The Lonely Londoners: Section 1 Summary & Analysis

This book’s opening passage immediately establishes Moses as a role model and mentor to newly-arrived immigrants. The fact that Moses is “always doing something for somebody” tells readers that, whether he likes it or not, he has a soft spot for the immigrant community. And although he curses his friend for asking him to help Henry Oliver, it’s obvious that this isn’t the first time he has agreed to go out of his way to help a fellow expatriate. 

Once again, Moses is presented as a character upon whom other immigrants depend, a central figure in a rotating cast of new arrivals, all of whom need guidance. That he hardly has time to settle into his own life before he’s required to help others is an indication of how much people rely on one another in the immigrant community. Unfortunately, he himself doesn’t seem to have anybody to turn to, and his commitment to helping others is further complicated by the fact that England is becoming increasingly reluctant to welcome immigrants with open arms. As such, Moses not only has to struggle to help his new friends as he works to establish his own life, but he also has to contend with the ignorant and racist society in which he lives—a society that hides its bigotry under a guise of diplomacy.

In this moment, it becomes even more evident that Moses is worried about how the steady stream of immigrants into London will influence his own life—a life he’s built without the kind of guidance he’s now providing the next generation of immigrants. As such, his attitude toward helping his new peers is rather conflicted. On the one hand, he recognizes that their presence runs the risk of making his life harder in a city that is already rather unaccommodating to black immigrants. On the other hand, he perhaps feels a sense of duty to aid these “desperate” newcomers, since he knows what it’s like to be in their position. As a result, he helps them in a way that also benefits him, “scattering” them throughout the city so that they don’t encroach upon his life too much.

This is an informative moment, as it shows readers how Moses handles nostalgia. That watching people “crying goodbye and kissing welcome” forces Moses to sit down suggests that something about the arrivals and departures makes him uneasy. Unlike so many other immigrants, who make frequent pilgrimages to the station, Moses tries to ward off this kind of nostalgia. In this moment, though, he’s unable to do so, a fact he attributes to the possibility that he wants to “go back to the tropics.” That he sees this desire as “soft” indicates that he normally tries to harden himself to the world, striving to live uninfluenced by the nostalgia he feels for his homeland.

When Moses expresses his jealousy of Tolroy’s frugality, readers begin to understand that he’s having trouble achieving financial stability, or at least upward mobility. Although Moses has been in London for a decade, he still barely makes enough money to cover the bare necessities of his life. The anecdote the narrator provides about the Jamaican contrasts starkly with Moses’s inability to save any money, but there’s a notable difference between Moses and this man: whereas Moses is willing (albeit begrudgingly) to help his fellow immigrants, this Jamaican man knowingly exploits his countrymen’s desperation, forcing them to pay full price on their apartments. In this way, Selvon suggests that achieving upward mobility in London requires a cold disposition, an attitude that enables a person to turn his back on those in need.

The reporter’s question in this scene reinforces the notion that white Britons are growing weary of the influx of black immigrants in the city. However, the reporter doesn’t actually care what Moses has to say, making it obvious that the question itself is more important than the answer. Indeed, simply by asking this question, the reporter turns the idea of immigration into a sensational headline, framing it as a problem without interrogating its nuances or origins. Uninterested in what Moses has to say, he dismisses him as soon as he begins talking about the unfair treatment of black immigrants in the city. 

Moses’s boss refuses to admit that he’s firing him because he’s black. This is a perfect example of the narrator’s previous assertion that Britons are too “diplomatic” to reveal their racism outright. Rather than leveling with Moses, the railway boss acts like he’s treating him as an equal. This ultimately makes things even more complicated for Moses, who’s forced to figure out for himself why he’s being let go. Of course, this “diplomatic” tactic does little to obscure the boss’s racism, but it does protect the boss from having to explain that he is a bigot, thereby enabling him to continue mistreating people like Moses without having to confront himself and his own unethical behavior.

Tolroy’s frustration with his mother is understandable in this moment, as it’s clear from Moses’s financial situation that surviving in London is quite difficult. Although Tolroy has somehow found a way to save money to support his mother, it’s unlikely he’ll be able to successfully provide for Tanty Bessy and the rest of the family. What’s more, the fact that Tanty and Ma refuse to listen to him illustrates the extent to which life in London appeals to people unfamiliar with the reality of living abroad. Indeed, Tanty and Ma have clearly underestimated how difficult it is to stay afloat in England, which is why they so eagerly throw themselves into Tolroy’s life without considering the possible negative consequences of abandoning Jamaica.

Tanty’s notion that her family needs her to take care of them illustrates the extent to which she is unfamiliar with life in the city, where people like Moses and Tolroy spend very little time in their apartments to begin with, instead focusing on their jobs and surviving financially in the city. Indeed, life in Jamaica is much different from life in London, and Tanty’s rather off-base conviction that the family needs her only further reinforces Tolroy’s fear that his family members are perhaps unprepared for what life is really like in the city.

Henry’s shocking unpreparedness builds upon the same kind of naivety that Tolroy’s family members—especially Tanty—exhibit upon arriving in London. To veteran immigrants like Moses and Tolroy, such behavior is outrageously out of touch with the harsh realities of living in London, a cold city where it’s difficult to survive. Ultimately, Henry’s lack of foresight and outlandishly high spirits only reinforce the importance of Moses’s position as the young man’s cultural guide and role model. After all, if Henry didn’t have Moses to rely upon, it seems he’d freeze to death before even finding a place to spend the night.

It’s worth noting here the significance of Henry’s alias, Galahad. A character from Arthurian legend, Sir Galahad is a knight of the round table who sets out to search for the Holy Grail, a meaningful object in Arthurian literature that represents—among other things—happiness, youth, and sustenance. As such, when Galahad “descend[s] on London to swell the population by one,” Selvon is suggesting that he is a seeker, a man looking for happiness and prosperity in a new city. At the same time, Selvon emphasizes that Galahad’s presence in the city is inconsequential—a single drop in a vast bucket.