic of Hawaii, born on Punahou campus
• Owen: Sarah Vowell's nephew who is with her doing the gathering of research for the book.

Quotes edit see section history

• “I have a friend whose father, a native of Liverpool, refused to eat pineapples his entire life because he held a grudge against Hawaiians for killing Britain's greatest explorer. pg. 14-15”

  Sarah Vowell

• “It is worth pointing out that disregard for the feelings of others who disagree is the one thing shared by New England theologians and French philosophers (along with New Bedford whalers, Hawaii-born queen-usurpers, President McKinley, and New York writers finding inspiration in quotations about how it's fine to be a jackass as long as you're trying to tell the truth). Pg. 28.”

  Sarah Vowell

• “I passed through it a couple of centuries after the school was built, and from what I could tell the closest thing to entertainment was the town blood drive. Pg. 31.”

  Sarah Vowell

• “Saddened, the secretary of the ABCFM asked, "Can it be pretended, at this age of the world that a small variance of complexion is to present an insuperable barrier to matrimonial connexions?" Hell, yes! was Cornwall's answer. Pg. 37.”

  Sarah Vowell

• “In the democratic republic where I live, any politician whose genitals have made the news probably isn't going to see his name on a ballot again. Pg. 64-65.”

  Sarah Vowell

• “For Americans, Act 16:9 is the high-fructose corn syrup of Bible verses--an all-purpose ingredient we'll stir into everything from the ink on the Marshall Plan to canisters of Agent Orange. Pg. 81.”

  Sarah Vowell

• “The house, Smola points out, features "small windows, short ceilings, and no good breezeways. In short, it's built to keep the New England winter out. Of course those are difficult to find here in the tropics." Pg. 87.”

  Mike Smola

• “"This is our claim to fame," Kimura says, drawing my attention to one of the display cases full of printed matter. "This is Ka Lama Hawaii, the first newspaper west of the Rockies." Pg. 136.”

  Ken Kimura

• “Which sounds liberating, but in her history of Hawaiian newspapers, Shaping History, Helen Geracimos Chapin noted that the paper "spoke to the 'superiority' of American culture, the Christian religion, and the Protestant work ethic . . . . By such 'truth in attractive form' were Hawaiian readers indoctrinated into the new culture." Pg. 136”

  Helen Geracimos Chapin

• “If a big wave comes in, large and unfamiliar fishes will come from the dark ocean, and when they see the small fishes of the shallows they will eat them up. The white man's ships have arrived with clever men from the big countries. They know our people are few in number and our country is small, they will devour us. Pg. 139.”

  David Malo

• “He counsels against free speech because that would only encourage the native opposition: "To treat them with forebearance and courtesy is like trying to disinfect leprosy with rose water." Pg. 210.”

  Lorrin Thurston

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• I guess if I had to pick a spiritual figurehead to possess the deed to the entirety of Earth, I’d go with Buddha, but only because he wouldn’t want it.

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• Kipling later wrote, “I never got over the wonder of a people who, having extirpated the aboriginals of their continent more completely than any modern race had ever done, honestly believed that they were a godly little New England community, setting examples to brutal mankind.”

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• There is this Japanese saying that’s really important. It’s called okage sama de. It means, ‘I am who I am because of you.’ What it reflects is the debt that you owe to previous generations laying the groundwork for what you accomplished.”

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• Typical—the only thing more European than spreading VD is documenting it.

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Setting & Locations edit see section history

• Hawaii
• Puerto Rico
• Guam
• Cuba
• New England
• Washington, D.C.

Organizations edit see section history

• American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM): found in 1806 by a groups of Williams College students
• Hawaiian League: secret organization formed by Lorrin Thurston in January 1887 - "a voluntary organization, organized to secure efficient, decent and honest government in Hawaii."
• Annexation Club: - led by Lorrin Thurston to lead the US to annex Hawaii to reverse the cancellation of foreign sugar tariffs
• Hui Kalai'aina: native Hawaiian political association devoted to amending the loathed constitution and loosening the property requirements so as to allow unfettered suffrage

First Sentence edit see section history

Themes & Symbolism edit see section history

• American expansionalism: Describe this theme.

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

1. Sarah Vowell (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Classification edit see section history

• Library of Congress: Add the Library of Congress Classification.
• Dewey: 973

Notes for Parents edit see section history

For older YA and Adults. Some harsh language, but the real gating factor is the difficult concepts that could easily be trivialized by an immature reader.

Subjects edit see section history

• Books › Biographies & Memoirs › Arts & Literature › Authors

Books with Additional Background Information edit see section history