The second relevant article I found is a critical review by August Bourre, who hails from a reputable, but fairly unknown book blogging website called The Vestige. The review is short, sweet and to the point, and contains no smartly-worded speculations or theories on themes and messages. However, it was the only article I could find that was in any way negative about this seemingly untouchable book. Bourre states that while he doesn't hate the book he "Not sorry I've read it, but I wouldn't ever actually say to someone 'Hey you should read this book'" (Bourre 1). He lists the main plot mechanics, which he dubs cliche and overused, particularly the fact that the book revolves around a broken family living in isolation, a death in the family and an abusive spouse. However, it is not for these reasons that Bourre does not particularly care for Fall On Your Knees. Bourre in fact claims that the real reason the novel does not live up to its high praise is the fact that it drags on and on; It is much too long for this critic's taste. The reviewer does praise the first half of the story, especially the death of Kathleen, which he describes as being "bold...exactly the sort of thing that could have made Fall On Your Knees great" (Bourre 1). However, Bourre insists that Kathleen's life is never really over, and she haunts the rest of the story with her unneeded presence. He also is quick to point out the MacDonald's book is repetitive, a quality I must admit that I have noticed, even in the first few chapter that I have read. The ending is described as being predictable and too obvious.
PS no feedback on the first summary...am I doing this right?
Riona confused.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
What is The Price of a Song? (Chapter Eight)
I've decided, that while I have a lot to say on each specific chapter, I would be better off, for the sake of time to group short chapters together.
In these two chapters, we see Kathleen grow up. She is no longer a little girl anymore, but a savvy, cheeky and witty young lady. In the previous chapters, we have heard Kathleen's singing voice being compared to that of a bird. Also, in James and Maternia's respective jobs, they have compared many of the things they hear to the chirping of birds. Here, we see the comparison made again: "...Kathleen, goes to Holy Angels, sings like a bird" (MacDonald 51). The birds in this story represent freedom and a sort of mystique. One would watch a bird, though not get very close, as birds are very shy. This must be how outsiders feel when they observe the Piper family. However, Kathleen herself is more like a caged bird, put unfairly on display for others to watch. For now, this is fine for her because she is young and does not know of the outside world. I predict there will be a day that she will tire of her cage.
The reliability of James is also called into question in this chapter. He has described Maternia as being completely incompetent and not able to even play simple songs on the piano. However because of her playing at the theatre, "Maternia became a bit of a celebrity, especially among the young folk" (MacDonald 52). Up until now, we've only heard of Maternia's competence from James. How could she be a celebrity if she was as terrible as he describes? Are other things James say correct, or is he so biased that the reader cannot rely on his opinion anymore? In fact, when Maternia gets so popular that it makes James uneasy, and he forces her to quit, the narrator comments that "How unhappy are they who have a gift that's left to germinate in darkness. The pale plant will sink invisible roots and live whitely off their blood" (MacDonald 55). Maternia's gift is an unused seed, becoming dark and wasted. What a shame.
We see Maternia struggle with herself once more in this chapter. She thinks of all she has done, mostly on the basis of defying her religion: "I have to go to confession, she thought, but then...in order to be forgiven I must be heartily sorry but to be sorry for eloping means to be sorry for everything that came with it" (MacDonald 55). Maternia feels awful for disobeying her parents, not loving her own child, still wanting her husband, but mostly for not feeling sorry at all. I can absolutely relate to this. It's a nagging feeling, not being able to feel sadness or remorse for something you know you are expected to feel for. I completely understand Maternia's position right now.
As always, MacDonald makes a lot of allusions in this chapter. James wants to inform Kathleen of Aesop's Grasshopper and The Ant. Basically this story is about an ant that works hard, while a grasshopper wastes his time. At the end, the grasshopper asks the ant for food and doesn't get any. The grasshopper dies. In the context of the story, this is James wanting to install the value of hard work and preparation in Kathleen, so she will not turn out like the miners he so very detests.
