Stig Dagerman's Island of the Doomed (L'île des condamnés / De dömdas ö) from 1946 is filled with constant fear described in a language saturated with symbols. It is a defense of individualism and an attack against the use of ideas as a tool of terror.
Seven people arrive to an island after their ship was wrecked and here they meet their ruin in different ways. The people are in bad shape, impersonal outer casing hardly covers a core of fear. Nasty animals (birds, snakes, lizards) prevail over the island. The interplay between symbols, animals and dread is intricate and a theme a long the novel. The animal causes fear but is also the symbol of the fear and these aspects are mixed into one in the perception of the individuals. The seven people symbolize the man after WWII in a hopeless situation of guilt and repressed experiences.
