The Rainbow Tower

Abstract

A collection of linked short stories set in a satirical and magical version of modern-day Honolulu. Told from the perspectives of four main characters – all women from the same local family – the stories center their grief of people, places, times, and hopes. Elements of satire, fabulism, and magic realism work to highlight the absurdities, contradictions, struggles and realities of Hawaii’s colonial history, the socioeconomic and ecological impact of its tourism industry, and the effects on Native Hawaiian and local populations. The stories center a game show set at the in-universe resort of The Rainbow Tower, which in its part-death-match-part-palace-ransacking nature illustrates the way the Hawaiian islands are often depicted as a playground and a paradise for outsiders and visitors, which comes at great cost to those who call the islands home. While the central characters examine their grief of their father and uncle Eddie, they are also forced to reexamine and reevaluate their complicated relationships with the man, trying to reconcile both his loving nature and deeply troubled past. Through this parallel of reexamining grief, readers are hopefully asked to reexamine and expand their understanding of Hawaii’s history, its people, and their intertwined fates as economic inequality in the islands grows and ecological collapse becomes more threatening.