AND, right in time for another page of water imagery, I have a chart to decipher it's symbolic reference. Maternia often goes down by the sea to think, as mentioned in other chapters. In this chapter, the sea "talks" to her: "'Give it to me, my daughter. And I will take it and wash it and carry it to a far country until it is no longer your sin; but just curiosity adrift, beached and made innocent'" (MacDonald 56). Here she is talking about the sea taking her guilt and making it not sinful, I think. The water is her place to think, as water represents emotions and intuition. She also looks to the future, while she's by the water, which could represent her life potential.
This chapter interested me. It was fairly predictable however, and I hope something exciting will happen.
Interesting Vocabulary:
-Gawping (Stare openly in a "dumb" way. Obviously used to describe Maternia by James)
-Swarthiness (Having a "dark" skintone; also used to describe unwanted qualities in Maternia by James)
-Picaninny (Derogatory term for black people)
-"Scab" (Australian term for freeloader. How does James know this term?)
-Gumption (Resourcefulness)
-Galling (Annoying)
-Garett (An attic)
In these two chapters, we see Kathleen grow up. She is no longer a little girl anymore, but a savvy, cheeky and witty young lady. In the previous chapters, we have heard Kathleen's singing voice being compared to that of a bird. Also, in James and Maternia's respective jobs, they have compared many of the things they hear to the chirping of birds. Here, we see the comparison made again: "...Kathleen, goes to Holy Angels, sings like a bird" (MacDonald 51). The birds in this story represent freedom and a sort of mystique. One would watch a bird, though not get very close, as birds are very shy. This must be how outsiders feel when they observe the Piper family. However, Kathleen herself is more like a caged bird, put unfairly on display for others to watch. For now, this is fine for her because she is young and does not know of the outside world. I predict there will be a day that she will tire of her cage.
The reliability of James is also called into question in this chapter. He has described Maternia as being completely incompetent and not able to even play simple songs on the piano. However because of her playing at the theatre, "Maternia became a bit of a celebrity, especially among the young folk" (MacDonald 52). Up until now, we've only heard of Maternia's competence from James. How could she be a celebrity if she was as terrible as he describes? Are other things James say correct, or is he so biased that the reader cannot rely on his opinion anymore? In fact, when Maternia gets so popular that it makes James uneasy, and he forces her to quit, the narrator comments that "How unhappy are they who have a gift that's left to germinate in darkness. The pale plant will sink invisible roots and live whitely off their blood" (MacDonald 55). Maternia's gift is an unused seed, becoming dark and wasted. What a shame.
We see Maternia struggle with herself once more in this chapter. She thinks of all she has done, mostly on the basis of defying her religion: "I have to go to confession, she thought, but then...in order to be forgiven I must be heartily sorry but to be sorry for eloping means to be sorry for everything that came with it" (MacDonald 55). Maternia feels awful for disobeying her parents, not loving her own child, still wanting her husband, but mostly for not feeling sorry at all. I can absolutely relate to this. It's a nagging feeling, not being able to feel sadness or remorse for something you know you are expected to feel for. I completely understand Maternia's position right now.
As always, MacDonald makes a lot of allusions in this chapter. James wants to inform Kathleen of Aesop's Grasshopper and The Ant. Basically this story is about an ant that works hard, while a grasshopper wastes his time. At the end, the grasshopper asks the ant for food and doesn't get any. The grasshopper dies. In the context of the story, this is James wanting to install the value of hard work and preparation in Kathleen, so she will not turn out like the miners he so very detests.
AND, right in time for another page of water imagery, I have a chart to decipher it's symbolic reference. Maternia often goes down by the sea to think, as mentioned in other chapters. In this chapter, the sea "talks" to her: "'Give it to me, my daughter. And I will take it and wash it and carry it to a far country until it is no longer your sin; but just curiosity adrift, beached and made innocent'" (MacDonald 56). Here she is talking about the sea taking her guilt and making it not sinful, I think. The water is her place to think, as water represents emotions and intuition. She also looks to the future, while she's by the water, which could represent her life potential.
