Prodigal Summer Class Notes
Introduction
1.
Berry—more on 1991
poem—about eating and food
2.
Gary Snyder poem about
Berry
C.
Relation to previous readings
1.
Almanac—structure defined by season
2.
Georgic—Agriculture and values; adversity and simpolicity
3.
Invitation—Come Away, Prothalamion=spring hymn to love and
reproduction; pheromones; inhaling scent—37 irresistible and uncanny
4.
Solitude—isolation—retreat—to reintegration
5.
Storm and adventure
6.
Gender—Mary Austin
7.
Leopold—tracking—berry pressing face to wood for smell 3
a) Sense of smell
b) Land ethic; community of people and natural beings
8.
Berry—pursuit of eternity; reproduction; death and rebirth
D.
New genre: novel
1.
Extended fiction in prose
II. Plot--Structure
A.
first 150 pages—overall movement of plot—loss
and conflict in all three
B.
Chapters:
1.
Titles: predators, moth love, old chestnuts
2.
three couples
3.
Compare and contrast; interlinks—people in place
III.
Characters
A.
Relationships: conflict and attraction
B.
parallel opposites
1.
enlightened vs. crude
2.
m vs. f
3.
anti vs. pro nature and the wild
45
IV.
Themes
A.
Loss and recovery; death and rebirth; natural cycles
1.
Of spouse, parent, child, land (Zayda), solitude, chestnuts, mental and
physical capacity with old age
2.
Ghosts
3.
Place left by the dead
4.
B.
Solitude vs. society
1.
DeannaÕs happiness vs. shack wacky and escapism—53; diamond
solitaire of a life
C.
Male and female
1.
Lust, love, desire
2.
Fertility and parenthood
3.
Gender roles
a) Three enlightened, educated, self sufficient,
fertile, females
b) Three studly but stupid males
c) Matriarchy
(1) Coyote female society, males as
stud; also Turkeys;
(2) Lusa and Jewel
(3) Nannie and Deanna
D.
Place; rural life; agriculture
1.
Values
2.
Corruption
3.
Loss and restoration
4.
Krogers vs. Amish
5.
Poisons vs. organics
E.
Culture
1.
Race
2.
Religion
3.
Urban/Rural
4.
Cultural history in the land—Landscape and Memory
5.
language/dialect
a) semiotics of tracking—animal
dialects—smell and sound
b) reading the signs, going beyond ones own language
c) tracks also provide explanations 2, 3
F.
Wildness and cultivation
1.
epigraph—for family and wildness: two values
2.
DeannaÕs love for woods and coyotes, but the storm is too wild
3.
LusaÕs love for the wildness of insects and goats; her acceptance of
the need for cultivation, trimming the honeysuckle, also controlling sexuality
in dance
4.
wildness of lust
G.
Science themes
1.
The value and beauty of natural knowledge and observation; the sadness
of ignorance--—the obvious animal facts people refused to know about
their kind 93
a) Vergil, Thoreau, Aldo
b) Deanna, Lusa, Nannie, Garnett, the families, the
goats,
c) What kind of knowledge
2.
What did you learn?
a) Adaptation 8-9
b) Coyote families-18; 57
c) pubic hairs 46
d) predation and restoration of ecosystem vs. extinction 59, 64
e) pesticides vs. organics
f) farm economics; tobacco crop 107
g) canning cherries 119
h) plant breeding—chestnut restoration 130
3.
elements of animal behavior in humans
a) territoriality--25
b) dominance—Lusa and sisters in law
c) erotic attraction and fertility
4.
Evolution and ecology
a) Darwin—quote at beginning and end—LusaÕs
reading
b) Interwoveness of all life
(1) extermination and extinction
(a) human role—parakeets and wolves
(b) negative consequences
(c) efforts at restoration
(2) introduction of exotics
(a) kudzu and chestnut blight
(3) restoration—chestnuts and
wolves and rural culture
c) Predation
(1) relationships of predator and prey
(2) life and death; living is death
(3) numerousness of prey, rarity of
predators
(4) balance—predators are
necessary; population control; culling
(5) food chain: predators become prey
d) Sexuality
(1) cloning vs. crossing—most
basic principle
(a) variation, adaptation, diversity, development
(2) plants (pollination), animals,
humans
(3) prothalamion—pastoral
hymeneal, seasonal, come away, biblical and renaissance; pheromones
e) Adaptation
(1) succession of bloom up the
mountain 8-9
V. Language
A.
