Lutheran Writers Book Club

Discussion Materials a Song for Nettie Johnson, by Gloria Sawai

Introduction a Song for Nettie Johnson, Gloria Sawai’s debut story collection, appeared in 2001 (Canada) and 2002 (U.S.) and has received numerous accolades and awards. The book is the recipient of the Governor’s Award for Fiction, the Danuta Gleed Award for Best First Book of Short Fiction, the Howard O’Hagan Award for Short Fiction, the Harry Kriesel Award for Best First Book and the City of Edmonton Book Award. The collection consists of nine stories, the longest of which is the title piece, “a Song for Nettie Johnson.”

The stories are set mostly in western Canada and the U.S. northwest, and provide a unique look at the area and its people from a host of different viewpoints. As the Governor General’s Award Jury put it, “a Song for Nettie Johnson is a profoundly light- filled collection of short stories set on the Prairies and peopled with holy sinners, visionaries, children and so-called ordinary folk. The power of grace illuminates her world.”

The specter of God and religion is present throughout. In the title story, a man directs the annual community version of Handel’s Messiah as he’s done for years, even as members of the church congregation question his relationship with the crazy-ish woman he’s taken to living with at the quarry. In “Mother’s Day,” a schoolgirl who sees herself as a person of faith commits an act she tries to come to grips with. In “Haircut,” a young girl has her unruly Norwegian hair cut to disastrous result, only to ultimately find strength and grace in it. In “The Ground You Stand On,” a girl’s introduction to death helps her later in life. Characters suffer, identify with Christ, reject Him, but find that He is always there. The final story’s title: “The Day I Sat with Jesus on the Sundeck and a Wind Came Up and Blew My Kimono Open and He Saw My Breasts,” provides perhaps an inkling of the true range of Ms. Sawai’s imagination and writing.

Questions

1. Nettie in “a Song for Nettie Johnson” is obviously not quite right. Why is it so important to Eli that she attend the show? Why does she resist this? When the choir begins the Messiah, a number of the verses stand out, both to Eli and Nettie. Is it significant that this piece is being performed? That Eli hears the sweet “How beautiful are the feet of them, That preach the gospel of peace,” while Nettie hears the shouted “Let us break their bonds asunder?” How will Eli feel at the end?

2. In “Mother’s Day,” what is the significance that the events occur on Mother’s Day? Does the incident with the narrator’s father influence the rest of what happens? At church, before she finds the cat, the reading is from Proverbs: “Who can find a virtuous woman, for her price is far above rubies.” The hymn that day is about the glories of home. Are these important in terms of what happens later? What does the story say about sin, and forgiveness?

3. In “Memorial,” a town’s doctor who nursed a drinking problem dies. Mr. Ross’ fifth grade class decides to present a memorial gift made from dandelions, which unbeknownst to them his widow abhorred (or so others think). Is there significance to the fact that the doctor’s widow always struggled to keep a clean yard? A number of the town’s citizens remember the doctor’s actions both in comforting the afflicted and in succumbing to drink. What does the story tell us about the good and evil in everyone?

4. In “Haircut,” the young narrator’s mother is frustrated with her daughter’s unruly hair, wishing it to be silky, like the other girls’. She puts her faith in someone else telling her that if it is cut short it will grow back less kinky. The events of the story occur during Lent—is this important? After the haircut, when the narrator attends the Lenten service, she is more attuned to Christ’s suffering. What does the story tell us about change and growth? About knowledge?

5. The young narrator in “Oh Wild Flock, Oh Crimson Sky” is to debate the school’s “smartest” student about the existence of God. Her grandfather, a Haugean minister, is visiting, and several incidents occur. How does she feel about her grandfather? What is the significance of the incident with the boy Jackson Armor? When the time comes for the debate, the narrator elects to recite poetry rather than make a counterargument. Why does she do this? How does she “win” the debate? At the end, while skating after the debate, she falls and her opponent picks her up—what does this indicate?

6. “The Ground You Stand On” addresses death from the viewpoint of a brother and sister: first as children, evaluating a dead man’s body and the unexpected viewing of a dead fetus, then as adults, when their father dies. Is the difference between viewpoints more a male/female dichotomy or one of personality, or experience? Whose view of death changes most?

7. “Hosea’s Children” revolves around a mother’s searching: for herself, for the husband who has left her, for her teenage daughter who has run away with her boyfriend. The title of the story is interesting: does it refer as well to Hosea’s other children, the ones she leaves behind as she begins her search, or is its intent broader? The Biblical Hosea was a prophet: are there things that the Hosea of the story sees happening as well? She encounters slivers of modern religion: a fellow boarder who is attending an evangelical convention, a brochure for a New Age church. How does the evangelist’s Christian tape impact her? Does Hosea come to grips with anything by the end?

8. In “Dolphins,” the smooth gliding fish are juxtaposed against a girl’s jagged life with an alcoholic father. Visiting her father in a rehab unit, Emily is given insight: “And in that instant, that one swift and slippery moment, circled in light, washed in rain, Emily knows exactly what she needs to know. She know nothing. She know everything.” What is it she knows? Do the dolphins symbolize something larger?

9. The story “The Day I Sat with Jesus on the Sundeck and a Wind Came Up and Blew My Kimono Open and He Saw My Breasts” is quirky and in some respects irreverent. As Jesus approaches, the narrator recognizes him immediately. He speaks and acts as would any other human—is this important? What is the significance of the discussion about breasts: Jesus seeing hers (and commenting on them), she seeing the bird disappearing into Jesus’ chest, her description of the old Japanese woman whose breasts were caved in? What does Jesus’ visit provide her? Does her view of Jesus change?