YALIT/Crit

Better Late Than Never

Download adirondack_tragedy_the_gillette_mu.m4a

Hey, Folks,

I just wanted to let you know that the Dr. Joesph Brownell podcast is available via iTunes U.  So, if anyone would like to check it out, it can be downloaded from iTunes.  I will also upload a copy of the podcast to this post, just in case anyone has trouble with iTunes U. 

Additionally, I wanted to let you know that the Second Life lecture, The Evolution of the Internet: Using "Virtual Worlds" to Enhance Teaching, Learning, and Scholarly Research, will be available on iTunes U very soon.  If anyone is unaware of how to access this content, just let me know , and I'll do my best to help out.

Joseph Brownell's Lecture

I was fortunate enough to have attended Dr. Joseph Brownell’s lecture on the Gillette murder case of 1906. He had many interesting things to say that would be of interest to us considering our reading A NORTHERN LIGHT.

First off, I wanted to mention that he was, without a doubt, extremely pleased with Donnelly’s novel. On the other hand, he made his distaste for Theodore Dreiser’s AN AMERICAN TRAGEDY very evident. He thought that Donnelly’s book was brilliant, and he said that “if it was made for children, then I don’t know what that says about me!” 

After he spoke about the two books and a movie (which was also a version of this same case), he then moved on to remind us that A NORTHERN LIGHT was a historical fiction. He said it was his job to try to fill us in on the facts of the case. This case was a huge part of his life for a long time now.

The first interesting thing that he said was about the name Gokey. Where he is from, there is an old folklore with a man named Joe Gauthier or Joe Gokey, just like Mattie and her father in the novel. Brownell told us the old story that he loves very much, and that when he spoke to Donnelly, she said she was unaware of this tale and the name. “That’s a great coincidence if you ask me!” Brownell said. I’d say so.  

He then told us about the letters. He said that in the book, as we all know, Grace gives Mattie the letters while at Big Moose Lake. Well, Brownell assures us that this would be impossible because the real letters were in Cortland, as they were picked up on East Main Street; however, he appreciates the novel and Donnelly’s necessity to do this.

The rest of the lecture was Brownell giving a vivid description of the entire situation. He spoke about the Gillette family, how Grace Brown met Chester Gillette, and how Grace wrote about four letters a week and Gillette only returned approximately one for every four of hers.  

Brownell also shed some light on why Chester finally decided to take Grace on vacation, after he impregnated her. One night, while Chester was at work, Grace grew antsy from her isolation from him and called him at work. The way the phone was situated, a lot of the people in the factory could decipher most of the conversation. This made Gillette angry and is when he decided to take her on a “vacation.”

He then told everyone about how Chester, under a fake name, rented the boat and murdered Grace. Then, for a while, he spoke about the trial. After Gillette was found (he was found because he was having his cousin forward his mail and laundry to him), he was arrested and put on trial for murder. All of the evidence in this case was circumstantial, though; no one saw the two out on the river in the boat. Then he spoke of the most important part of the case: the emotion. He spoke of how the courtroom was flooded with powerful emotions when reading Grace’s letters. He even told us that there is evidence that the judge was caught crying. He then concluded his lecture by talking about Chester’s death, the letters he wrote on death row, and why this story meant so much to him.

One more fun fact, Brownell mentioned that Grace lived on Wheeler Ave. in Cortland. She lived in the same house that the woman was caught with having an exorbitant amount of cats this year. How bizarre.

This lecture was taped by the library. I’m not sure if it will be available on the website, but I would assume that they taped it to share it. If we do have access I would recommend giving this lecture a listen. It was awesome, and Brownell was very passionate about this topic, making it that much better.

 

"Adirondack Tragedy" Talk...

Hello all...Just saw that Joseph Brownell, geography emeritus and co-author of Adirondack Tragedy is giving a talk about the famous and oft spoken of Murder Case, which we have been all over this semester.  I guess he is some kind of expert or something.  I can't go because I have class.  Just figured I'd pass it along.

Date: Wednesday, April 11th

Time:  4 to 4:30 pm

Location:  Memorial Library, 2nd Floor...(thats our Lib at Cortland...for all you people like me who don't know the names of any of the buildings around here)

Grace Brown/Chester Gillette Murder Presentation--On Campus!

Just wanted to let everyone know that Dr. Joseph Brownwell, Professor Emeritus, will be presenting about the Gillette Murder case on April 11 from 4-6pm in the Library. I know many of us have class at that time, but I'm sure it would be worth attending for those of you who are available. I've attached the flyer for anyone who is interested.

Download gillette_murder.pdf

The Men in A Northern Light

We had so many great things to discuss last week that we didn't get an opportunity to address extensively the portayal of the male characters in A Northern Light. Perhaps some of you have some thoughts on this rather broad topic that you'd like to share...

I want to briefly touch upon the issue of cultural (and national) identity and Mattie's father. It is rather easy to get frustrated with what seems like his blindness (or, at the very least, disregard) for Mattie's dreams and desires, but as I followed him through the novel, I couldn't help but linger on the fact that he,also, is one who has had to sacrifice a part of his identity for the live he chose (though, because of socioeconomic and other factors, it may not have been much of a choice). I'm talking primarily about the fact that he symbolically assumed another identity when he migrates from Canada to rural NY, a place that resists him as "Gauthier" and, instead, insists he become "Gokey." In adopting that new name, he didn't just assume a new role in a new life; he initiated a struggle between his past and present that seems to resonate throughout the novel. This adds yet another dimension of complexity to the text, making it harder for us to simply detest him for holding Mattie back from her goals and ambitions. I think that Mattie, being the reflective observer of the human spirit she is, sees this in her father, making it extremely difficult for her to abandon her familial obligations not just out of moral obligation, but because she sees herself in him somewhat.

