Motif of Devon Island

Michener uses the motif of the ever-dwindling Devon Island to tie together the novel and illustrate the impact of time on the land and the thoughtlessness of people. Pentaquod considers living on the beautiful island, but discards this idea when he discovers the rate at which it eroding. After Edmund buys the island from the Choptanks, he and some of his ancestors notice the erosion, but never do anything to address it. When Owen Steed is taken to see the remains of his birthplace, the island has disintegrated to the point there is no hope in trying to save the house that still stands there. After a powerful hurricane a few years later, the island and remnants of Rosalind’s Revenge are swept away.

Pentaquod discovers and rejects what comes to be known as Devon Island when he explores it in 1583. He was...