Asterisk denotes entries on real places.
*Channel
*Douvres (dew-VRUH). Treacherous rocks that jut out of the sea about fifteen miles south of Guernsey. The arduous ordeal of Hugo’s protagonist Gilliatt, who is shipwrecked on one of the rocks, underlines the power of immense forces in nature, such as shattering waves pushed by heavy winds. At the same time, Gilliatt’s entry into the struggle of individual creatures at his feet, where crabs devour helpless tidepool victims, helps him restore his own strength as he clings to the rock. Ironically, rocks such as the Douvres and another group, the Hanways, though “guilty of all evil deeds,” offer the most solid hopes for survival in the rough seas.
*Cherbourg Peninsula (SHAYR-bewrg). French peninsula immediately east of the Channel Islands that projects into the English Channel. Despite the peninsula’s relative closeness to the islands, its long western coastal shores play only a small role in the lives of the island seafarers. The notable absence of safe havens on the peninsula–other than Cherbourg itself, which is inconveniently situated beyond the tip of the peninsula–makes Saint Malo, near the western base of the peninsula, the most practical maritime destination and, for Hugo, the logical setting for extension of his stories and characters to the French mainland.
*Saint Malo (sahn mahl-OH). Normandy port city that to Channel islanders represents a microcosm of mainland France itself. Its importance as a port of call for commerce provides a source of livelihood for many islanders. Hugo does not closely focus on the normal commercial or social life of the port, preferring to depict its lowlife in scenes set in a particular rooming house, the Jacressarde. There, an atmosphere of thieves, prostitutes, and general ne’er-do-wells contrasts markedly with the modest but upstanding lives of Hugo’s islanders.
*Weymouth. English port that is closest to the Channel Islands yet seems so distant from the lives of the island seafarers as to be another and unfamiliar world. Because the islanders’ lives depend on serving as shipping intermediaries between England and France, they are always alert to news of ship departures from Weymouth.