Wendy Glenn's article on Redemption and A Northern Light

First of all, Glenn's article "History Flows Beneath the Fiction: Two Roads Chosen in Redemption and A Northern Light" has made me desperately want to read Redemption! I'm a sucker for anything to do with the history of the Reformation and/or religious deviants in general, so that, along with the complexities Glenn discusses, make me want to drive to Borders and pick this one up now. Anyone read it yet?

Anyway, this article is all too appropriate for our brief discussion last week about the idea that Mattie is not a 1906 gal but a turn-of-the-21st-century young woman. While I do think that, through Donnelly's "own experience as a woman, as a white woman, as an educated white woman" (Glenn 58), she creates a protagonist that is very much a part of her own being. As Glenn suggests, "this gift of hindsight" greatly informs her characterization of Mattie. But I think this article also points to the many levels of critical analysis (e.g., Marxist, feminist, racial perspectives) that a reading of A Northern Light beckons, often showing how authentic, believable, living elements of history function within the text. I doubt less now, after reading Glenn's article, that Mattie is a product of her time; check out the Language of Reality section (56) to see why. And, as Jenn mentioned last Thursday, there were always pioneers and rule breakers throughout history that have paved the way for those that follow--and I am sure this will be the case 300 years from now.

What is the point of Weaver?

Is Weaver really a "visible" character in Northern Light or is he indirectly invisible (sort of like an undercover blackface) throughout the novel? It seems as if the only purpose of Weaver is for him to be built up just to be torn down. In the end of the novel he is clearly a broken young man, and this is the first time Mattie is seen crying in the novel. She convinces him (Weaver) to go to New York but does not invite him to leave with her; I thought they were suppose to be friends?

In any event, Donnelly seems to be using racial conflicts not as a way to show it's cruelty or even an urgency for it to be resolved but uses it for the sole purpose of having it undermined by the gender conflicts which Mattie faces. On the surface, it seems like a novel that addresses both gender and racial unequalities but a deeper reading leads me to believe that this is just not the case. Weaver's racial problems seem to be looked upon as trivial (and mostly brought on by himself rather than inflicted upon him from society) compared to the matriarchal issues that Mattie faces from her father and from Royal. Weaver is viewed by most as being a "big mouth" and most of his problems could be prevented if he would just learn to put his pride aside and accept the way society is! However, quite the contrary, Mattie does nothing of the sort and she is revered as a hero in the end of the story when she leaves the farm; possibly a reincarnation of Grace Brown. A second chance, maybe? How disgusting!

Jennifer Donnelly's Speech is Beautiful

A Northern Light is not my favorite book, yet the author definitely is my most respected. Jennifer Donnelly's speech is so concise in its  historical content. She wins my heart with her gentleness, knowledge, and humor. If I say her book is good-looking, then she is very pretty, and her speech is the most besutiful of all. She is one of the best speakers I have ever encountered.

The Power of Hegemony in Grace's World

One of the things that struck me the most in A Northern Light was Grace's last letter and Mattie's keen intuition about what Grace was feeling. Grace did not want to break her mother's heart, she states that, "If I come back dead, perhaps if she does know, she won't be angry with me." Mattie recognizes something significant about Grace at that instant.

She knew. Somehow Grace Brown knew that she wasn't coming back. She hoped that Chester would take her away and do the right thing by her, but deep down inside, a part of her knew. It's why she wrote about never seeing the things and places and people she loved again. And why she imagined coming back dead (361).

Wow! This is powerful! Because of the power of hegemony in her Victorian society, Grace would rather die than be seen as an outcast, a failure, a "Scarlet Letter." The phrase "perhaps she won't be angry with me" shows that Grace has come to feel that she is even deserving of death and sees what she has done as unforgivable. This is amazing to me!

Small Town vs. Big City Life in A Northern Light

The great discussion that Joe initiated in his post about the subplot, and which led to discussion of the ending and to what degrees Mattie's ending is a "happy" one, got me thinking about something that I didn't actually think about when I finished reading the novel.  I think if we are going to give the ending of the novel a comprehensive evaluation, then we need to address the ideas of big city life.  It was mentioned in the other thread, I think by Jerry, that Mattie's running away can be seen as more heroic because of the likelihood that she will fail, due to the constraints of society at the time, and judging from the failure of the other females to transcend their positions (to loosely and probably incorrectly paraphrase Jerry).  And I agree with Jerry on that point.  But, I think another factor that we should address is the fact that Mattie is not only abandoning her familial obligations; when she runs for big city life, she is also abandoning the immense value she placed on small town, blue collar life in her fiction writing.  She repeatedly decries major fiction that portrays foreign upper classes to which she cannot relate at all, and inwardly champions writing which illuminates real life, small town life.  Stemming from this, it seems to me that in order to fully evaluate to what degree you find Mattie's ending to be a "happy" or triumphant one, you need to recognize whether or not you consider a shift to big city life and escape from the woods to be a triumph in itself.  Again, as Jerry said, Mattie's ending is heroic because of her likelihood of failure, and it seems that the shift to New York City will either trample her or set her free of the limitations of the small town, back woods consciousness and her lack of audience.  In this sense, Mattie's running to the big city seems to be more triumphant than not, for she is freeing herself of constraints, and anything otherwise would be the ultimate failure, right?  Or wrong?  Is Mattie's selling out despicable or forgivable because of its necessity?  DUN DUN DUN.