In the Wrong Paradise, and Other Stories

In 'In the Wrong Paradise, and Other Stories,' Andrew Lang presents a rich collection of narratives that explore cultural clashes, mysteries, and supernatural encounters through varied characters and settings. One story follows Rev. Thomas Gowles, a rigid missionary stranded on a remote island where he confronts brutal native rituals including human sacrifice and idol worship. His struggle to maintain his religious convictions amid these customs, his uneasy interactions with the islanders—especially the chief’s daughter Doto—and his eventual rescue after a tense escape attempt, reveal tensions between survival, faith, and cultural misunderstanding. The narrative is marked by vivid descriptions of native ceremonies and missionary zeal, often tinged with irony and moral judgment, while also showing moments of sympathy and regret.

Another tale centers on Moore, an Oxford-educated planter opposed to slavery, who buys an old black man named Gumbo at a slave auction in a border town. Moore fortifies his plantation against attacks and explores a nearby cave where he discovers ancient treasures linked to Native American and Mexican antiquities. Gumbo bears a tattooed map on his back, a secret left by Moore’s antiquarian father, which hints at the treasure’s location. This story weaves themes of slavery, conflict, and the quest for hidden knowledge, while raising questions about morality and justice in a turbulent historical context.

The collection also includes a prehistoric apologue about Why-Why, a youth who rebels against rigid tribal customs and superstitions. His tragic love for Verva, a captive child from another tribe, and his defiance of social taboos lead to his downfall but ultimately inspire social reforms among his people. This story explores the costs of challenging tradition and the hope for progress.

Supernatural elements appear in stories involving haunted houses and spectral visitations. A Girton girl recounts eerie but ambiguous experiences in a reputedly haunted tower; a maiden aunt shares her own unsettling nights in an Irish country house; and a Bachelor of Arts narrates a silent ghostly hearse seen near a Scottish castle. A self-aware spectre at Castle Perilous explains the difficulties ghosts face in communicating with the living, critiques common ghost story clichés, and reveals family prophecies and curses. These narratives blend humor, skepticism, and mystery, inviting readers to question the boundary between coincidence and the supernatural.

Finally, a scholarly and somewhat playful chapter examines the mythical figure of Gladstone in post-Christian English mythology. Through philological analysis, hymns, curses, and inscriptions, Gladstone emerges as a solar deity figure associated with thunder and sacred animals, reflecting religious oppositions of light and darkness. This mythological study is paired with an ethnographic tale of a beach-comber’s adventures among island natives, illustrating colonial encounters and native customs such as taboos.

Across these stories, Lang’s prose is detailed and formal, often ironic and critical, yet occasionally sympathetic. The narratives invite readers to witness cultural collisions, moral ambiguities, and the persistence of myth and superstition, all while engaging with vivid characters and suspenseful events.