New Orleans (symbol)
New Orleans is a symbol of the new world. On first “touching the soil of a new land, of a new world,” it is impossible not to feel “considerable excitement and deep interest in almost every object.” Though “New Orleans presents very little that can gratify the eye of taste,” “there is much of novelty and interest for a newly arrived European.” “The large proportion of blacks,” “Quadroons,” “the occasional groups” of Indians, “the unwonted aspect of the vegetation,” “the huge and turbid river, with its low and slimy shore…” The town is a mix of different cultures and races.
Crocodiles (allegory)
Crocodiles are an allegory of the force of nature itself. It is not a secret that the history of mankind is guided by a series of confrontations with nature. People try to subdue it and results of these attempts are quite unpredictable. Crocodiles that haunt the local settlers are viewed as cunning enemies; the author mentions that the crocodiles are so “abundant” as to “add terror of their attack to the other sufferings of a dwelling there.” Those who come close to “the river’s edge” can fall prey to them. People fail to understand that the crocodiles have been living there for centuries when the villagers are newcomers who try to change the natural order.
Learning more about America (motif)
The author mentions that she “hardly” knows any annoyance “so deeply repugnant to English feelings, as the incessant, remorseless spitting of Americans.”To learn more about this mysterious new world, the protagonist arrives “at the mouth of Mississippi.” Frances Milton Trollope is not completely unbiased, but she tries her best to change that situation. She does know “so little of America” and this phrase seems to haunt her in different places, but it doesn’t prevent her from noticing “injustice.” She also learns more about herself while traveling through America. For instance, her love of England emerges in full force, and every time she sees “British oaks, British roofs, and British boys and girls,” she feels sheer happiness.
