The Shell Collector

Most of the story’s major events take place on an unnamed island said to be part of the Lamu Archipelago of Kenya. This archipelago is located in the Indian Ocean, closest to the northern coast of Kenya. The characters in this story often travel to or refer to the town of Lamu, the largest town within this archipelago. The relative remoteness of the setting supports the story’s exploration of Isolation From Humanity, while the coastal environment is integral to the story’s plot and symbolism. The cone snails that variously cure or kill the story’s characters are marine species, and the shell collector has a deep affinity for the ocean and its residents.

Kenya is a predominantly Christian country, but Muslims make up 11% of the population, and this community is more concentrated in the northeastern and coastal regions where “The Shell Collector” takes place. Religion appears in several contexts in the story, not least when the protagonist explains to the visiting American journalists that it is the month of Ramadan, a holy time in the Muslim faith: “Far off, he heard the high, amplified