Poetic description—sound and sense
B.
Onomastics and allusions
1.
Book Title--51
a) Summer
(1) seasonal, calendar,
pastoral-georgic structure
(a) meaningful to plants, animals and people alike,
human rhythms absorbed in natural ones
b) Prodigal
(1) abundant, overproductive,
(2) wasteful, ranging, divergent, but
ultimately returning redeemed
(3) biblical reference: story of the
prodigal son—richness of biblical allusion
(4)
OED: 4b. Having or providing a lavish amount of a resource or
quality; generously or abundantly supplied with. Also: extravagant or
unrestrained in the provision of something, the performance of an action, etc. 2.
Of a person: that has lived a reckless or extravagant life away from home, but
subsequently made a repentant return. Also more generally and fig.: that has
gone astray; errant, wayward; wandering. Freq. in prodigal son (also daughter,
child), with allusion to Luke 15:11-32
(5) 50 Òprodigal summer
this season of extravagant creationÓ
return of the birds—long descriptive passage
2.
Lusa Landowska—light and music
3.
Deanna Wolfe—goddess and wolf
4.
Nannie the goat
5.
Eddie Bondo—he bonds her to community
6.
Cole (Coal) and tobaco
7.
Garnet: semiprecious; hard
C.
Biblical allusion
1.
Title: prodigal
2.
Garnett vs. NannieÕs interpretation of Genesis: dominion
VI.
individual chapters: beginning, middle and end, with turning points
A.
chapter 1—the seduction of Diana
1.
freedom, release, loving pursuit of coyote
a) solitary tracker, happy, unself conscious, intent
woman, exuberant with spring and freedom
b) her two year quest, excited search for trail,
ambiguity, feline vs. canid; wilderness woman, expertise
c) tracking lessons for reader
2.
surprise of being observed and tracked by another tracker
a) p.
3—boots, camo, rifle—her opposite and antagonist
3.
a wild, natural courting ritual
a) overwhelming sexuality of nature as in Song of
Songs, and genesis, generation
(1) prodigal spring, flowers, 8
(2) dreams of him; bats mating 6
(3) lacewings—urgent search for
mates, egg laying, eternal life 16
(4) the mating redtails
(5) her immediate desire/attraction
b) aggression and struggle—attraction and
dominance
(1) rough and sudden, power struggle
for dominance between male and female vs. surrender and tenderness;
(2) crackling
dialogue—conversational wrestling 4, mockery, withholding speech and
information, overtopping answers--flyting
(3) ÒcockyÓ and cocked; younger man; attractive; appearance and
disappearance; gets her heated up;
(4) reappearance; doesnÕt want him
behind her, likes being behind him, impressed with his woods skills
(5) playing hide and seek
(6) she reveals what she tracks;
discussion of predation
(7) getting to know each
other—asking questions
(8) explanation of predation
principles; value of coyotes and wolves; their matriarchal social structure,
need and donÕt need males—her dominance in conversation
(9) heÕs pumping her for information,
she equivocates
c) transition
(1) her love of coyotes (Òschoolgirl
crushÓ as replacement for lost husband) 18-19
(2) distracted by touch of his sleeve
4.
She succumbs to hostile or invites loving takeover
a) Struggle between Deanna, (Artemis--virgin huntress)
and Bondo—age and size differentials
b) they hook up 20, Òspend the night in my
cabinÓ—pink orchids, scrota
c) orchid forces pollinator—they lie down in
leaves, roll downhill—no sleep all night
d) bodyÕs decision, no choice, pursuit of eternity 24,
collision of strangers 26
e) He pees off her porch, marking territory
f) discovery heÕs sheep rancher and on bounty hunt for
coyotes—in deep 29
B.
chapter 2—the courtship and loss of Cole
1.
