Over December break, I chose to read the book Mimosa. The book is written by a missionary - Amy Charmic
hael, and it discusses the true story of an Indian girl who chooses to defy the social standard and beliefs and begins to live a Christian life style.I made a concious decision to read this book, even knowing that it was, perhaps, not the best 'literature.' While this could be interpretated as 'slackerish', that was not my intention. Not only was I interested in the topic, but I actually made a purposeful decision to read a book that was not as involved literature-wise as a means to compare and better understand the difference between 'literature' and 'writing'. In doing so I was able to come to better understanding what constitues a literary work.
Going off in that direction. I think its interesting to note that the book is not like any other memoir or novel I had previously read. While it was a true story it had a certain element of 'dream' in it, a sort of poetic stream of conciousness feel. The reader is neither introduced to the characters nor surroundings - but rather they are expected to gain an understanding as the events occur. In a sense, it is as if you picked up someone's diary and began to read it.
In terms of literary analysis, the book is not compleely empty. In fact, the thing that perhaps suprised me the most about this book was its parallel to our previous unit. Looking back it should have been more obvious from the beginning - the book speaks of a Christian girl in a non- Christian nation. Yet it dealt with something even slighly deeper than that. It spoke, in a sense, of her inner reconciliation. It dealt with the struggle she had - whether it was in fact, worth, the effort and time for her to go against the standards of society. I believe some of these themes came up in previous books we read, but weren't directly addressed in the same direct way - perhaps again because of the literary style.
It also addresses something that we perhaps didn't discuss as much - the idea that the struggle between the individual and society is not only timeless (as Larissa and I mentioned in our project) but also cross-cultural. In other words, many of us in 21st century USA deal with the same conflicts as Mimosa does in 20th century India. Not only do we struggle inwardly coming to terms with our own decisions, but outwardly as we suffer either praise or punishment for our own actions.
Other ideas and themes such as guilt and fear are evident in the text, as one would expect from a book which deals with struggle. However, it is also filled with provision, joy, and loyalty that comes with the reward of defiance of society. (It is evident in almost all the texts we read that to defience of society is praised).
Overall, while Amy Charmichael sometimes leaves the reader a little lost (as it occassionally lacks elaboration), I overall thoroughly enjoyed the book.
Beth, one thing that I've often thought about in terms of "literature" and reading for the sake of learning something new is how often novels (or biographies/memoirs) are sort of pulled between one extreme: the very literary or the clear, pointed, communicative. I think we saw this with (and I know you weren't in our class yet) The Grapes of Wrath (which I personally, anyone... feel free to disagree... saw as more political, message-based fiction) and Gatsby, which did, of course have its own "political" message, but lent the sense that the words on the page were the primary reason for the novel's creation. This is not to say that the two--language and plot/message--cannot co-exist, but that often authors seem to prioritize one over the other.
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