Summer Reading Comes To A Close

Now that the leaves are beginning to turn and everyone has taken up their new studies for a new year, it is time to close (for now) this blog site. A Stranger in the Kingdom proved an appropriate summer read, and Mr. Mosher's visit capped an exciting Convocation event. I will now begin searching for next year's text, so if you have some ideas, pass them on. (Bill Bryson's A Walk in the Woods and Rachel Carson's Silent Spring have already been suggested.) Students, faculty, parents, and friends are welcome to submit titles directly to me (dredman@newhampton.org). I hope to hear from you in the coming months.

Cheers,

DLR

Seasons and Light

Writers have always been the great "observers" of society, using examples from their surroundings to put forth ideas. Much like the soundtrack to a movie, authors use the seasons and light as metaphors to underscore events. For example, Mosher's narrator, James Kinneson, begins Stranger in the Kingdom in the early spring of 1952 when he was thirteen, and the story unfolds throughout that summer into the late fall, ending on Election Day. Noting our agrarian history, Jimmy follows a similar path from innocence to greater awareness during The Affair. As the days' sunlight grows, so too does his understanding of The Kingdom and his place in it. Reverend Andrews' "fall" appropriately takes place when the leaves turn and drop from the trees. Even the onset of snow, not only upon Andrews' departure but also during Nat's brief visit some thirty years later, places a final covering over the plot's events and brings the novel full circle.

During many class discussions of these literary devices, students ask whether authors intend for readers to notice, acknowledge, or even appreciate such offerings. My response tends to be the same each year: "If it seems right, it probably is."

Rain

Should you ever set foot in my class, you will undoubtedly hear of Mrs. Perry, my former high school English teacher. She often recited the following belief, "99.9% of all literature stems from two sources: William Shakespeare and The Bible." One example Mrs. Perry frequently cited was the use of rain, suggesting change not only in the Old Testament with Noah and the Ark but also in the New Testament with John the Baptist. Two instances in Stranger remind me of this theory. In Chapter Six, Mosher writes, ". . . it started to rain" (p. 141). The description appears innocent enough as James now needs to hurry home after Production Night at the Monitor. Initially because of the weather, Sheriff White offers "Jimbo" a ride home. Only after young Kinneson declines do we sense a change in tone. "You really ought to be a little choosier about the company you keep, now that you're getting older" (p. 142). Mason White underscores the racism within the village and highlights the changes James must face in this coming-of-age novel.

The second moment comes in Chapter Seven when Claire LaRiviere makes a more appropriate second appearance in the book as a drenched Canadian waif at the Kinneson doorstep. The day's rain cleanses the disturbing images left behind by Mr. One-eye Billy Carbonneau and the Paris Review. It also presents the orphaned daughter of famed French Canadian fiddler, Etienne LaRiviere, in such a unique and innocent light. "She had long hair, too wet to tell what color. Her rain-colored eyes had huge craters beneath them" (p. 161). Claire is much more alluring to James after she and her clothes have a soak in the quarry later in the chapter. "Nathan Andrews had teased me that I wouldn't know what to do with a naked girl if I found one. To my chagrin, he had been absolutely right" (p. 167). While this novel is certainly about Reverend Andrews' arrival to Kingdom County, Claire LaRiviere is the plot's "change agent", and water helps the reader navigate the subtleties - thanks to Mrs. Perry.

Mr. R.

The Role of Women

As they have started the novel, some have asked, "Where are the women?" While it's true Stranger is dominated early on by male characters and their testosterone-filled need to control or compete against one another (see arguments regarding baseball, the horse vs. the ox, cock fighting, and trout fishing to name but a few), Athena Allen, Ruth Kinneson, and Claire LaRiviere more than hold their own next to their stereotypical male counterparts. During a recent lecture Mr. Mosher gave at New England College, the author spoke warmly of how many of the female characters in his novels are drawn from the strong women he has known in his life, including his wife, Phillis.

Mr. R

Welcome!

With significant help from Mr. Mundahl, this blog has been set up to foster discussion within our community regarding the school read, A Stranger in the Kingdom by Howard Frank Mosher. Throughout the summer I will try to add posts which might spur conversation, ask or answer questions, or offer general insight as we move forward. For example, if you are looking in the dictionary for the word "gool", as in "When I was a boy growing up on the Kingdom gool . . ." (p. 3), you will probably not find it. Should you read further, however, you might find a potential answer in the context " . . . the light lasted half an hour longer up in the gore than down on the gool . . ." (p. 6). A history written of the Town of New Hampton, A Small Gore of Land, may also shed some light. Feel free to comment, and let's stay connected this summer.

Cheers!

Mr. Redman