Quanto Dolar, The First Solution & The Third Secret of Fatima (Chapters 9, 10, 11)

A lot has occurred in these three chapters. I found the title choices to be of particularly interest. Quanto Dolar is Italian for "How Much Pain". In this chapter, James's demon surfaces for the first time. He hits Kathleen in a fit of accidental rage, loosening her tooth. Kathleen however, remains unphased and devoted to her father, a curious trait considering she is a selfish and pompous individual. The bond with her father continues to disturb everyone, including Maternia. One could only imagine how she must feel during this ordeal. However, the reader can tell that she is a person of great selflessness and strength. She does not dwell on the fact that the love of her life James belittles her, openly mocks her and is completely unattracted to her, but she tries to protect her daughter that she doesn't love and that apparently doesn't care for her from her own husband. How many modern women would stay so quiet in such a situation? Not me, for one.

In addition, Chapter eleven is titled The Third Secret of Fatima. In this chapter we see James lust after Kathleen even more, and as Kathleen becomes more and more aware of herself, we see their relationship become more and more dangerous. The Three Secrets of Fatima are a prophesy supposedly shared with three young girls in Portugal in 1917 by The Virgin Mary. The third prophesy is regarding the attempted assassination of the Pope, but from what I can gather from various sources, the prophesies are widely believed to be a hoax, or at least an exaggeration. Could Maternia's discussions with the Virgin Mary in this chapter be in vain as well?

The character of Kathleen is slowly becoming more questionable. She refuses her mother's dinner (a symbol of her detachment from Maternia,) and she is becoming more overtly sexual. We see little hints of her innocence slowly fading away, especially through her traumatic vanity exploration in the mirror after her show, that results in terror. Maternia herself sees this in Kathleen, comparing her own motherly protections to a cocoon that Kathleen will one day break free from: "But no one can spin forever, and cocoons must yield, whether to release a butterfly or a meal" (MacDonald 68). This metaphor, comparing Kathleen to a delicate, fragile defenceless butterfly forewarns the readers: This metamorphosis may bring something ugly. As she succumbs to her own vanity in the mirror: "It's a self portrait, and the artist is in love" (MacDonald 76).

MacDonald has once again proven herself to be the Queen of Allusions. Most of them are in relation to Opera singing, in which Kathleen excels at. Some of the more engaging ones are listed below:
-"What did Stendhal say of Elizabeth Gafforini?" "Whether you see or hear her, your peril is the same." I had a hard time finding any information on this reference. I believe Gafforini to be a somewhat famous singer, but most information was in Italian...
-"Rigoletto cries 'Figelia!' Rigoletto is an Opera. Here, the lead female role is played by Kathleen. There are uncanny similarities to Fall On Your Knees and Rigoletto. The themes of mystery, magic, hatred, revenge, inappropriate love and love triangles all appear in the Opera, as they will most likely appear in the novel. A fulfilled prophesy and a violent end wrap up Rigoletto. In fact, Kathleen's character, Gilda dies in the play; will she die in real life? Foreshadowing? Most likely, says this reader.

Something that MacDonald does very well throughout this book, but that I have not addressed with is characters thinking within the text. It's an insight into their mind as we actively follow their thought path as the events unfold in the book. We are able to hear them wrestling with their conscience. For example, as James thinks of his demons, "In the ensuing panic, there was a physical accident. Meaningless. Hanged men get hard-ons for heaven's sake" (MacDonald 65). This is very effective; the reader is let inside each individual character's head.

The season changes to a hot and sweaty summer: "July is sweltering" (MacDonald 70). Summer represents adulthood and the peak of life. Indeed, in this chapter, many things are going well, especially for Kathleen. It is no longer her "spring" or new beginning; she is an adult now. The beginning of the war is a parallel, in my opinion to the beginning of the "war" that is going to occur within the characters of the story. There is another bird comparison in this section: "Teresa, the maid sees the avid white face with the boy-blue eyes and bird of prey bones" (MacDonald 75). It is notable, that James is a bird of prey, while Kathleen is often compared to a songbird. What would a bird of prey do to a songbird? Kill it. Hmm..

