By:
Annie E. Proulx
Grade Level:
The Shipping News (1993) by E. Annie Proulx is a novel full of cultural and social conflict and difference. Proulx designs a story line which reflects the impact family, heritage and environment can have on a person. Instead of using additional characters and setting to build a story around a main character and his conflicts, these story elements play a large role in what burdens Quoyle, what pushes him to make decisions and what shapes him into the character he becomes by the end of the novel.