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1-Page Summary of Sweetland

Overall Summary

Sweetland is a novel by Canadian author Michael Crummey. It’s set on an island in Newfoundland and tells the story of Moses Sweetland, who lives there. The island has been going through tough economic times, so the government offers to relocate people from the island to other places around Canada. However, with this change comes great struggle for Moses because he must deal with leaving his home behind forever.

Many of the residents of an island are happy to take government money and leave for a new life. However, one resident refuses to accept it, which makes him unpopular among his neighbors. The government will only pay if everyone leaves, so no one can get the money unless he accepts it as well.

After a while, the townspeople agree to this plan, leaving Moses as the only one who objects. The people become angry and threaten him with violence. They vandalize his property and even set fire to his house. However, he’s used to pressure because he used to be a fisherman when there were still fish in the sea. Eventually, fishing was banned due to overfishing by the government. He then became a lighthouse keeper but wasn’t needed anymore after that switched from manual operation into automated mode. Now again out of work for good, they are once more forcing him out of his job/life which is all he knows at this point

Meanwhile, Moses has a few positive relationships with his neighbors. He spends most of his time with Jesse, who is autistic and enjoys listening to stories about the past. Moses fears that if he and Jesse have to leave their home they will be separated from each other.

Moses Morais is a regular at Duke Fewer’s barbershop. He usually visits the shop with his friends, who are also regulars there. The shop has been closed for years, but Moses and his friends go there to swap stories and play games.

Moses keeps his house and property in order. In one instance, a cow belonging to Moses’ neighbor falls ill, so he helps the animal get better.

Moses and his father, Jesse, go fishing for cod despite the fact that residents of their town are only allowed to fish once a year. The trip is not what Moses hoped it would be because when they get back home everyone in the island has an issue with them. He decides to take up the offer of resettlement even though he doesn’t want to leave his family behind.

The story is a series of flashbacks that tell the tale of Moses’s life. It tells how he rescued Sri Lankan refugees, and how he felt guilty for pressuring his sister into an unhappy marriage. We also learn about his past, which was very traumatic.

After Moses leaves the island, he fakes his death to avoid being discovered. When he returns, he looks forward to living alone and away from people, their problems and pressures. He plans for many things but not all of them are enough to keep him warm or fed well. Now that no one is around anymore, he misses the community that once brought him so much pain and suffering. He starts seeing strange lights and ghostly images which makes it hard for him distinguish between reality and fantasy. After coming upon a dog on the island who helps save his life multiple times in his struggle to survive there, they form a deep bond with each other but it’s not enough to save Moses’ life; after narrowly avoiding death on numerous occasions while trying to survive on the island by himself, Moses realizes that both Sweetland (the island) as well as its inhabitants will die eventually; therefore when it comes time for Moses’ own death at age 70-something (he doesn’t know exactly), he accepts this fact without regrets or fear because nothing lasts forever…