transition parallels:
a) power of spring; natural sexuality overcomes women
and men; aggression and love combine in courtship
b) smells and fragrances—pheromones vs. pee and
predatory tracking of previous chapter
c) the land as a man in her life 32
d) poisoning honeysuckle and insects—extermination
e) mothÕs mortal involvement with love 34
f) the hunter–rancher vs. environmentalist
g) educated woman biologist struggling for dominance
h) skilled women—her cooking and domestic farming
34
2.
incidents
a) the honesuckle,
b) the backstory of conflict and love
c) ColeÕs death
3.
love and conflict; love and death
a) she hides with books about moths; her love of
insects vs. his and his familyÕs hatred of them—and coyotes
b) disagreement over nature: the farmer and the
environmentalist
c) she wants to bring in honeysuckle to dispel the ghosts
of family
(1) an alien invasive
(2) her wanting to leave; her
alienation from the place and yet her accommodation to it Zebulon—the
mountain getting into her
(3) poison vs. tending the wild
(a) place associated with poisons and murdering things
in column—gardening in Eden—32
(i) Zebulon
vs. Lexington
(4) he wants to eradicate honeysuckle,
but brings her a sprig like a moth
d) city vs. country attitudes: about meat and hunting
and eradication of weeds and pests
(1) sheÕs an entomologist, loves bugs,
but taught him IPM
e) she and father study pheromones: moth love; ways of
creating sterility rather than using poisons
4.
their animal attraction through touch and smell overcomes the cultural
barriers between them
a) she ovulates during his visit
b) her desire to farm—but the old way
5.
their lovemaking and his death—sudden and fated
C.
chapter 3—awakening to grief—GarnetÕs
sadness at spring
1.
GarnettÕs awakening to grief at the sound of the May birds; turning to
God in place of wife [erotic displacements]--solitude
2.
on the land many generations
3.
old age; loss of the past—sad prothalamion
D.
chapter 4—spring solitude and the appearance of
the coyote
1.
springtime; the birds; DeannaÕs diamond of a life of solitude; wildlife
management; coyote lore; restoration; search for the coyote, which at the
chapterÕs end arrives.
2.
Her love of solitude; hearing the birds; her longing for Eddie; her
vicarious engagement in the coyote family; the blind; the voyeur; coyotes are
social 59 not solitary
3.
Grant proposal—restoration 59—thesis research
4.
Examining scats 61
5.
Coyotes been spying on her, just like eddie bondo 62
6.
Keystone predator—disaster of eliminating; sliding into niche
7.
Mice have pooped her soup mix; throws out seeds
8.
We think sheÕll see coyote, but itÕs luna moth—like Lusa
9.
Then she sees coyote. 67
E.
chapter 5—death and restoration of
Cole--Lazarus
1.
Textbook quote about moth navigation
a) Alternate realities of creatures—cf. Austin
2.
Setting: the funeral parlor—her alienation; sheÕs dissociated,
numbness—the wake
3.
Sister in lawÕs strange dialect
a) Encounter with Nannie, wise woman 73
b) Dead person leaves a space behind to love
4.
Isolation from her own father and mother
5.
Mother in lawÕs kitchen, sisters taking over
6.
JewelÕs empathy—she like a moth or a ghost, also lost husband 77
7.
Dream of embrace with husband as mountain and moth[transformations] 79
8.
Loss is not the whole truth
F.
Chapter 6—Garnett vs. Nannie technology vs.
primitive; poison vs. organic
1.
Remembering Indian tunnel, the overlarge tree cut down—realizing
it was his grandfather—generations on the land; [the immortality of
place]
2.
Looking for GodÕs purpose in that mistake: the answer is the value of
todayÕs technology
3.
vs. Nannie Rawly, who is primitive, bane of his life—shameless in
bearing fatherless child—but sweet and charming to everybody. He fears her as witch—GodÕs
purpose in making her his neighbor: trial and tempt him
4.
Her sign: No Spray Zone—organic vs. herbicide; her lack of
respect of property
5.
Wants 2-4-D, worried neighbors will gossip about unkempt frontage [cf.
Aldo and the Silphium] 84
6.
SheÕs organic and worried about drift. 86 Certification
7.