This chapter interested me. It was fairly predictable however, and I hope something exciting will happen.
Interesting Vocabulary:
-Gawping (Stare openly in a "dumb" way. Obviously used to describe Maternia by James)
-Swarthiness (Having a "dark" skintone; also used to describe unwanted qualities in Maternia by James)
-Picaninny (Derogatory term for black people)
-"Scab" (Australian term for freeloader. How does James know this term?)
-Gumption (Resourcefulness)
-Galling (Annoying)
-Garett (An attic)
Monday, October 25, 2010
Oh and Just One More Thing...
Being one of them "Active readers" I decided to look up mining strikes in Cape Breton in 1909, since the date in the book was suspiciously significant. I discovered that there was, in fact a notable strike in that year. There was also a significant working class revolution ongoing throughout the early years on the 1900s, with free-thinking union leaders demanding more rights and better benefits for their workers in the mines. The article I plucked out also added that there was a significant class struggle in the same time period. This all ties in with James's elitist attitude regarding his own social and intellectual status. Very interesting...
Two Pits, and the Softer Side of James (Chapter Seven)
In this chapter, James sends Kathleen off to boarding school at Holy Angels when she is only a young girl, on account of the fact that all the children in the area are getting sick with various life threatening illnesses. There is a crisis of a strike, that is ongoing with the miners in the town as well. James and Maternia pay for Kathleen's expensive boarding school by both acquiring new jobs. Firstly, Maternia gets a job presumably to play the piano in the orchestra pit in the prosperous movie theatre, while James goes against his mother's only wish, and makes some extra money in the now-vacant mines.
When Maternia is playing the piano for the orchestra some excellent personification and imagery is used: "hurtling over the keys until all erupts in chaos, notes and birds flies asunder...the music creeps down the winding stairs" (MacDonald 46).
A comical part of this chapter was when James satirically thinks "Who's to help me do that? The piano teacher's union? The piano-tuners-of-the-world unite party? Jesus Christ on the cross no. I'm on my own" (MacDonald 48). I like Ann-marie MacDonald; she is very witty sometimes.
On a more serious note, the character of James is given a sense of humility in this chapter. From one point of view, he is betraying his mother's wishes, and his own sense of pride by entering the mines. However, I believe I was wrong as to his initial intentions with Kathleen. He of course, goes into the mines because he wants to provide for her, whilst Maternia seemingly only works because she is required to. While naturally, the reader has a preference for Maternia's character of James's, one cannot argue that she is the better parent. It seems as though James is accepting the fact that one day he will have to let go of Kathleen, as he says "'You're going to sing for people all over the world. I won't always be there, but i'll always be your daddy'" (MacDonald 45). He also has "consecrated his life to being a worthy caretaker of God's gift" (MacDonald 45). Could this love for his daughter become overbearing? Maybe, but maybe not. Maybe I judged James too harshly?
Unfortunately James and Maternia have not patched their marriage in any way. A mixture of fear, entrapment, helplessness, denial and shame seem to be the only glue keeping these two together (as is the glue in most failed marriages, I would assume.) He is still incredibly conscious of her intellectual, physical and religious inferiority to him, and is still embarrassed of her. Though he wants Maternia to obtain job so that she can make money to support the family, "It mustn't be known that Kathleen Piper's mother was a maid" (MacDonald 46). Though it was once believed that maternia was immature, we can now see that the obvious immaturity culprit is James. He believes he can have all he wants with no consequence, becomes infatuated and then disenchanted in the blink of an eye, is generally selfish and a bit of a "stage mom" to the unsuspecting Kathleen. He himself has a lot of growing up to do. Maybe I didn't Judge James too harshly...
