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The Protagonists' Initiatory Experiences in the Canadian THE PROTAGONISTS' INITIATORY EXPERIENCES IN THE CANADIAN J3ILDUNGSROMAN: 1908--1971 by GORDON PHILIP TURNER B. A'., M. A., University of Saskatchewan, 1973 A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF -' DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY . in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES (Department of English) We accept this dissertation as conforming to the required standard THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA April, 1979 © Gordon Philip Turner, 1979 In presenting this thesis in partial fulfilment of the requirements for an advanced degree at the University of British Columbia, I agree that the Library' shall make it freely available for reference and study. I further agree that permission for extensive copying of this thesis for scholarly purposes may be granted by the Head of my Department or by his representatives. It is understood that copying or publication of this thesis for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. Department of The University of Britis Columbia 2075 Wesbrook Place Vancouver, Canada V6T 1W5 Date Research Supervisor Dr. Donald G. Stephens ABSTRACT This study examines several aspects of the 20th century Canadian Bildungsroman, most particularly the protagonists' initiatory experiences and their effect upon ultimate life- choices. The growing up novels being explored range across the entire period from Anne of Green Gables (1908) to Lives of Girls and Women (1971). The kind of novel analyzed is comparable in many ways to what the Germans call the Entwick1ungsroman, the novel-of-devel- opment, which in English has come under the all-encompassing term, the Bildungsroman. Each novel investigated begins some• where in the protagonist's childhood, passes into and through the troubled stage of adolescence, and concludes with some con• nection to adulthood. Three basic questions are being asked: 1. What are the specific features of the initiatory experiences of the growing individual? 2. How do the initiatory experiences affect the protagonist's choice of an adult role or future? 3. How do the initiatory experiences and decisions about adult roles translate into historical time periods in Canada? The historical course of the Canadian Bi1dungsroman is characterized by a variety of patterns. The basic pattern is the dialectic between connections and freedom, between what the soci• ety wants and what the individual desires. In many instances, these opposites fuse, but in more contemporary Canadian fiction, the rift is ever-widening between the poles. There are, of course, numerous in-between positions, variations in which pro- iii tagonists achieve limited freedom while functioning as respon• sible social beings. In the Canadian Bildungsroman tradition, the particular patterns of behavior can be linked to specific time periods. The movement at the entry to adulthood in the novels of the early part of the century is toward imitation of the avail• able adult roles as observed in parental, or equivalent, models. In the novels of growing up from the period 1908 to 1930, the protagonist accepts the established cultural values and a role for his future in line with society's terms. The novels of the period 1930 to 1947 are structured in much the same way. Though the protagonist occasionally questions social values, he ulti• mately adheres to them. An intermediary period in Canadian lit• erature exists from 1947 on into the 1950's. During this period, protagonists in Bildungsromane are shown as being drawn in two directions. They want to leave the values of home and family for an imagined freedom and sense of scope in the larger world, but are forced by their very nature (as it has developed within the family) to remain inert. Not accepting the parents' way, which in these novels is society's way, these protagonists do not forge their own way either. Beginning in the late 1950's, Bildungs• romane become more positive about the possibility of escape from the larger system to the sanctuary of individual choice and action. These protagonists search for a mode of being nearer to the needs of their own souls than that offered by their families and their communities. Influential factors that shape childhood values and determine iv adolescent choices are monitored throughout this study. The roles of parents and parental-substitutes, as well as the expec• tations of community, are closely scrutinized and placed along• side the nature of the hero's experiences with his peers and other important figures outside his home. The generally-contrast• ing value systems contribute to the protagonist's evaluation of what the adult world holds for him when he "comes of age." Initi• atory experiences are explored to note whether the protagonist is confirmed as a full adult member within community or whether his orientation is thrown into disarray and causes him to seek new expressions of self. It is the task of the literary historian to illustrate where we as a