Wish You Were Here:
Chapter 3: Three
by Picoult, JodiThe chapter follows Diana, a foreigner stranded on Isabela Island during a pandemic, as she settles into a solitary routine. She spends her mornings running along the beach, exploring the island’s rugged terrain, and observing the quiet lives of locals. Despite the curfew restricting her movements, she finds solace in reading, swinging in a hammock, and watching wildlife. Her isolation is punctuated only by occasional meals brought by Abuela, a local woman, and her longing for Finn, her boyfriend, whom she communicates with through unsent postcards. Diana’s days blend into a rhythm of loneliness and reflection, underscored by the island’s stark beauty.
Diana’s isolation leads her to engage in small, personal rituals to fill the silence, like reciting poetry or singing to the ocean. Her attempts to connect with the outside world—finding stamps, buying clothes, or accessing the internet—are thwarted by the island’s limited resources. One morning, while writing another postcard to Finn, she notices Beatriz, a teenage girl she previously saw self-harming, collecting trash on the beach. Diana approaches her, cautiously striking up a conversation. Beatriz, initially standoffish, reveals her frustration with the island and her strained relationship with her father, Gabriel.
The interaction between Diana and Beatriz unfolds with tension and curiosity. Beatriz, fluent in English, is sharp and dismissive, yet Diana persists, drawn to her as a potential companion in their shared isolation. Beatriz shares snippets of her life: her attendance at a school on Santa Cruz, her disdain for Isabela, and her father’s controlling nature. Diana learns that Gabriel, once a tour guide, now lives austerely in the highlands, forcing Beatriz into a life she resents. The conversation hints at deeper familial conflicts and Beatriz’s desire to escape the island.
As the chapter closes, Diana’s attempt to connect with Beatriz reveals their parallel struggles—both feel out of place, one as a stranded foreigner, the other as a reluctant local. The encounter leaves Diana questioning her own reasons for staying on Isabela, while Beatriz’s bitterness underscores the island’s complexities. The chapter captures themes of isolation, longing, and the fleeting connections that emerge in unexpected circumstances, set against the backdrop of the Galápagos’ wild and unforgiving landscape.
FAQs
1. How does Diana’s daily routine on Isabela Island reflect her emotional state and the challenges of being stranded during the pandemic?
Answer:
Diana’s routine reveals her isolation and attempts to cope with her circumstances. She fills her days with physical activity (running, hiking) and simple pleasures (reading, watching wildlife), but her limited social interactions and early curfew highlight the constraints of the pandemic. Her inability to communicate with Finn and her reliance on postcards underscore her emotional loneliness. The chapter notes she talks to herself and recites poetry, suggesting a longing for connection. Her failed attempts to find open stores for basic needs like clothing and stamps further emphasize the challenges of being a foreigner stranded during a lockdown.2. Analyze the significance of Beatriz’s character in relation to themes of belonging and displacement. How does her perspective contrast with Diana’s?
Answer:
Beatriz embodies themes of displacement and familial tension. Unlike Diana, who is a temporary visitor, Beatriz is a local who actively rejects her home (“I do not belong here”). Her strained relationship with her father, Gabriel, and her forced enrollment in an off-island school reflect a lack of agency in her life. While Diana is isolated due to external circumstances, Beatriz’s isolation is self-imposed and rooted in resentment. Their shared foreignness—Diana as an American, Beatriz as an outsider in her own community—creates a parallel, but Beatriz’s bitterness contrasts with Diana’s wistful longing for connection.3. What does the trash-collecting scene reveal about Beatriz’s personality and the environmental pressures on the Galápagos?
Answer:
Beatriz’s dawn trash-collecting shows her sense of responsibility and frustration. Her sharp critique of Chinese fishing fleets (“poaching… throwing their crap overboard”) reveals her awareness of global environmental exploitation. Despite her personal struggles, she takes action where others don’t (“Someone has to”), hinting at a deeper care for her home, even if she rejects it. The scene also highlights the ecological toll of tourism and fishing, subtly contrasting Diana’s tourist perspective with Beatriz’s lived experience of environmental degradation. Her defiance (“He is not my brother”) further underscores her independence.4. How does the author use setting to mirror Diana’s emotional journey in this chapter?
Answer:
The island’s physical landscape mirrors Diana’s isolation and transience. Her runs along deserted paths and cliffs mirror her emotional boundaries, while the erased footprints (“as if I was never there”) symbolize her feelings of invisibility. The curfew-enforced confinement parallels her emotional stagnation. Conversely, the ocean’s vastness contrasts with her limited communication, emphasizing her separation from Finn. The “hazy blue light” that distorts perceptions (rocks as people, people as monsters) reflects her disorientation. These elements collectively create a vivid backdrop for her loneliness and search for connection.5. Evaluate the significance of the postcards Diana writes to Finn. What do they represent beyond literal communication?
Answer:
The postcards symbolize Diana’s clinging to normalcy and hope. They are her only outlet for emotions in a place where digital communication is impossible, making them a lifeline to her pre-pandemic life. Their unsent status (due to lack of stamps) mirrors her suspended relationship with Finn. The act of writing them nightly becomes a ritual of persistence, but their physicality—unlike texts—also highlights the distance between her and Finn. When interrupted by Beatriz, the postcard in her hand becomes a bridge between her past (Finn) and present (the island’s reality), underscoring her transitional state.
Quotes
1. “When I look back over my shoulder, it’s as if I was never there.”
This poignant observation captures Diana’s sense of transience and isolation on the island, reflecting both the physical erasure of her footprints by the tide and her emotional invisibility in this foreign place.
2. “It’s not bad enough that the Chinese fishing fleets are poaching… They have to throw their crap overboard, too.”
Beatriz’s sharp critique introduces the theme of environmental degradation and human impact on the Galápagos, while also revealing her passionate, confrontational personality.
3. “I do not belong here… Neither do I, I think.”
This parallel realization by both Diana and Beatriz highlights their shared sense of displacement - Beatriz as a local who rejects her home, Diana as a stranded tourist - creating an unexpected bond between them.
4. “If I had anywhere else to go, I would… I hate Isabela.”
Beatriz’s blunt confession reveals her deep resentment toward both her island home and her father, showing how the paradise tourists see is a prison for some locals.
5. “My grandfather owned the business, but when he died, my father closed it down… to a place without water or electricity or internet—”
This insight into Gabriel’s backstory and Beatriz’s family dynamics suggests generational conflict and the tension between modernization and tradition in the Galápagos.