Amy Foster 6.5.80

Amy Foster is a short story about a Polish immigrant who falls for an English woman while been shipwrecked on the shores of Kent, England en route to America. Yanko Goorall eventually marries this English woman named Amy Foster and they have a child together. Yanko however falls ill and soon dies of heart failure whilst Amy flees fearing for her life because of Yanko's speech in his foreign tongue.

 

Amy Foster - In "Amy Foster", Joseph Conrad has written a great story thatshows the different types of love felt between Amy and Yanko as described by Joseph Campbell in his essay on "The Mythology of Love". The relationship of Yanko and Amy is dynamic and changes as the story progresses. At first, Amy feels compassion for Yanko; she does not see the differences between him and the English people as the others of Brenzett do. However, later in the story, compassion turns to passion. Amy's son is then born; distinctions appear and she is either no longer able to love Yanko or she loves Yanko to such an extent that she finds she is incapable of joining Yanko on an earthly plane as Joseph Campbell describes (page 159). Whatever the reasons may be,Amy refuses to aid Yanko in his time of need, resulting in Yanko's death. There is a great change of heart from Amy's first compassion for Yanko to her nonchalance of his death.