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Image, Symbol, and the Life of the Imaginaton in the Works of Sinclair Ross

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Image, Symbol, and the Life of the Imaginaton in the Works of Sinclair Ross Lakehead University Knowledge Commons,http://knowledgecommons.lakeheadu.ca Electronic Theses and Dissertations Retrospective theses Image, symbol, and the life of the imaginaton in the works of Sinclair Ross Burns, Karen http://knowledgecommons.lakeheadu.ca/handle/2453/2346 Downloaded from Lakehead University, KnowledgeCommons Image, Symbol, and the Life of the Imagination in the Works of Sinclair Ross A Thesis presented to the Department of English Lakehead University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts by Karen Burns May 1982 ProQuest Number: 10611248 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Pro ProQuest 10611248 Published by ProQuest LLC (2017). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106 - 1346 Table of Contents Page Dedication iv Acknowledgements v Abstract vi Introduction 1 Chapter 1 "the dash and spirit of the horses" 22 Chapter 2 "And always the wind" 62 Chapter 3 "this mystery of beginning" 115 Conclusion 196 Select Bibliography 225 '4. iii Dedication To my grandfathers, one for playing horse, the other for liking books. iv Acknowledgements Thanks, mum, dad and the kids, for appreciating my work. Thanks, Sharon, for never asking if it was finished yet. Thank you. Dr. Heath, for being a thorough, conscien- tious reader. Thank you. Dr. MacGillivray, for being a concerned, dependable, perceptive advisor. V Abstract Until very recently, studies of the works of Sinclair Ross have over-looked his literary artistry to focus on his place among those writers whose time and place is the Canadian prairie during the Depression, Ross’s importance as a literary artist goes beyond this restricted time period. His imagery and symbolism explicate a view of life which is timeless. This thesis examines, in particular, the imagery and symbolism of the horse and the wind as representative of the polarized but co-existing elements of benevolence and destruction in the world. In chapter one—a discussion of Ross’s short stories about childhood—the horse, as symbol of the creative, benevolent side of life, dominates. The wind, symbol of destruction and malevolence, dominates the lives of Ross’s adult characters, as shown in chapter two. However, neither symbol can exist exclusive of the other. As a result, the duality of Ross’s vision of life is shov/n more fully by the interplay of the horse and wind symbols in the novels discussed in chapter three. This study concludes with an examination of the horse and wind symbolism in Ross’s final novel which re-inforces and solidifies his view of the human condition into a single image illustrating the co-existence of the benevolent and malevolent elements of life. vi Introduction Sinclair Ross published his first novel. As For Me and My House, in 1941• The novel was similar in style, theme and content to the short stories which had appeared regularly, usually in Queen's Quarterly, beginning in 1935. As For Me and My House was considered a realistic novel in 1 contrast to the “romantic idyllicism" of other prairie writers: He has contrived with amazing success to be both local and universal, to write a book which is, within its narrov; limits, a realistic representation of a community and a way of living, and no less an insight into powerful and permanent emotions.2 Although the protagonist's intensity and moodiness bothered some critics, the novel was generally highly praised and expected to be a commercial success. Unfortunately, the book sold poorly, but it remains a critical success today, considerec 3 “a minor masterpiece"" in Canadian literature. The novel has become the standard by which the rest of Ross’s work is measured. Lorraine McMullen, commenting on Ross's work nearly forty years after As For Me and My House was reviewed for Canadian Forum, gives an indication of the complexity and richness of Ross as a literary artist, a recognition which is absent from the earlier criticism: 1 2 Ross deals with universal concerns—alienation and loneliness, the everpresentness of the past, the artistic and imaginative struggle, human compassion, love and courage. At the same time, he roots these concerns in a particular and vividly realized place and time—his own fictionalized or mythic prairie. Ross’s powerful stories and novels of the impact of the landscape on the human spirit and on human relationships are located in the kind of prairie homestead and prairie town which formed him.'^ Still at the core of her remarks is the significance of the prairie setting. However, Ross’s accurate local setting of "a community and a way of living" is expanded to a "mythic prairie" where his characters search for meaning in life. Only recently has Ross received a place of eminence in Canadian literature as a literary artist on the basis of this "mythic prairie", having finally been recognized as more than a realistic portrayor of the dustbowl prairie: His regionalism places Ross in the mainstream of Canadian literature. The firm rooting of his fiction in a particular time and place is characteristic of such major Canadian writers as Hugh MacLennan, Margaret Laurence, Mordecai Richler, Alice Munro, Ernest Buckler, and Robertson Davies.^ Until recently, Ross’s reputation rested solely on his first novel and the short stories published about the same time. The stories were also praised for their realism, and the connection between character and environment found in criticism of prairie fiction in general is also evident: ... "The Painted Door" is an admirable study of the effect of environment on character, and particularly ‘ on a man and wife who have spent seven years on a Western farm where the wind blows incessantly and one bad crop season follows another with inexorable persistency.® Ross’s reputation as a short story writer, rather than a 3 novelist, grew during the years between The Well and t'Jhir of <5ol^: his last story was published in 1972, In 1968, a collection of short stories set on the prairies during the Depression appeared under the title The Lamp at Noon and Other Stories, The book was considered a return by Ross to the high technical and thematic standard of As For Me and My House, Ross's second novel. The Well, published in 1958, compared unfavorably with the short stories and As For Me and My House, The sociological theme of a criminal rejuvenated by the prairie was considered by some critics to be a cohces- 7 Sion to public tastes. One reviewer sums up the general feeling toward this book when he looks forward to Ross's next novel. Unfortunately, Ross's third novel. Whir of Gold, published in 1971 after the short story collection, is sub- sequently read with the stories in mind, as The Well was judged against As For Me and My House; [H]e [Ross] is primarily a short story stylist. The whole concept of this novel is oriented to the form of the short story. The plot is simple, the moment is elemental, and the time is of the short fluid moment,^ However, Whir of Gold is recognized as a novel superior to The Well, though inferior to As For Me and My House, To this point, only The Well is considered a critical failure, but none of Ross's novels or short stories have ever sold at best seller proportions. As a result, his reputation as a writer continued to rest on As For Me and My House, until the appearance of Sawbones Memorial in 1974. Reviewers of this novel are interested in its experimental form, but. 4 more significantly, the novel is seen as the gathering and ordering of the themes from all of Ross's other x^7orks into one concise statement about his view of life. Though close to four decades separate the Canadian Forum review from McMullen's comments, the critical focus on the importance of the landscape is still sharp, to the neglect of the literary aspects of Ross's writing. This emphasis on the prairie runs through the bulk of Ross criticism in two connected strains of thought. In the first instance, Ross's work, usually As For Me and My House, is discussed by critics as one example of several ways in xvhich the prairie environment has shaped character. In the second strain of criticism, an outgrowth of the study of the environ- ment, Ross receives more individual critical attention, Roy Daniells is the first commentator to recognize the Puritan conscience in Ross's characters, and subsequent critics expand on his remarks to move Ross criticism toward more purely literary considerations and away from concentration solely on the role of the landscape. Finally, William Nex^ makes the discussion of the environment a secondary issue by focusing on Ross's view of life as it emerges from the work itself. Critics such as McMullen and Chambers continue to study Ross's work primarily on the basis of its literary merit. As a result, Ross receives recognition as a literary artist. Studies of the effect of the prairie dominate critical 5 don^iderations of Ross's writing. Often, he is included as part of a discussion of prairie literature in general.
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