There is a lot of demonic imagery in these three chapters. Previously, the characters have only communicated with God or other God-like symbols. Both Maternia and James compares James's "ticking time bomb" attraction to Kathleen as a demonic figure. This metaphor is extremely haunting and very effective, "But the demon isn't satisfied...If the demon will limit itself to one daughter, Maternia will allow it to have Kathleen when the time comes. The demon grins. Agrees" (MacDonald 69). This imagery says a lot. Firstly, we recognize that even those who are not demonic people can have demons inside of them; James is not, in my opinion an evil person, he just has a lot of faults and a lot of "skeletons in the closet." I find it interesting that Maternia eventually sacrifices Kathleen to the demon. is she damning her own daughter, or was her daughter damned from birth? Has this all been predetermined, in fate's hands, or is Maternia solely going to be responsible for her daughter's end?

My favourite quote from this section is another cynical pass on religion: "Mrs MacIsaac watches her inch by the drugstore window (as she goes to church) and worries for her: No one should be that close to God" (MacDonald 67). I quite enjoy MacDonald's little quips of almost-not-funny-dark-humour that she throws in at every possible point. The style of this book reminds me of someone winning an argument that just needs to throw on their finishing remarks to sink their opponent even lower. Does that sort of make sense? In addition, I look forward to discovered to what point and purpose Mercedes and Frances have been added to this story. My main focus, however is that of Kathleen, James and Maternia. The one thing that confuses me about this chapter was Kathleen's reoccurring demon, Pete. Why is this young girl being terrorized by this imaginary(?) person, and who is he? I feel as if there are big things ahead.


Interesting Vocabulary
-Arcana: Specialized knowledge; the girls in Kathleen's class has a specialized knowledge or "secret" in femininity, and Kathleen had no clue. 
-Insouciant: A lack of concern.
-Masticating Chewing food (interesting choice of word.)
-Strathspey A dance in 4/4 time. Used to describe the feeling in summertime.
-Sinew: Tissue uniting bones to muscles; all of these on James's body were tense of Kathleen began to sing.
-Prostrates: To lie flat on the ground, often in prayer. Maternia often does this when she goes to visit Mary.

Third Critical Summary

My third critical review was published in the Studies of Candian Literature Journal. In this lengthly article, Joel Baetz makes the initial comparison of Fall On Your Knees to a ghost story. The haunting first lines of the novel accelerate this theory. Baetz also argues that the very reason this book is as well respected and critically acclaimed as it is, is for the reason that it paints Canada as being a very exciting place, full of suspense and mystery, rich culture and racial conflict; this is a polar opposite to the usual tame and friendly Canada that readers are used to. It also adds interest to the Candian population, a spectrum of people that is often disregarded by its American neighbours, and thought of an inferior by Europeans. This novel gives Canada itself an edge, and therefore some credibility on a global scale. The author also points out that the geography of Cape Breton, being isolated and gloomy only adds to the chilling eeriness of the story, making it that much more haunting. Indeed, much of Canadian literature is taking a turn for the more haunting, which leads Baetz to ponder, "What kind of ghosts do we have?" (Baetz 66).

Baetz makes another interesting conclusion in regards to MacDonald's novel. The presence of the teachings of Freud in MacDonald's Fall On our Knees is also apparent. It is directly referenced to in many occasions. However the plot line contains many topics that Freud would find interesting, if not completely applicable to his own science. Baetz sums up the list perfectly: "Phallic imagery, incest, unconscious responses, automatons, repressed childhood memories, alter egos, doppelgangers, apparent deaths and reanimation of the dead" (Baetz 67). Further into Freud's theory, the paradox of the "strange and familiar" comes into play in this novel. The word "Uncanny" is used by Baetz in almost rhythmic repetition; it is a good adjective to describe the events of Fall On Your Knees. Generally, the themes of the novel are very Freudian, a trend in many of MacDonald's works.

Another major theme in the novel is the merit of past, present and future, as well as the impact of memories and history that may even be dead and buried. We have two histories at work here: The history of the Piper family within the story, and the nonfictional history of Canada as a country, that bears many ugly time periods and viewpoints we may want to forget we once had. This parallel look at history is obvious in the book, but both have very different effects.