More obvious stabs at religion were made in this chapter, including when the narrator describes how the Catholic Bishop ordered the striking miner's starving families out of the schools, convents, rectories and churches. For a religion that believes in "Love thy neighbour," the jaded narrator point out that not a lot of loving is occurring. I also see that many of the deeply religious characters in this novel, including James and an anonymous woman who "said a prayer for him, then hurled an iron door-stopper, missing him by a hair" (MacDonald 49) often house the most internal demons.
I think a prominent theme demonstrated in this chapter is that there are many sides to every person. For example, James is (so far) a very loving father, but also a racist self-important emotionally abusive husband. Maternia is a kind-hearted and gentle young woman, but is also a whiny and naive little girl. The anonymous woman James meets coming back from the mine loves God, and her family (for she is willing to stand up for them towards James) yet she is also capable of hurling an iron doorstopper at a man she's never met.
Though I couldn't recall the author, I can apply this quote to the chapter and the novel as a whole: "The greatest evil that has existed on this planet has not been advanced by people with evil intentions or lust for blood, but by people with good intentions." Both James and Maternia have had very good intentions; the shortcomings in their personalities have led them down the path of trauma.
At the end of this chapter, James is said to have felt the need to "get on his knees, fold his hands and beg his mother's forgiveness for going underground" (MacDonald 49). This is the first act of falling on one's knees in the book so far. I have a feeling it won't be the last...
Interesting Vocabulary:
-Bourgeoisie (An offensive term for a social class, classified by their preference for Marxism; it is used against Maternia by James.)
-All Ist Klar (Roughly "All is Obvious" in German. Another German reference!)
-Ceilidhs (A social gathering.)
-Hunkered
-Envoy
-Tommies (Slang for a soldier in the British Army)
-Gauntlet
When Maternia is playing the piano for the orchestra some excellent personification and imagery is used: "hurtling over the keys until all erupts in chaos, notes and birds flies asunder...the music creeps down the winding stairs" (MacDonald 46).
A comical part of this chapter was when James satirically thinks "Who's to help me do that? The piano teacher's union? The piano-tuners-of-the-world unite party? Jesus Christ on the cross no. I'm on my own" (MacDonald 48). I like Ann-marie MacDonald; she is very witty sometimes.
On a more serious note, the character of James is given a sense of humility in this chapter. From one point of view, he is betraying his mother's wishes, and his own sense of pride by entering the mines. However, I believe I was wrong as to his initial intentions with Kathleen. He of course, goes into the mines because he wants to provide for her, whilst Maternia seemingly only works because she is required to. While naturally, the reader has a preference for Maternia's character of James's, one cannot argue that she is the better parent. It seems as though James is accepting the fact that one day he will have to let go of Kathleen, as he says "'You're going to sing for people all over the world. I won't always be there, but i'll always be your daddy'" (MacDonald 45). He also has "consecrated his life to being a worthy caretaker of God's gift" (MacDonald 45). Could this love for his daughter become overbearing? Maybe, but maybe not. Maybe I judged James too harshly?
Unfortunately James and Maternia have not patched their marriage in any way. A mixture of fear, entrapment, helplessness, denial and shame seem to be the only glue keeping these two together (as is the glue in most failed marriages, I would assume.) He is still incredibly conscious of her intellectual, physical and religious inferiority to him, and is still embarrassed of her. Though he wants Maternia to obtain job so that she can make money to support the family, "It mustn't be known that Kathleen Piper's mother was a maid" (MacDonald 46). Though it was once believed that maternia was immature, we can now see that the obvious immaturity culprit is James. He believes he can have all he wants with no consequence, becomes infatuated and then disenchanted in the blink of an eye, is generally selfish and a bit of a "stage mom" to the unsuspecting Kathleen. He himself has a lot of growing up to do. Maybe I didn't Judge James too harshly...
