The Migration is the introductory chapter of Gerald Durrell’s book My Family and Other Animals. It describes his formative years in an exaggerated and even fictionalized form while growing up on the Greek island of Corfu with his siblings and widowed mother.
The Migration | Summary
The Durrell family is sitting in their living room in Bournemouth, England, on a rainy day in August. All of their typical illnesses have returned due to the weather: Mother has a cold, Margo’s acne is more severe than usual, Leslie is dealing with ear infections, and Gerry is very congested. The only one who is healthy is Larry, who is extremely agitated. Gerry claims that Larry intended to offer big ideas and then deny responsibility for the results of those ideas. Larry confronts Mother and demands to know why the family endures this awful environment. He lists the family’s illnesses and informs Mother that she is getting more “hagridden” every day. Mother just gives him a blank stare while holding her cookbook. Larry claims that they require sunlight because it is impossible for him to write in this weather. Mother doesn’t think about it in detail when she says yes to Larry’s request that they go to Corfu, Greece, where his friend George currently lives, although she does agree that sunshine would be great.
Mother proposes that he go along with the preparation while the rest of the family would follow after. She advised him to do so in Seville also, but Larry complains that the family never actually comes along. Although she just bought the house, he advises Mother to sell it—a suggestion she finds absurd. Mother nevertheless decides to sell the house, and the family moves to Corfu. Each family member “travels light” and only brings the absolute basics, as per Gerry. Gerry brings books on natural history, a butterfly net, the family dog, Roger, and a jar of caterpillars, while Margo brings flowing garments and acne remedies, Leslie has guns, Larry brings book trunks, Mother brings cookery and gardening books, and Larry brings books. They travel around Europe before boarding a ship in Italy that is headed for Greece. The sea is a vivid blue colour, and mist is floating around a small island when they awaken close to Greece and look around them. Olive groves and vibrant rocks that hiss when the water touches them are visible to them. Even on board the ship, you can hear the cicadas.
The Migration | Analysis
The scene is set to be a typical family living room scene where the emphasis and centre of attention lays down on the adversity of the climate, the gloomy climate that is becoming too much to handle for everyone in the family.
It is also notable that while Mother glares at Larry, she doesn’t seem very outraged by his slur, it is clear from the way Larry speaks to his mother that the familial dynamics at play here are already rather ludicrous. This demonstrates to the reader how different cultures and families have different ideas of what is silly or normal, a concept that will be even more evident in Corfu. Larry in the first half of the prologue has been established as a character whose innate quality will be to complain and strive for change while not making any efforts from his own will.
There has been dreadful weather in August. Gerald and his family have all fallen victim to the bad weather in different ways. They all get a weird illness as a result of the moist weather, from Gerald’s catarrh to Leslie’s ear bleeding. Margo, who already had acne scarring, now has even worse acne and is being compared to “a face that was already blotched like a red veil,”. Larry, however, suffers with his heart and soul, as an artist does, rather than physically. In addition to being the focus of everyone’s issues, Larry has been made to be the person who is most irritated by them all.
Larry declares publicly that he has had enough of dwelling and asks them to leave their current home for one with a better place and a better climate. Larry suggests that they go to the island of Corfu after hearing George’s lovely descriptions of it. The way Larry’s mother speaks to him only serves to highlight how dismissive she is of all of Larry’s reasons as she attempts to appease Larry by asking him to go ahead and set things up. He implied that something similar had already occurred, When Larry was sent out to Spain he waited for everyone to join him but nothing happened. The author describes the sweltering weather of July and August with vivid images and ideas, using phrases like:
“July had been blown out like a candle by biting wind.”
The various Durrell family members experience extremely noticeable effects of the weather in England. This establishes the scene and establishes the precedent that humans may only make an effort to cohabit with the natural environment because it is inextricably linked to “civilized” human life. The way Larry interacts with his mother begins to reveal the already bizarre family dynamics. Gerald makes funny observations about his family’s quirks, fights, and drama throughout the text. Each member of his family is unique, including his mother’s antiquated outlook, his brother Leslie’s preoccupation with guns, and Larry’s haughtiness.
The rest of the events that will take place during the novel are introduced invariably throughout the prologue. Creating the ideal environment and setting the family dynamics. Revealing subtly to the audience what to anticipate from the characters moving forward. The prologue’s language is not overly substandard or challenging, but rather engaging.