The Mosquito Coast

The Mosquito Coast, published in 1981 by Paul Theroux, is an adventure story narrated by 13-year-old Charlie Fox, the son of a brilliant inventor who uproots his family to establish a self-sustaining settlement in the jungles of Honduras. Writing in the tradition of novels like The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Robinson Crusoe, The Swiss Family Robinson, and Lord of the Flies, Theroux cited the Jonestown Massacre and the Mormon prophet Joseph Smith as influences in his development of the story (Vognar, Chris. “Paul and Justin Theroux on Eccentric Patriarchs and 'The Mosquito Coast'.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 23 Apr. 2021)

Plot Summary

Dissatisfied with his job on a New England farm and consumed by a paranoid fixation on a war in the United States he believes is imminent, Allie Fox abruptly quits his job and brings his wife and children (13-year-old Charlie, 11-year-old Jerry, and 5-year-old twin girls Clover and April) to the Mosquito Coast in Honduras. Told from Charlie’s point of view, the novel follows the steady escalation of Allie’s destructive and delusional behaviors and culminates in his death.