Characterisations

The protagonist of the "Flotsam and Jetsam" by Alan Bissett is Kate, a Scottish woman on holiday in Zanzibar. Principal characters are the first man selling snorkelling trips and the restaurant owner Mustapha. There are also several other characters mentioned: the couple on the beach, the other men selling snorkelling trips, and Kate’s friends in Scotland.

Kate

Kate is the protagonist of the story and, even though the text uses third-person narration, you will observe that the narrator frequently uses her point of view to tell the story.

Kate is not portrayed physically, beyond small hints. We only know that she is a Scottish woman who is disappointed by life in Britain and is in search of an adventure. However, the narrator implies that she is typically Scottish, with "hard Scottish knots" (I. 11) in her back and pale Scottish skin which after only a short time is "already pinkened by the sun" (II. 14-15). She is an idealist and initially only sees the exotic beauty of Zanzibar: “Kate shielded her eyes to gaze at them, the boats conjuring scenes from the fantasy novels of her youth. She had to remind herself that these were mere fishing boats” (ll. 1-3)

However, as she sees more of the country she becomes aware of the poverty and corruption existing in the African country: “My god, thought Kate, he thinks these are decent living standards? She considered imparting her vi...