More obvious stabs at religion were made in this chapter, including when the narrator describes how the Catholic Bishop ordered the striking miner's starving families out of the schools, convents, rectories and churches. For a religion that believes in "Love thy neighbour," the jaded narrator point out that not a lot of loving is occurring. I also see that many of the deeply religious characters in this novel, including James and an anonymous woman who "said a prayer for him, then hurled an iron door-stopper, missing him by a hair" (MacDonald 49) often house the most internal demons.
I think a prominent theme demonstrated in this chapter is that there are many sides to every person. For example, James is (so far) a very loving father, but also a racist self-important emotionally abusive husband. Maternia is a kind-hearted and gentle young woman, but is also a whiny and naive little girl. The anonymous woman James meets coming back from the mine loves God, and her family (for she is willing to stand up for them towards James) yet she is also capable of hurling an iron doorstopper at a man she's never met.
Though I couldn't recall the author, I can apply this quote to the chapter and the novel as a whole: "The greatest evil that has existed on this planet has not been advanced by people with evil intentions or lust for blood, but by people with good intentions." Both James and Maternia have had very good intentions; the shortcomings in their personalities have led them down the path of trauma.
At the end of this chapter, James is said to have felt the need to "get on his knees, fold his hands and beg his mother's forgiveness for going underground" (MacDonald 49). This is the first act of falling on one's knees in the book so far. I have a feeling it won't be the last...
Interesting Vocabulary:
-Bourgeoisie (An offensive term for a social class, classified by their preference for Marxism; it is used against Maternia by James.)
-All Ist Klar (Roughly "All is Obvious" in German. Another German reference!)
-Ceilidhs (A social gathering.)
-Hunkered
-Envoy
-Tommies (Slang for a soldier in the British Army)
-Gauntlet
"A Miner' Forty-Niner" (Chapter Six)
The title of this chapter is a little confusing to me. Apparently a miner forty niner is an individual who took part in the California Gold Rush. I suppose this could tie in with the fact that the general area of Cape Breton in which the Pipers are living is a mining community. I think the mentioning of this adds to the attitude of James: he believes that everyone in his town is backwards or uninformed, almost as if they've been living underground in the mines. However, that is just my interpretation.
In this chapter, Kathleen is characterized in depth. She is a certain "wonder-child," a phrase that James would probably be the first to describe her with, had it been in the go-to vocabulary in 1900. A superb analogy is made, which compares Kathleen to a miner's gold: "It was a moment of equal parts anxiety and awe. like the striking of a wide seam of gold. The prospector sinks to his knees-he's only been looking for coal. Ata gush of oil he'd hoot, baptize himself and buy the drinks. But the sight of gold is different. He observes a moment's silence. Then he raises, eyes watering. How to get it properly out of the Earth? How to not get robbed in the meantime?" (MacDonald 36). James has only been looking for oil with his first child. Like the man he is, he expected greatness. However, the greatness he finds in Kathleen is almost otherworldly; completely unexpected. The reader can just picture James and Kathleen by their piano, as James sits in anxiety and awe, waiting to hear the first perfect note sung by his daughter. In true James fashion, he doesn't consider her a human being equal to him; just a product or commodity that needs to be extracted and tampered with for his benefit. It also interests me that he doesn't want anyone to "rob" him of his "gold". I have a feeling he wants Kathleen all to himself.
Indeed, the relationship between James and Kathleen is an interesting one. Maternia and Kathleen are often compared in a way in which a mother and daughter should not be compared: "Maternia played, Kathleen turned seven" (MacDonald 37). Almost everything they do is pitted up against each other. When the James and Kathleen walk through town together, MacDonald ensures that "Together turned heads" (MacDonald 38). Would it not be more appropriate for a romantic couple to turn heads? James has a history of choosing younger women (Maternia herself was only thirteen,) so the reader can only assume where his relationship with Kathleen will go.
