What Role Does the Social/Historical/Cultural Context Play in the Novel My Family and Other Animals?

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What role does the social/historical/cultural context play in the novel My Family and Other Animals? Gerald Durrell’s book My Family and Other Animals is an autobiographical account of his time on the Greek island of Corfu between 1935 and 1939. The book describes their five year sojourn in a facetious manner. It describes the animal life of the island in great detail as Durrell was a naturalist. In England at that time the summer had been blown out like a ‘candle by a biting wind’ (pg.7), a leaden sky had come over the place and the Durrell family leave England for Corfu not only to escape the weather but also the gloom of the post war conditions. During the 1930s many Jews were fleeing from Germany, to escape political persecution, to other European countries; England being one of them. This is because the Nazi’s had come to power in 1933. Greece was another of the European countries Jews were fleeing to. Greece was soon to be occupied by the Italians. The members of the Durrell family are: nature lover Gerry (writer of the book), egotistic, literature obsessed Larry, gun mad Leslie, diet obsessed Margo and their widowed, but loving mother. The other main characters are Spiro (their protective taxi-driver) and Theodore Stephanides (one of Gerry’s tutor’s). Gerry has many pet animals which also play a significant role in this novel. The main ones being Achilles the tortoise, Quasimodo the pigeon, Alecko the Gull and the dogs Rodger, Widdle and Puke. The book is set in Greece and the historical, social and cultural context plays a significant role in conveying Durrell’s account of his time in that country, as stated in the book. The setting for the book is Corfu and early on in the book you get an idea of what Durrell anticipates life may be like on Corfu. Durrell gives a quote from an admiralty map; “CAUTION: As the buoys marking the shoals are often out of

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