culture have been and where we are headed. There is no better vehicle for this discovery than the Bi1dungsroman, in that it reveals a particular youth (representative of youth in general) becoming aware of the nuances of his culture as he grows. At any specific time in Canadian history, we can observe the forces the youth must assimilate, understand, or disregard in order to par• ticipate in society in his particular way. Research Supervisor V CONTENTS I. Chapter One: Connections or Freedom 1 A. Introduction B. The Bildungsroman dialectic C. Brief historical background D. Definitions E. Outline of the patterns II. Chapter Two: The Pattern of Things 22 A. Introduction B. The protagonists' initiator}/- experiences in Canadian Bildungsromane from 1908 to 1930 1. Anne of Green Gables (1908) 2. TL~Tsbeth of the Dale (1910) 3. Grain (1926) 4. Yoke of Life (1930) C. Conclusions III. Chapter Three: The Tranced Dancing of Men 66 A. Introduction B. The protagonists' initiatory experiences in Canadian Bildungsromane from 1930 to 1947 1. Growth of a Man (1938) 2. The High Plains (1938) 3. Hetty Dorval (1947) C. Conclusions IV, Chapter Four: No Other Day 103 A. Introduction B. The protagonists' initiatory experiences in Canadian Bi1dungsromane from 1947 to 1952 1. Music at the Close (1947) 2. On the Highest Hill (1949) 3. The Mountain and the Valley (1952) C. Conclusions V. Chapter Five: The Clearing's Sudden Dazzle 154 A. Introduction B. The protagonists' initiatory experiences in Canadian Bildungsromane from 1952 to 1971 1. Yellow Boots (1954) 2. The Favorite Game (1963) 3. Tomorrow Will Be Sunday (1966) 4. Lives of Girls and Women (1971) vi C. Conclusions VI. Chapter Six: No Destinations Apart From This 214 A. Brief mention of The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz (19597 B. The Bildungsroman in Canada in the 1970's C. The related form of novels about childhood D. The "why" of Bildungsromane E. Synopsis and the future of the Canadian Bildungsroman in terms of the protagonists' experiences vii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish to thank Dr. Donald G. Stephens for his careful supervision of this dissertation at every stage of its becoming. I am grateful to Dr. Victor Hopwood, Dr. Susan Wood, and Dr. W. H. New for their suggestions in regard to changes that would promote growth. I am. indebted to the Canada Council for its assistance in the form of Canada Council Fellowships during the years 1973-76. 1 CHAPTER ONE: CONNECTIONS OR FREEDOM I imagine it will not be very hard to settle whether I am called upon to form additional connections; or ordered irresistably, by heart and head, to free myself from such a multip• licity of bonds, which seem to threaten me with a perpetual miserable thraldom. --Goethe, Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship The history of the Bildungsroman since Goethe's time in• dicates that the chief characteristic of this type of novel is the dialectic between the individual's concern to find something new by which to give his life meaning and the parents' or the community's wishes on behalf of the growing individual. Indeed, throughout Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship, the prototype of all subsequent Bildungsromane, Wilhelm continually fluctuates between acceptance of the way of life (merchant) established for him by his father and the dictates of his own heart and mind, which lead him through the theatre to the creation of written art. A similar conflict is at the centre of the major growing- up novels which have been published since the late eighteenth century. The struggle within the developing individual, in regard to choosing among the available options, is as evident today in.the contemporary Canadian Bi1dungsroman as it was in earlier periods in other literature. Early in the development of the novel as a separate form, brief portions of the lives of characters are traced against a background of action. The eighteenth century novel has notable protagonists, but often the events and the action are the im• portant features. Samuel Richardson's novels which delineate 2 the inner lives of characters are exceptions. With the advent of romanticism, the cult of individuality and the confessional quality of many romantic lyrics bring a new dimension into literature. To confess what one "is" necessitates looking back upon what one "was". "The child is Father of the Man," says Wordsworth, and many novelists of the nineteenth century take this maxim to be their text. Moving from a panoramic frame to the smaller canvas of the self and its growth has been one of the major accomplishments of novelists since Carlyle's intro• duction of Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship to the English public in 1824. Nineteenth century British novels tend to depict the growing individual's preoccupation with his own concerns rather than the family's as a temporary condition, and most of these novels conclude-with the protagonist acceding to the wishes and values of the parental generation.
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