"The Colony of Unrequited Dreams" by Wayne Johnston

Newfoundland can be considered as a distinct region due to its existing rare culture that is separate from the rest of Canada. Newfoundland's culture is not contrived or artificial. James Overton proposes in his article, "A Newfoundland Culture" the idea that Newfoundland's culture revival rests on certain essential ideological foundations. The key assumption here is that there is a distinctive Newfoundland culture, way of life character, soul and ethnic identity. Overton further goes on to suggest that at the core of regionalist thinking lies the notion that there are distinctive, indigenous, popular regional cultures or ways of life in Canada and that these cultures should be the basis for the nation's future political and economic organization.
Newfoundland's history is known to fall under the whiggish history in that it is a triumphant account of a nation's colony. One that leads to progress and ultimate victory despite its failures. The Canadian Confederation plays a key role in establishing Newfoundland's culture and identity because it was the last province to join confederation in 1949. The Canadian Confederation website explains the reasoning behind Newfoundland’s late entry stating that, “union with Canada was often regarded as a solution to existing problems rather than as a desirable end in and of itself, and so support for the idea was never very strong“.
British influences also assists in creating a Newfoundland culture and identity. The Canadian Confederation website explains that by the beginning of the 1930s, Newfoundland’s debts was at nearly 100 million. Combined with the advent Great Depression, the colony was facing a desperate situation both economically and socially. As a result, an appeal was made to Britain for assistance. This further lead to the establishment of a commission which ran Newfoundland’s day-to-day affairs. The Canadian Confederation website also notes that the Commission of Government took office on February 16, 1934. The commission was responsible for administrative duties, but actual decision-making rested with the British Parliament.
“The Colony of Unrequited Dreams” by Wayne Johnston provides an excellent depiction of Newfoundland’s culture and identity. The main themes of the novel deals with a sense of self defecation, constant struggle and conflict, a lack of accomplishment, and a sense of loss associated with the people of Newfoundland. Although Johnson’s novel provides a negative depiction of Newfoundland, the majority of its contents are fairly accurate. Johnston succeeds in establishing the fact that Newfoundland experiment a great depression and a lack of money during the 1900s indicating its debts reaching nearly $100 million. Johnston also mentions that since all members of the commission was to be appointed by Britain, Britain underwrote Newfoundland of its debts thus coming to its assistance. Furthermore, the novel illustrated the fact that the referendum was a very divisive issue for Newfoundlanders which caused the separation of many families including that of Joe Smallwood’s. Lastly, Johnston’s novel did an excellent job demonstrating how Newfoundlanders have their own sense of culture and identity in which they always return to. This is illustrated through Joe Smallwood’s frequent returns to Newfoundland.
Overall, “The Colony of Unrequited Dreams” by Wayne Johnston is an excellent source of literature which provides a fairly accurate depiction of Newfoundland’s culture and identity. It illustrates the struggles and conflicts Newfoundland had to overcome in order to progress and establish its own sense of culture and identity.