Social Changes In Small Island, By Andrea Levy

The novel, Small Island, by the contemporary writer, Andrea Levy chronicles the lives of a handful of British individuals in the years following the Second World War. The characters and their interactions make up the entirety of the plot, with their interactions whole-heartedly representing post World War Two cultural and political change. The main characters represent certain aspects of this change that occurred in post-war British society. Hortense Gilbert represents a pretentious, romanticized, fleeting vision of the Empire in which Britain once found much pride. Queenie Bligh is a worldly, open minded woman who foreshadows the politically and socially progressive Britain, which is on the horizon for herself and her contemporaries. Alike, Levy employs her jovial character Joseph Gilbert as a contrast to the qualms and the uneasiness of postwar racial progress possessed by many people at the time in which the novel takes place. Consequently, Gilbert and Michael Roberts symbolize the natural progression of such change, for they are both affirmative characters in Small Island. Lastly, Queenie’s husband, Robert represents the ‘old guard’ of Britain and its deeply rooted sentiments against diversity and similar issues. Small Island provides for an

In the novel, the character Hortense’s embodiment of the positive, nostalgically cherished traditions of the British Empire represents the things British citizens can always take pride in. In contrast, Levy’s ‘antagonist’ Bernard brings to light the less desirable characteristics of the classic Empire. Consequently, Queenie represents the clash between the aspects of the ‘olden’ days—along with Gilbert and Michael—and the move towards progress and social equality which forms British society as we know it