Wednesday, October 14, 2009

A Living Wound

From the start in Faithful Are the Wounds, there is this "two faced" idea represented through all of the characters. In one instance the professors are compared to Greek gods and yet in another scene Grace appeared to me as a child while she was doodling at a meeting. In fact, Grace is described in a way that it was hard to picture her as an old woman. Julia seems trapped in her marriage, stuck between her inner thoughts of resenting her husband and then being the "perfect" wife. Damon was more secretive, instantly changing his thoughts so that it was hard to tell what he was really feeling. Julia stated that she "almost resented this man's ability to rise like a phoenix from his own ashes over and over (146)". Isabelle struggled with her safety world with her husband who was Julia Ferrier and the little girl still trapped inside of her who she referred to as Julia Cavan. Fosca is a wise character whose experiences have made him the man he truly is. Dr. Willoughby said to Julia that he had respect for Fosca "because he lives what he believes (185)". Maybe that's why Edward and even Grace would come to Fosca for guidance, because he was one of the few characters that had no other face to hide behind. Even looking at the many faces of politics, this theme could relate to the political aspect of the book as well.

However, besides the politic aspect of the book the themes of communication, love, and self awareness were constant. Julia had asked herself the question, "Can people who really love each other be divided (125)?" This seemed not only a question related to her marriage, but to the relationship Edward had with almost everyone. In another passage Julia states that Edward "can't give love or take it, but he knows what it means. He knows all about it, that's what's so terrible (134)." So Edward understood the concept of love, we see that from his love for his mother, but he wasn't willing to except love which created his walls of division. In a scene with Goldberg and his wife, they are described as "people who communicated (not by words), but by the invisible waves of feeling and breathing and touch and silence (153)." Communication seems to be a huge issue throughout the novel. Julia can't confess her true feelings to Damon, neither can Isabelle to her husband, Edward is trapped in his own mind, George could never tell Edward how greatly he admired him, etc. This reminds me again of the idea of Grace being childish and where Julia had stated to herself "that they seemed to her childishly passionate (207)." She was referring to Edward's group of friends and it seemed like the perfect way to describe them. Despite being professors of Harvard or just having brilliant minds in general, they still had childish elements and still seemed to be searching for themselves. Maybe the reoccurring theme in the novels we have read is that even from a professors point of view, college life and its surroundings is still a self journey. Edward was a passionate professor who had many accomplishments, yet he was often compared to a trapped animal. Did his passion make him seem "naked" to the world and more animal like, creating a separation between himself and people? Julia had declared that "suicide is not a simple death, bringing peace with it. It haunts; it asks a question (144)." It was harder to fight with a dead man than a living one she went on to say, but Edward was so trapped inside himself that he really left the characters no choice.

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