The Hero and the Fool in Willa Cather's Early Short Fiction
2001; Pittsburg State University; Volume: 43; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês
ISSN
0026-3451
Autores Tópico(s)American Jewish Fiction Analysis
ResumoTHE FACT THAT Willa Cather had a great interest in mythologies has been well documented by both her literary and biographical critics. Even if one does not accept mythology as a means to either metaphysical or psychological truth, one can assume that Cather's interest in mythology would affect her writing somehow. I am not suggesting that Cather consciously infused mythology into her work. I am suggesting a mythological reading of Cather's early short fiction as a means to understand the plot structure and character. The two archetypes of the hero and the fool are mixed into a character I call the in quite a few of Cather's short stories. I define the hero (via Joseph Campbell) as the character who must leave his home, fulfill some quest, then return home to give some gift to those he left behind, or as Campbell calls the stages: separation--initiation--return. This plot sequence is familiar to anyone well read in Cather's work. Jim Burden follows the sequence in My Antonia, and the best novel example would be Alexandra Bergson in O Pioneers! These two characters 'allow me a place to further define the artistic boy-man. The artistic boy-man always grows up in the West and is somehow traumatized, either due to some personal uniqueness, to some special vulgarity of those around the character, or a mix of both. Then the artistic boyman leaves the West and always goes to the East, often as far as Europe itself. This is important to note, for Cather's hero does not venture into the wilderness, possibly San Francisco, or maybe St. Louis or Chicago. The artistic boy-man goes to New York, the high seat of both culture and power (then and now), in search of both. The artistic boy-man belongs to that group of heroes who climb the sacred mountain to be closer to the divine, not who descend into Hell and learn to love the human. After attaining some level of success in the East, the artistic boy-man then returns to the West, always to visit some childhood friend. But unlike the archetype, the artistic boy-man is not welcomed back, for this home does not want the gift this hero brings. And so enters the fool. I have no scholar's well-articulated definition of the fool as I had for the hero. Lacking that, I define the fool as that person who is able to live successfully outside of community norms, and yet, even though an outsider, is able to bring some insight to the community which the fool both rejects and by whom the fool is rejected. The Shakespearean fool would be the best literary example, with a specific example being Lear's fool. Like the Shakespearean fool, Cather's artistic boy-man has somehow avoided assuming adult responsibilities, while at the same time he has some higher vision, both artistic and practical. This special power is important to note, for in a sense, this character's quest is not fulfilled in the East, but in the West, his home, and this power to hold time in abeyance is the tool needed to complete the quest. Now, to fully understand the artistic boy-man's quest, one must consider the fact that this character is always a man in Cather's short stories. Alexandra Bergson is the exception that proves the rule, and she does so even more when we remember that she sacrifices her personal life for her art. The quest of the artistic boy-man is to fulfill his personal desires after he has fulfilled his artistic desires. The grail, which this hero seeks, is not in the East, the place of the journey, but in the West, the home. And this grail is a lost love, a woman, who has matured beyond childhood and has assumed the melancholy disposition of one who realizes that dreams do not come true. This is where the artistic boy-man's ability to retain and nurture the child-like becomes the ultimate strength. The artistic boy-man must woo his former and would-be lover to his way of life, which is one of carefree joy of living. And he always woos successfully, thus ending the story, quite literally. …
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