Maternia herself has lost control of her life. She has become almost robotic and her free will has been broken under James's rule. Maternia's responses become almost automatic. When James tells her that she is too fat: "Maternia looked at James from afar and said, 'Okay'"(MacDonald 37) The reader has a hard time deciding if Maternia puts up with James because she is scared of him, because she loves him, or because her self esteem is so pathetic at this point that she agrees with him. Personally, I think its a combination of all three factors. Maternia is also struggling internally with her own non-love for her child. Unlike most mothers, she has feelings of resentment and apathy for Kathleen. I find it interesting that the author added this element. She thinks aloud: "Maternia rocked the child and felt sad-was that closer to love?" (MacDonald 39) We can see Maternia's own demons progress in this chapter.
Towards the end of the chapter, Kathleen and James decide to destroy the scarecrow on their property, seemingly because Kathleen is scared of it. I think this symbolizes how Kathleen and James are turning on Maternia, as the scarecrow is wearing Maternia's clothes.
This book just keeps getting darker and darker. I love it!
Interesting Vocabulary:
-Adagio (piano-speak for music in slow tempo)
-Acciaccantura (piano-speak for an inferior note played at the same time as a normal note to give depth)
-Appoggiatura (piano-speak for a note played just before a normal note)
-Perishable
-Mephistophelize (Possible allusion to the German folklore tale of Mephistopheles, the devil who collects damned souls. In this usage, "Enough mechandise to mephistophelize a miner's wife" (MacDonald 38) could the author be suggesting that the sheer amount of worldly good in the said store could turn the a miner's wife into a stealing devil? I'm not sure, as it is kind of strange that she would be referring to a German folktale.)
-Magnate (A term exclusive to being a rich businessman involved in oil.)
-Immaculate
-Twigged to ("To catch on to" An interesting choice of vocabulary, considering Maternia is as fragile as a twig.
-Preternatural (Outside of what is considered "normal." Like this whole family, for instance.)
-Botany
-Ablutions (Perhaps another allusion? An ablution, in the traditional Christian sense is a bathing that "purifies" the receiver. Here, Kathleen is taking a regular old bath, but of course, considering all the religious implications of this story, it is described as such.)
-Deciphered
-Teetotaller (Someone who abstained from the use of alcohol-often for religious reasons. It is not surprised that James doesn't drink. He seems like the type of person that would not enjoy being drunk and therefore not in control of himself. James has a bit of a thing for control, evidently.)
-Perishable
In this chapter, Kathleen is characterized in depth. She is a certain "wonder-child," a phrase that James would probably be the first to describe her with, had it been in the go-to vocabulary in 1900. A superb analogy is made, which compares Kathleen to a miner's gold: "It was a moment of equal parts anxiety and awe. like the striking of a wide seam of gold. The prospector sinks to his knees-he's only been looking for coal. Ata gush of oil he'd hoot, baptize himself and buy the drinks. But the sight of gold is different. He observes a moment's silence. Then he raises, eyes watering. How to get it properly out of the Earth? How to not get robbed in the meantime?" (MacDonald 36). James has only been looking for oil with his first child. Like the man he is, he expected greatness. However, the greatness he finds in Kathleen is almost otherworldly; completely unexpected. The reader can just picture James and Kathleen by their piano, as James sits in anxiety and awe, waiting to hear the first perfect note sung by his daughter. In true James fashion, he doesn't consider her a human being equal to him; just a product or commodity that needs to be extracted and tampered with for his benefit. It also interests me that he doesn't want anyone to "rob" him of his "gold". I have a feeling he wants Kathleen all to himself.
Indeed, the relationship between James and Kathleen is an interesting one. Maternia and Kathleen are often compared in a way in which a mother and daughter should not be compared: "Maternia played, Kathleen turned seven" (MacDonald 37). Almost everything they do is pitted up against each other. When the James and Kathleen walk through town together, MacDonald ensures that "Together turned heads" (MacDonald 38). Would it not be more appropriate for a romantic couple to turn heads? James has a history of choosing younger women (Maternia herself was only thirteen,) so the reader can only assume where his relationship with Kathleen will go.
