Molluscs in Prose

by Dr. Jan Light

The subject of Molluscs in Prose was of particular interest to two previous Presidents of the Conchological Society.  In 1973 the late Terry Crowley delivered an Address to the Society entitled Fictional Mollusca.  Subsequently the late Marjorie Fogan gave her Presidential address entitled Mollusca in Fiction.  In the brief resumé below some works of fiction are referred to and these, together with a full list of the titles cited by the above authors are given at the foot of this page.

Both authors admit that Molluscs would not seem to be a promising subject for a work of fiction, nevertheless many authors have made use of them in various ways.  Edible molluscs appear frequently but inevitably in rather passive roles.  The most famous example must surely be the tale of The Walrus and the Carpenter in Alice through the Looking Glass.  There are other titles which deal with the eating of oysters.  You cannot think about oysters without mentioning pearls and there are numerous mentions of them in fiction. ‘Escargots’ tend to be eaten in more expensive restaurants in stories dealing with the so-called ‘upper class’ but there are two books where the eating of slugs and snails is integral to the stories: Snaily House and The Outlandish Ladies.

There are stories in which the desirability of shells as collectibles forms part of the plot.  The Glory of the Sea, The Gasteropod and The Shell Hunters are all examples of this genre.  On the other hand slugs in fiction are usually objects of horror (Slugs and its sequel, Breeding Ground) and there are some horror stories featuring snails (Blank Claveringi, The Snail-Watcher and The Sign). Detective stories are popular amongst many readers and there are plenty of examples such as The Left-Handed Shell, Housefull of Mussels, The Crushing, The Cloth of Gold Murders and Vandals where molluscs are integral to the plot.

There are also examples where molluscs take a starring role, for example Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea and Toilers of the Sea.  Both these stories contain an account of a struggle with a giant octopus and another book, Octopussy, was made into a James Bond film.

The nineteenth century has been described as the ‘heyday of natural history’ and it was also the age of the great Victorian novelists.  It is therefore surprising that the subject of conchology receives very few mentions in fiction.  It may be that it was regarded as rather too frivolous.  For example in Middlemarch the convalescent Mr. Casaubon is given the following advice: 'You must unbend you know.  Why, you might take up some light study: conchology, now; I always think that must be a light study...'   This is perhaps surprising coming from George Eliot in view of her long association with G. H. Lewes who was keenly interested in marine biology!

The widely read and acclaimed works of J. R. R. Tolkien contain a fleeting mention of a snail who plays a crucial role in The Hobbit.  Bilbo and his band of dwarves cluster near the entrance to the lair of Smaug the dragon on the Lonely Mountain. Failing to locate the door they notice that as the sun sinks a thrush flies down and cracks a snail upon a large stone.  The last rays shine upon the keyhole as they stand by this stone and they are thus able to gain entry into the dragon’s lair.

Despite their slow and retiring reputation, molluscs have appeared as a very diverse cast of characters in works of fiction: as food, collectibles, pets, valuables, killers, clues, accessories to fraud, politicians, examples of mother-love, re-incarnation and objects of veneration.  Sometimes errors of fact have crept into these writings and some works may not be classed as great literature, but few can deny that the use of molluscs in the telling of tales has been a quirky and ingenious device.

Note: The full text of Marjorie Fogan’s lecture has been published in 2 parts of Journal of Conchology (Volume 34 Part 1 (June 1991) and Part 3 (May 1992).  These are offered for sale as back numbers – go to Back Numbers on this Website for prices and ordering information)

BIBLIOGRAPHY

ANON. 1831. The Smuggler Henry Collenson & Richard Bendey, London.
BALDWIN, M., 1960. Grandad with Snails. Routledge & Kegan Paul, London.
BARING-GOULD, S. 1896. Snaily House in Dartmoor Idylls. Methuen, London.
CANAWAY, W.H., 1974. Glory of the Sea. Hutchinson, London.
CARROLL, L.  1965.  Alice Through the Looking Glass.  The Hamlyn Publishing Group Ltd., Feltham Middlesex.
CLARKE, A. C., 1954. Big Game Hunt in Tales from the White Hart. Sidgwick & Jackson, London.
CONAN DOYLE, A., 1985. The Adventure of the Six Napoleons in The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. Omnibus ed.
CROWLEY, T. E., 1973. Fictional Mollusca. J. Conch., London, 28: 61-74
COUCH, J., 1871. The History of Polperro.
COUCH, A. QUILLER, 1891. The Outlandish Ladies in Noughts and Crosses.
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HIGHSMITH, P.  1957. Blank Claveringi in Deep Water, Heinemann, London.
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