What is a Sargasso

       There is a new book on the AP lit reading list. This new book is title Wide Sargasso Sea which is supposed to be about Bertha Mason from Jane Eyre, and her interpretation of the events. From what the reading so far, it is left to be said that the story is rather strange but filled with alot of symbols and themes that seem to mirror that of Jane Eyre. There is also something to be said about the syntax of the nivel and what it has to do with the story itself.
          There are many questins that come to mind when reading Wide Sargasso sea.The first of these questions begin with, why is there no mention of Bertha Mason if the story is supposed to be her take of the event that happened in Jane Eyre? or What is the connection between this story ans that of Jane Eyre? and finally, Why is the story told from the viewpoint of a child. The story like Jane Eyre is told in the first person close point of view of Antoinette. This point of view is significant because it is from the childs eyes. This view explians why there are often fragments with in the story or confusion of details. It also gives us insight into how what the child, Antoinette experienced as a child and how that will effect her as an adult. With in the story the many themes of Jane Eyre are present, The first of those being the importance of social class. Antoinette describes her family as being in a way persecutted by the towns people of the island. One of the reasons of that has to do with the fact that her mother is from the french colonized town of Martinique. It is also stated that her family is not accepted by either the white or black population of the island, because the women of the island feel that she is too beautiful and young for her husband. another example of the importance of social class comes when Annete Antoinette's mother is angry or disappointed with her for not having cleaner clothes in front of the new neighbors who look very rich and clean. Other examples of the, probelms associated with Antoinette's family's social standing are present with how many of the people of the island verbally abuse them. Often they are called white cockroaches and told to go away.
     The are also the Gothic elements that were present in Jane eyre that are present in the novel. In the novel Antoinette talks about, her mother's only friend and neighbor Mr. Luttrell who mysteriously shots his dog and goes out to sea to never return possibly to avoid the forshadowed trouble that may come from ex-slaves killing the whites of the island. Another example of the Gothic element are seen with, the  imagery of death and decay. In the novel Annetes horse dies and the imagery of the horses eyes being "black with flies".