Elizabeth O’Connor’s debut novel ‘Whale Fall,’ set in Wales, is an ‘exquisite’ coming-of-age story

The Impact of “Whale Fall” on Sustainable Development Goals

Introduction

The year is 1938 in “Whale Fall” and a whale has washed ashore on a remote island off the coast of Wales. It’s September, lobster season. The boats are “half-rotten and covered over with barnacles, the nets flopping over the sides like tongues.”

Exploring the Island’s Culture

A month later, two other foreign bodies make land, this time in the form of Joan and Edward, English ethnographers who heard about the whale while visiting a mainland pub. They are hoping to study the island’s culture so they can share its stories. For 18-year-old Manod, whose birth certificate reads 10 days later than her actual birthdate because a January storm prevented her father from taking a boat to the registration office, the arrival of both the whale and professors sparks an awareness of life beyond cottages with guano-stained roofs and winters spent huddled around the hearth.

Assisting the Ethnographers

A minister tells the ethnographers that the island population stands at 15 men, 20 women and 12 children. That’s slim pickings when it comes to finding a translator. Manod speaks English, is naturally curious and is eager to help. So, she sets to work with Joan and Edward, while continuing to care for her younger sister and run the home they share with their widower father.

A Developing Friendship

A friendship develops between Manod and the professors, in the unequal way that a young woman from a land-out-of-time can be friends with people who are older and talk of Oxford and Paris. Manod sings folk songs into their recording machine and encourages other villagers to do the same. As a sign of appreciation, Joan gives Manod a tube of lipstick. Edward shows an even greater interest and encourages Manod’s burgeoning wanderlust, telling her she would thrive on the mainland. He also confides that Joan is a follower of a political ideology that troubles him. Talk about triangulation.

A Nuanced Account of Life on the Island

I’m not going to tell you if Manod leaves the island. What I will say is that Elizabeth O’Connor’s novel is an exquisite coming-of-age story, a beautifully crafted debut that plays with form — white space, fragments, transcripts, ethnographers’ notes — to create a nuanced account not only of Manod’s realization that there is a downside to Joan and Edward’s interest in her community but also of a place that is defined by its harsh conditions. Death is never far away. Its stench, like the rotting whale flesh that sways with the tides, is the aroma of her young life.

The Impact of Modernity on the Island

O’Connor doesn’t romanticize island life, although she is a master at describing her setting, a made-up place inspired by several islands that surround the British Isles. The reader understands that modernity will eventually have its way with this community and that, like the whale, it is an engendered species.

Conclusion

“There were more empty houses on the island than inhabited ones, left behind by families who had gone to the mainland,” O’Connor writes. “There were swifts nesting in the roofs, which had buckled inwards. Bats, wasps, moss, mold. Five different kinds of knotweed.” Still, “Whale Fall” is not simply a eulogy. It’s the story of a young woman learning to think for herself.

Book Details

• Whale Fall
• By: Elizabeth O’Connor
• Publisher: Pantheon
• Pages: 224
• Price: $27

About the Author

Elizabeth Foy Larsen is the author of “111 Places in the Twin Cities That You Must Not Miss.”

SDGs, Targets, and Indicators

1. Which SDGs are addressed or connected to the issues highlighted in the article?

• SDG 1: No Poverty
• SDG 4: Quality Education
• SDG 5: Gender Equality
• SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
• SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities
• SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities
• SDG 13: Climate Action
• SDG 15: Life on Land

2. What specific targets under those SDGs can be identified based on the article’s content?

• SDG 1.4: By 2030, ensure that all men and women, in particular, the poor and the vulnerable, have equal rights to economic resources, as well as access to basic services, ownership, and control over land and other forms of property.
• SDG 4.1: By 2030, ensure that all girls and boys complete free, equitable, and quality primary and secondary education leading to relevant and effective learning outcomes.
• SDG 5.5: Ensure women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision-making in political, economic, and public life.
• SDG 8.5: By 2030, achieve full and productive employment and decent work for all women and men, including for young people and persons with disabilities, and equal pay for work of equal value.
• SDG 10.2: By 2030, empower and promote the social, economic, and political inclusion of all, irrespective of age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion, or economic or other status.
• SDG 11.3: By 2030, enhance inclusive and sustainable urbanization and capacity for participatory, integrated, and sustainable human settlement planning and management in all countries.
• SDG 13.3: Improve education, awareness-raising, and human and institutional capacity on climate change mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction, and early warning.
• SDG 15.1: By 2020, ensure the conservation, restoration, and sustainable use of terrestrial and inland freshwater ecosystems and their services.

3. Are there any indicators mentioned or implied in the article that can be used to measure progress towards the identified targets?

• Indicator for SDG 1.4: Proportion of the population living below the national poverty line.
• Indicator for SDG 4.1: Completion rate for primary education.
• Indicator for SDG 5.5: Proportion of seats held by women in national parliaments.
• Indicator for SDG 8.5: Unemployment rate by sex, age, and persons with disabilities.
• Indicator for SDG 10.2: Proportion of people living below 50 percent of median income.
• Indicator for SDG 11.3: Proportion of urban population living in slums, informal settlements, or inadequate housing.
• Indicator for SDG 13.3: Number of countries that have integrated mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction, and early warning measures into primary, secondary, and tertiary curricula.
• Indicator for SDG 15.1: Proportion of important sites for terrestrial and freshwater biodiversity that are covered by protected areas.

SDGs, Targets, and Indicators