Every Woman Is A Novel :a Jest Of God :: essays research papers

Rachel often addresses her thoughts to God. How does she imagine Him (Heror It)? Does Rachels concept of God change during the course of theNovel? Explain.Rachel Cameron, the heroine of "A Jest of God", is not simply as anindividual literary character but as a psychological portrayal of womenof Rachels time and inclination. regular(a) we can easily find someone who hasthe same problem Rachel has in the friends of us, or maybe in an earlymorning when we get up allow at front of the mirror we will suddenlyhave a idea, "I am Rachel too."She has a common Cameron heritage. She is a gawky, introverted spinsterschoolteacher who has returned home to Manawaka from university inWinnipeg, upon the death of her alcoholic undertaker father NiallCameron, to care for her hypochondriac mother May. Nevertheless, thefamily resemblance is obvious their shared Scots Presbyterian ancestry,which Laurence views as distinctively Canadian, provides an armour ofpride that imprisons her with in their internal worlds, while providing adefence against the external world. To overcome that barrier betweenpersonalities, she must learn to understand and immerse their heritage inorder to liberate her own identities and free herself for the future. Shemust also learn to love herself before she can love others. Rachelreceive a sentimental education through a brief love affair as a resultof learning to empathize with their lovers, she learn to love herself andthe community she lives with. Laurences emphasis is, as always, on theimportance of love in the sense of compassion, as each of her solipsisticprotagonists develops from claustrophobia to community.The beginning of "A Jest of God" extends beyond its Canadian perimetersin Rachels branching imagination, both into the fairytale dream worldwhich gives depth and pathos to the disappointment and despair of herpresent and out into a wider world in time and space than the grey littletown of Manawaka. The first lines of the novel tell us everything basicto Rachels mind, her temperament, and her situation.The wind blows low, the wind blows highThe snow comes dropping from the sky,Rachel Cameron says shell dieFor the want of the golden city.She is handsome, she is pretty,She is the queen of the golden city.They are not actually chanting my name, of course, I only hear it thatway from where I am watching the classroom window, because I remembermyself skipping rope to that song when I was about the age of the littlegirls out there now. Twenty-seven years ago... (p. 1)The lecturer is engaged in sympathy with Rachel by the sadness of the gap