Please respond to one of the following questions using the "comment" link below:
A. One of the themes in Prodigal Summer is that of insects, and moths to be specific. In these first 67 pages, what role do the moths play? What do we learn about moths? How do they reflect the situations of Deanna, Lusa, and Garnett?
B. A theme within the book is that of predator and prey. Find a passage from Thursday's reading that relates to predator and prey and analyze it. Who is the predator (animal or human)? Who is the prey (animal or human)? How are they navigating this relationship? Is the entrance of the predator considered a positive or negative entrance?
C. Read the poem that prefaces the book. What is a Prothalamium? What is the poem about? Who is being addressed? What does the poem suggest the book will be about?
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B. "She wondered if she was antagonizing him. She didn't have a gun, and he did. They stood without speaking. She measured the silence by the cloud that crossed the sun, and by two full wood-thrush songs that rang suddenly through the leaves and hung in the air between herself and this man, her-prey? No, her trespasser. Predator was a strong presumption. (4-5)
ReplyDeletePredator and prey are not terms that are used commonly describing humans. When they are used, it's usually in the context of something pretty extreme and unpleasant, like a sexual predator. Here, however, we see it used in a situation that is not as deplorable or rash.
The way that Kingsolver depicts Deanna's internal emotional struggles in this part, it would be assumed that she was the predator and Eddie Bondo was the prey. I see it exactly the opposite way, however, when the details are examined a little more closely. Deanna immediately assumes that she would be the predator because it is her "territory" that has been infringed upon, a territory which she is used to defending. This is not exactly what happens, though.
Instead, Eddie has made an attack upon her emotional territory. She is not so confident and hardened as she might have hoped she was. The fact that he has a gun and she doesn't could be used for evidence, but at no point are we afraid that he is going to shoot her or even threaten to. Instead, he uses the cunning, sneaky tactics of a skilled predator. He manages to sneak up on Deanna, even though she is a seasoned woods-goer. Not very often does one hear of the prey sneaking up on the predator.
Eddie does an amazing job, whether intentional or not, of turning upside down everything that Deanna is used to. She is just short of turned into a bumbling fool in his presence, especially when she realizes that she yearns for more than just his conversation and distanced accompaniment. In fact, though it may not have seemed like it at the time, Eddie has inadvertently become a passive sexual and emotional predator. It's not her life that he takes, and not her innocence, but her pride and dignity in some ways. She was much more sure of herself and her stubborn independence before he snuck into her world!!
“Come, all you who are not satisfied,” our first introduction to Prodigal summer, and reading on, one of our first clues about Deanna, there is a tinge of unsatisfaction surrounding and driving her. There are many parallels between the poem and the reading, both unfold to give us a more complete picture, and both revolve around themes of marriage/companionship, nature, and predation and renewal. The last lines “And when he comes, our murdered dreams shall wake; and when he comes, all the mute birds shall sing” seems to mirror the paradox of the wolf. Seen as a predator by most (murder is always portrayed badly), the wolf may actually be a keystone species and invaluable in restoring this natural habitat where Deanna ranges. It’s as if world around cannot be fully realized or “awakened” without this event, similar to how a dissolution of marriage can be a rebirth or re-awakening for some. “Prepare for Spring, as though he were our groom”, this line seems particularly well suited to Deanna, who embraces all nature and the fluctuations in the ecosystem, and in fact, has used it as substitute to all human contact and relationships.
ReplyDelete“For two days she saw him everywhere—ahead of her on the path at dusk; in her cabin with the moonlit window behind him. In dreams. On the first evening she tried to distract or deceive her mind with books, and on the second she carefully bathed with her teakettle and cloth and the soap she normally eschewed because it assaulted the noses of deer and other animals with the only human smell they knew, that of hunters—the scent of predator.” P.6
ReplyDeleteEddie Bondo is following Deanna as a predator does prey in this passage. She can never know exactly where he is, but his presence is always there, watching her, following her, tracking her. This directly parallels Deanna’s desire to track the predator she has always been looking for, the coyote; in this case, however, Deanna is the predator.
There is a feeling of loving something potentially dangerous (a predator) which seems to entice Deanna. Although Bondo seems to be representing a predator who is a trespasser on her land, Deanna is almost lured to him with a deep attraction. He is obviously likely to be harmful to her cherished surroundings, however he is able to track her down both mentally and physically so she becomes his helpless prey.
A predator, in a hunter’s case, puts himself inside the mind of its prey. When trying to hunt down a deer, it is important to understand the habits of it. It is the same in Eddie Bondo’s case, however, he is actually present in Deana’s mind. Bondo is following his prey both figuratively and literally because in the end he does manage to find her again.
It is ironic that Deanna decides to wash with a scent that is “the scent of predator” and as a result attracts the predator to her. It seemed that she actually wanted to attract her predator by using the predator’s own scent. This parallels in some ways her experience with the coyote because she wanted to find them, but did so unintentionally with the birdseed she left outside her cabin. In both cases, she was able to lure what she desired towards her without actually having to search for it. In the end, both Bando and Deanna find their prey.
“Moth love” is something strange and wonderful and Ms. Kingsolver used this as a symbol for the love that exists between Lusa and Cole, Deanna and Eddie and Garnett and his deceased wife. First we learn that moths communicate with their mates through pheromones and antennae, and that they have no mouths! How interesting.
ReplyDeleteWhen Lusa is waiting for Cole to finish working on the farm, she smells the honeysuckle and is overwhelmed with love for him, and with the realization that such a scent could create an emotion within her. This eases the pain that has been caused by her bitterness towards her husband, and her loneliness in Zebulon. The honeysuckle then, is obviously acting as a pheromone.
Then, Deanna describes the beginning of her relationship with Eddie in a way that is reminiscent of animals, or insects, discovering a mate. She notices the way he smells, the way he walks through the forest, his eyes…therefore she is using her “antennae.”
Lastly, we are introduced to Garnett’s character, who oddly enough, has not spoken a word yet. This may have been intentional on Ms. Kingsolver’s part, seeing as moths have no mouths. His “moth love” then is communicated through his thoughts about his marriage and his life, and through his actions such as putting his hands over his face, waking up slowly, alone and silent in his bed.