Maternia herself has lost control of her life. She has become almost robotic and her free will has been broken under James's rule. Maternia's responses become almost automatic. When James tells her that she is too fat: "Maternia looked at James from afar and said, 'Okay'"(MacDonald 37) The reader has a hard time deciding if Maternia puts up with James because she is scared of him, because she loves him, or because her self esteem is so pathetic at this point that she agrees with him. Personally, I think its a combination of all three factors. Maternia is also struggling internally with her own non-love for her child. Unlike most mothers, she has feelings of resentment and apathy for Kathleen. I find it interesting that the author added this element. She thinks aloud: "Maternia rocked the child and felt sad-was that closer to love?" (MacDonald 39) We can see Maternia's own demons progress in this chapter.
Towards the end of the chapter, Kathleen and James decide to destroy the scarecrow on their property, seemingly because Kathleen is scared of it. I think this symbolizes how Kathleen and James are turning on Maternia, as the scarecrow is wearing Maternia's clothes.
This book just keeps getting darker and darker. I love it!
Interesting Vocabulary:
-Adagio (piano-speak for music in slow tempo)
-Acciaccantura (piano-speak for an inferior note played at the same time as a normal note to give depth)
-Appoggiatura (piano-speak for a note played just before a normal note)
-Perishable
-Mephistophelize (Possible allusion to the German folklore tale of Mephistopheles, the devil who collects damned souls. In this usage, "Enough mechandise to mephistophelize a miner's wife" (MacDonald 38) could the author be suggesting that the sheer amount of worldly good in the said store could turn the a miner's wife into a stealing devil? I'm not sure, as it is kind of strange that she would be referring to a German folktale.)
-Magnate (A term exclusive to being a rich businessman involved in oil.)
-Immaculate
-Twigged to ("To catch on to" An interesting choice of vocabulary, considering Maternia is as fragile as a twig.
-Preternatural (Outside of what is considered "normal." Like this whole family, for instance.)
-Botany
-Ablutions (Perhaps another allusion? An ablution, in the traditional Christian sense is a bathing that "purifies" the receiver. Here, Kathleen is taking a regular old bath, but of course, considering all the religious implications of this story, it is described as such.)
-Deciphered
-Teetotaller (Someone who abstained from the use of alcohol-often for religious reasons. It is not surprised that James doesn't drink. He seems like the type of person that would not enjoy being drunk and therefore not in control of himself. James has a bit of a thing for control, evidently.)
-Perishable
Sunday, October 24, 2010
The First Critical Review
The first relevant critical article I found was published in Canadian Woman's Studies Journal in 1997. It is an interesting critical and comparative review of Fall On Your Knees. Unfortunately, it contained abundant spoilers as to the plot of the story. The author, Patricia Goldblatt holds a slightly favourable opinion on the novel. She addresses some of the major themes in the book in her essay, one of the first being the idea of voyeurism. She also addresses the fact that Fall On Your Knees has such a narrative structure that the reader feels as if they are actively rummaging through the characters's lives, finding photos, memories and thoughts about their past as we uncover their story. She describes us, the readers as being archaeologists in the discovery of the Piper families' mysteries; a comparison I found to be very truthful and accurate. Throughout the majority of the article she summarizes the plot, however, she makes some interesting comparisons to other literature, more specifically, fairy tales. Goldblatt initially compares the beginning of the story is a fairytale, packed with forbidden romance and seemingly undying promised love. However, she wisely notes that: "As in most fairytales, a period of grace only delays the awful events that are to come" (Goldblatt 2). As the story progresses, the plot line becomes more skewed as more children are eventually born and raised. Goldblatt compares the ending of the story to Lewis Carol's Alice in Wonderland, filled with "oversized leering dismantled occupants as the story becomes stranger" (Goldblatt 2). MacDonald finishes Fall on Your Knees with a message: Everything terrible that has happened to this family has begun with James, the man of the household.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)