''A Flag on the Island'' is a collection of short stories written by

V.S. Naipaul Sir Vidiadhar Surajprasad Naipaul (; 17 August 1932 – 11 August 2018) was a Trinidadian-born British writer of works of fiction and nonfiction in English. He is known for his comic early novels set in Trinidad, his bleaker novels of alienatio ...

, and first published by

André Deutsch André Deutsch (15 November 1917 – 11 April 2000) was a Hungarian-born British publisher who founded an eponymous publishing company in 1951. Biography Deutsch was born on 15 November 1917 in Budapest, Hungary, the son of a Jewish dentist ...

in 1967. It includes the title novella, "A Flag on the Island," outtakes from previous books such as "The Enemy", from ''

Miguel Street ''Miguel Street'' is a collection of linked short stories by V. S. Naipaul set in wartime Trinidad and Tobago. The stories draw on the author's childhood memories of Port of Spain. The author lived with his family in the Woodbrook district of ...

'', and pieces published in periodicals in Britain or the United States. The book is dedicated to

Diana Athill Diana Athill (21 December 1917 – 23 January 2019) was a British literary editor, novelist and memoirist who worked with some of the greatest writers of the 20th century at the London-based publishing company Andre Deutsch Ltd. Early life ...

List of stories included

*"My Aunt Gold Teeth" *"The Raffle" *"A Christmas Story" *"The Mourners" *"The Night Watchman's Occurrence Book" *"The Enemy" *"Greenie and Yellow" *"The Perfect Tenants" *"The Heart" *"The Baker's Story" *"A Flag on the Island"

Title story: "A Flag on the Island"

In late 1964 Naipaul was asked to write an original script for an American film. He spent the next few months in

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago, officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean, comprising the main islands of Trinidad and Tobago, along with several List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, smaller i ...

writing a novella, "A Flag on the Island". The finished version was not to the director's liking and the film was never made. The novella is set in 1964 in a Caribbean island that is not named. The main character is an American named "Frankie" who affects the mannerisms of

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Honorific nicknames in popular music, Nicknamed the "Chairman of the Board" and "Ol' Blue Eyes", he is regarded as one of the Time 100: The Most I ...

. Frankie has links to the island from having served there during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He revisits reluctantly when his ship anchors there during a hurricane. Naipaul wilfully makes the pace of the book feverish, the narrative haphazard, the characters loud, the protagonist fickle or deceptive, and the dialogue confusing. Balancing the present time is Frankie's less disordered, though comfortless, memory of 20 years before. Then he had become a part of a community on the island. He had tried to help his poor friends by giving away the ample U.S. Army supplies he had. Not everyone was happy about receiving help and not everyone benefited. Frankie was left chastened about finding tidy solutions to the island's social problems. This theme, indirectly developed in the story, is one to which Naipaul would return.

Notes

References

* * * * Books by V. S. Naipaul 1967 short story collections Caribbean in fiction André Deutsch books British short story collections Short story collections by V. S. Naipaul {{postcolonialism-stub