Key
Elegance
Spoiler Alert: I may ruin the plot twists if you read this; however, I may entice you to enjoy the stories if you read this.
I was sitting back in my chair with my copy of The Elegance of the Hedgehog<, reflecting on the story, when Sarah's Key slammed into my thoughts. There are so many connections and crossovers.
Both follow the lives of a girl and a woman separately until the story lines cross. However, Sarah's Key the the girl is in WWII and the woman in contemporary, and the Hedgehog's two protagonists are contemporary. The stories both center around apartment buildings in Paris. Both stories delve into the power of personal destiny and the power of the individual. All the characters change due to interaction with one another. The stories have to do with the role that self-knowledge and self-perception play in our lives and ability to interact with each other.
The girls in both stories struggle with their power to impact others. Sarah is a fighter; she both saves and harms someone. But, her plan could have worked if her parents would have helped. Paloma at first finds it pointless to fight and then changes her mind. Paloma discovers the key to life is to engage rather than to observe. Sarah cannot escape her engagement. It seems as if the authors use the young characters as a canvas to paint out how determined and shaped a person is by when, where and to whom she is born. I guess the same is true too of the older ones. It reminds me of J. Alfred Prufrock's question "Do I dare disturb the universe?"
The older protagonists are changed as well. Julia is a restless fighter too; she has to discover the truth regardless of the cost. The status quo holds no power over her, yet in the end the status quo wrecks her life. But, she is willing to bear the brunt. Whereas, Renee is bewitched with her understanding of the status quo and what it requires of her.
Both stories preach the power of kindness and selflessness (Ozu and the farming couple) and the necessity of being willing to receive other's generosity (of spirit and stuff). Both are very tight, complete stories, which, luckily, is something that my mom taught me to appreciate. They are not wholesome stories in the Focus on the Family or Disney sense with a safe story line with clear black and white boundaries. They're good stories in that they all strings of idea are tied together and accounted for. They're beautiful in their willingness to explore and redeem seeming ugliness. Is it possible for something good to be born out of something bad? These brilliant stories answer yes.
I remember going to see The Departed with my mom. We met a couple from the church I grew up who was leaving the theater in disgust-- they couldn't get over the violence and language. My mom and I listened to their distressed comments, and then went to the movie. My mom wryly observed afterwards, "I believe we saw very different movies." I'm glad I grew up in a Christian family that wasn't appalled by four-letter words or anger or violence. I wasn't raised to be fearful or ignorant, but to believe in a good and powerful God who enjoys beauty and story and is bigger than any evil.
I think integral to any well-constructed story is hope. There's always the capacity/chance for the character to grow and be changed-- in essence to experience grace. However, the character doesn't have to capitalize on the opportunity. In these stories, all the protagonists are open to grace even though they don't escape evil. There is the beauty.
A wiki overview of the book.
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