A pattern in each chapter emerges where the focus of the character is shifted. All include the alien feel of being uprooted but through the different ages of the family. In the first chapter the focus is on the mother. It starts with the mother noticing the evacuation order no. 19. She immediately goes to start making preparations for this evacuation notice almost in an autonomous mode. She begins to pack up the house and store their valuables in a locked room, she takes care of the animals, giving away the cat, putting the dog out of its misery and freeing the bird. She moves about these tasks not really pausing too much for sentimental purposes. She only pauses to reflect on the Gleaners painting (8) and to drink some of her homemade wine (20). As the provider of the family after the father is taken away she must do what needs to be done for her family, taking care of them before herself. Only later in the novel while in the camp does she lose this sense of being the provider does she revert into herself, almost giving up all hope.
The second chapter, Train, centers mainly around the daughter, she is in her early teenage years. In this chapter there is more young and naive feel. In this age group the daughter is inquisitive, stubborn, is a "know-it-all" and talks to a few strangers while riding on the train (32). She cares for her brother by answering any questions he may have and tries to keep up the morale while her fades as she thinks about her father and French blue scarf. It is evident she understands this relocation is something that will not be over too quickly and that her spirits are being dampened while she is talking to the stranger Ted in the bathroom line on the train, "Last night it was too cold, but now it's so hot I can hardly breathe. Everything keeps on changing" (33).
In the third chapter, When the Emperor was Divine, the focus is on the young boy. The brother is younger than his sister in his older child years. The young boy takes in more than both the mother and daughter does by observing his surroundings like wild life in the desert and the conversations going on between neighbors as well as the windy dusty weather. In his view he also careful observes the behavior of his mother who gives up hope and does not emerge from the stall only to eat, which she too eventually stops doing. He also notes odd disappearing acts of his sister all day long. Since his mother has lost the care provider role because the camp has others doing it she stops even caring for herself, this is when the boy starts to get her to eat and have her return to normal with reassurances (94). He also has a very imaginative mind that reinforces his childlike wonder and tone for the chapter, things seems unreal and alien. While the son is dealing with his present family members he can't help but think of his father and partially blaming himself for his arrest. A childlike quality is the assumption it is one's fault for something that is truly out of one's control. He blames himself for things that go wrong.
I, too, noticed this trend in the perspective of the text which I think was very important to this family structure. In the graphic novel, the point of view was from one person responsible mainly for themselves. In this book, the mother has more weight to carry than just her own so I feel like the author was trying to portray the trip from all aspects, not just one.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed the way the novel was set up like this, I feel it allows you to get to know each character a little better by following each one rather than just hearing about them from a third person. I also noticed, however, that in the beginning while at home it seemed like the son was the older sibling, but as the novel continued the son seemed like the younger sibling as the sister answered his questions, began staying up later, and even smoking. It was an interesting transition.
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