Success without chemicals impossible
8.
Like FrankensteinÕs monster—cf. technology
9.
Worried about stroke while carrying back sign to her property
10. She rescues him;
discovers turtle—out looking for mate
11. He wont let her get it
off; she hates them, because they prey on her ducks—predation
12. He took down sign, but
too late
G.
Chapter 7—DeannaÕs second fall
1.
Eddie returns; she says because he smelled her ovulation day
2.
Puffballs and spores 93
3.
He asks how she knows—her special forms of knowledge 93—the
obvious animal facts people refused to know about their kind.
4.
Spring fever, lust—her predacious lust: she wanted to stop and
tear him apart on the trail, swallow him alive, suck his juices, and lick him
from her fingers. 94
5.
The tree—that Garnett remembers—her private place, his
campsite—territoriality 95
6.
Bite sex in hollow tree, like lions—woods sex—he uses
condom
7.
SheÕs 45, heÕs in his twenties—cocky
8.
Her fury—mountain lion
9.
Watching me like some damn predator 99
10. Fungal blight takes
down all chestnuts (her self-sufficiency) in a moment
11. Feels mountain exhale—mountain
as character
12. He takes the mountainÕs
magic
H.
Chapter 8—Economy and understandings: Lusa and
Jewel
1.
Rain and memories of Zayda Landowska—former landowner,
expropriated, Klesmer musician—loss of land
2.
Herb and big Rickie visit in the rain
3.
JewelÕs husband ran off as Zayda did
4.
She claims her farm; they treat her as invisible 105
5.
Farm economics—tobacco as only cash crop 107
6.
Value of tobacco—keeps forever and travels well; export
7.
She stands up to them and is proud of her cherry crop which they
admire 109
8.
Jewel arrives
9.
Techniques of cherry pitting and preserving; old instruments 111 [little house in the big woods]
10. Sharing secrets and
working together; two blamed women
11. Jewel asking for help
with kids; finding out about land ownership 116
12. Lusa talks about her
fatherÕs losses 116
13. Economics of the farm—marginality
14. Back to details of
canning 119
15. Crystal—ambiguous
gender
a) ChildÕs innate identity—being herself 122
16. Farmers trapped 122
17. Wont log woods
18. ColeÕs not smoking and
experimenting with vegetables and failing; potatoes donÕt work because they
take Idaho ones
19. Lusa learning about
her husband after he dies from Jewel and others
20. Mom Palestinian, Dad a
Polish Jew—local misunderstanding of her naming behavior 126
21. Culture clashes resolving
I.
Chapter 9—Chestnuts and town trip—poor
old Garnett
1.
GarnettÕs Elegy for chestnuts
128
a) Aesthetic, building, food, economic values
b) His religion—gods plan; faith. God takes away and gives.
2.
His vision; to restore the chestnut
a) Interbreed with Chinese chestnut; crossing and
backcrossing; Noah in his ark
b) Driven by arboreal ghosts 130
c) Walker American chestnut; restore landscape of
fatherÕs manhood—dreams of restoration
d) Hand pollinating and bagging
3.
Japanese beetles; get Malathion, Sevin dust
a) Vs. compost piles and bug traps
4.
Amish market vs. Krogers, Unitarian vs Baptist; evolution
transcendentalism 131; women in
college
5.
Trip to town
a) Shopping list: poisons
b) Pinkies fish dinner
6.
Doing laundry—modesty his habit; no physical touch 135
7.
Old fashioned shingles he withholds for spite 135
8.
Disclosures about Nettie—his obsession with her
a) No mother
b) To college in 1950s
c) Illegitimate daughter mental
deficiencies—Rachel Carson Rawley
9.
Landscapes loss: bobwhite, bunchgrasses 138
10. Theology: Gods plan
139—species were for our use—vs. care about endangered species
11. The Amish 140—getting
along nicely—organic market
12. Losing his powers in
the store—heÕs ten years older than Nannie
13. Weed killer
14. Mistakes Nannies
conversation about snapper lawnmower for mocking him and turtle 143 (comic
gimmick) and he stole bottle of malathion. Senility.
J.