A very wealthy and famous couple are setting out to buy an island that is officially part of the nation of Albania. There is some controversy here, of course. But first, let’s consider what an island is.

We learn at a young age that it is a piece of land surrounded by water. Later, we discover it to be a part of greater land mass that extends beneath the water, and is therefore not a separate entity, but rather a part of the lake or ocean or river upon which it appears to sit. Later still, we come to understand the whole planet earth as an island of sorts, a great liquid-y orb floating through the sea of a greater solar system.

This essay is about the idea of an island, and how it plays within our imaginations as the setting for a long list of novels and films exploring the basic conflicts of man v. nature and man v. himself. An island is a place where we come to understand who we really are – our complexity and simplicity – apart from the constraints of society.

In Lord of the Flies (1954), a group of boys stranded on an island during a major war attempt to create an orderly society. Yet despite the noble efforts of a few, the clan quickly devolves into a more natural state of barbarism and moral decay. The innocent child has become the corrupt adult, and the image of the idyllic Garden has once again been destroyed.

Robinson Crusoe (1719) is the story of a young man who defies his father and takes to the high seas where he is bound to witness the injustices of the world, including slavery. Ultimately he is the only survivor of a shipwreck that leaves him stranded on an island for more than two decades. Taking refuge in reading the bible, Crusoe regains a sense of humanity and, in effect, redeems his soul by saving another’s (Friday’s).

H.G. Wells’ classic The Island of Doctor Moreau (1896) takes us to a secretive island where an overzealous scientist conducts experiments in which he attempts to infuse human chemo-biological elements into animals in an effort to “improve” them. Thus, the scientist has assumed the role of God. In so doing, he has unleashed gruesome and abominable retribution.

Similarly, the movie Jurassic Park (1993) explores the idea of an island as the setting for human interference with the natural world. A billionaire scientist/business man has cloned dinosaurs and purports to capitalize on his experiment. Of course it is human greed that plays into the story, as someone manages to steal primitive eggs, ultimately unleashing terror upon the island.

Castaway (2000). In what might be the greatest acting job in film history, Tom Hanks plays Chuck Noland, an anal-retentive company man for FedEx. A plane crash leaves him stranded on an island. After four years, he is returned to a world that had left him for dead. Now, as he is metaphorically reborn, he finds himself in some kind of limbo, between life and death, between hope and hopelessness, between the past and the future. In the end, he is confronted by the reality of having survived the unthinkable, and of now having the opportunity, by the grace of a mysterious God, to start anew. As he delivers his last, unopened (and therefore untainted) box, he is free to contemplate the roads that lie before him.

Here’s my point (finally!): Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner are not likely to delve into the metaphoric depths of island movies. I imagine their taste is more to the likes of the old TV show Fantasy Island, or any glitzy, gilded rendering of a place separate from the common, motley crew of humans. It appeals to their personal ambitions of controlling, or “owning,” a piece of the planet and shaping it in their image. The notion that this island is part of the nation of Albania poses a mere inconvenience to them.

There is another recent, real-world island story. In this one, a wealthy businessman named Jeffrey has blackmailed a bunch of other wealthy businessmen and politicians into helping him buy an island where, like in the great mythologies of old, fellow gods can prey upon innocent, delectable nymphs with impunity. It is, in effect, their self-given right.

As for Ivanka and Jared and the exclusive class of multimillionaires who will abet in the building of this new island-nation, they should be advised that their island can’t be a fortress against the rest of the world. It is an inextricable part of the planet. And as their capitalistic exploits destroy the ecosystems through the coveting of precious metals and such, this island in space may no longer be able to support life as we know it.

Pete Howard, author of “Rosebud Dreamworld,” lives in Dunkirk.