DOCSLIB.ORG

Diplomarbeit / Diploma Thesis

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Diplomarbeit / Diploma Thesis DIPLOMARBEIT / DIPLOMA THESIS Titel der Diplomarbeit / Title of the Diploma Thesis The roles of nature and the narrative situation in three selected novels by Barbara Kingsolver verfasst von / submitted by Lena Kusebauch, BA angestrebter akademischer Grad / in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Magistra der Philosophie (Mag. Phil.) Wien, 2016 / Vienna, 2016 Studienkennzahl lt. Studienblatt / A 190 333 344 degree programme code as it appears on the student record sheet: Studienrichtung lt. Studienblatt / Lehramtsstudium UF Deutsch UF Englisch degree programme as it appears on the student record sheet: Betreut von / Supervisor: Emer. O. Univ.-Prof. Dr. Waldemar Zacharasiewicz Declaration of Authenticity I confirm to have conceived and written this diploma thesis in English all by myself. Quotations from other authors are all clearly marked and acknowledged in the bibliographical references and within the text. Any ideas borrowed and/or passages paraphrased from the works of other authors have been truthfully acknowledged and identified. Lena Kusebauch Acknowledgements I would like to express my gratitude towards emer. Univ.-Prof. Dr. Zacharasiewicz for raising my interest in Southern literature and enabling me to explore this interest in my thesis. I am grateful that he was a patient, yet supportive supervisor who always had valuable advice when I needed it. I further want to thank my parents for their unconditional support during all ups and downs of writing this thesis. Table of content 1. Introduction ................................................................................................. 1 2. Methods ....................................................................................................... 3 2.1. Close reading and wide reading ......................................................... 3 2.2. Ecocriticism ......................................................................................... 4 2.1.1. Historic development .................................................................... 4 2.1.2. Key aspects .................................................................................. 9 3. Barbara Kingsolver as an author of the American South ..................... 14 3.1. Literature of the American South – An outline .................................. 14 3.2. Barbara Kingsolver’s biography ........................................................ 23 3.3. Barbara Kingsolver as an author of the American South .................. 24 4. Analysis of the selected novels ............................................................... 27 4.1. Plot summaries ................................................................................. 27 4.1.1. Animal Dreams ........................................................................... 27 4.1.2. Prodigal Summer ........................................................................ 28 4.1.3. Flight Behavior ............................................................................ 29 4.2. Settings of the novels ........................................................................ 31 4.2.1. Animal Dreams ........................................................................... 31 4.2.2. Prodigal Summer ........................................................................ 34 4.2.3. Flight Behavior ............................................................................ 35 4.3. Narrative situations ........................................................................... 37 4.3.1. Animal Dreams ........................................................................... 38 4.3.2. Prodigal Summer ........................................................................ 43 4.3.3. Flight Behavior ............................................................................ 49 4.4. Analysis of the main protagonists ..................................................... 51 4.4.1. Animal Dreams ........................................................................... 51 4.4.2. Prodigal Summer ........................................................................ 55 4.4.3. Flight Behavior ............................................................................ 57 4.5. Common features and differences .................................................... 59 5. Kingsolver’s novels from the angle of ecocritics .................................. 62 5.1. Animal Dreams ................................................................................. 63 5.2. Prodigal Summer .............................................................................. 66 5.3. Flight Behavior .................................................................................. 78 5.4. Common features and differences .................................................... 85 6. Conclusion ................................................................................................. 88 7. Bibliography .............................................................................................. 91 8. Appendix .................................................................................................... 94 8.1. Abstract ............................................................................................. 94 8.2. Zusammenfassung ........................................................................... 95 1. Introduction Literature that was written in the US South or deals with it as its subject has been an interesting and challenging field of study for decades, and fiction written by contemporary authors continues to be a fascinating subject for literary analysis. Barbara Kingsolver is one of the many highly productive modern women writers whose works are set in the “The South” and address issues that are closely connected to this particular geographic area. This is one of the many reasons why this diploma thesis will deal with selected novels by Barbara Kingsolver. The first part of this thesis will explain the methods that are used to analyze Kingsolver’s novels. It also presents an introduction to Southern literature with the aim to explore any specific features of this particular kind of literature. Furthermore, this work seeks to investigate to what extent Barbara Kingsolver introduces distinctly Southern features into her novels and in what way she might thus be regarded as a typical Southern author. The second part of this thesis will focus on the analysis of specific novels by Barbara Kingsolver. I chose to analyze and compare three novels by Kingsolver, which are Animal Dreams (1990), Prodigal Summer (2000) and Flight Behavior (2012). The novels were chosen according to their topics, their geographical setting and their date of origin. Two of the novels, Prodigal Summer and Flight Behavior, are set in the South of the United States, a fact which is relevant for this thesis. Furthermore, all of the selected novels address numerous local issues, for example regarding farming, livestock breeding and local wildlife. The selected novels were published in intervals of roughly ten years. Their publishing dates are relevant in order to identify any changes and developments Kingsolver’s writings may have gone through regarding the importance and meaning of nature in her novels or her choice of narrative perspectives. The analysis of the novels will largely focus on the significance of narrative perspectives within the novels. The narrative situations in Kingsolver’s novels are exceptionally meaningful. The author’s literary techniques contain frequent changes in perspectives, with narrators often adopting different roles and features. This is particularly relevant with regard to the course of events, 1 the degree of information provided to the reader, or the characters’ attitudes towards environmental issues. The third and final part of this thesis will explore the meaning of nature and the settings in Kingsolver’s novels from the angle of ecocriticism. The selected novels are all set in mostly rural areas and issues such as environmentally friendly farming or the consequences of global warming are addressed in a critical way. Drawing from her academic knowledge in biology, Kingsolver provides the readers of her novels with detailed information about environmental local and global issues. 2 2. Methods Kingsolver’s novels lend themselves to analysis from multiple perspectives. The narrative situations put forth in her work are thought-provoking, as are the individual characters she introduces. Additionally, the plots and the social and global issues that Kingsolver addresses within her narratives are equally intriguing. The complexity calls for a combination of methods to explore the various meanings of the texts. Close reading and wide reading have turned out to be the most appropriate methods to obtain meaningful results when examining Kingsolver’s novels. Likewise, analyzing her work from the perspective of ecocriticism has proven useful. The following subchapters will discuss the benefits and shortcomings of these methods. 2.1. Close reading and wide reading Any literary analysis of Kingsolver’s novels must not only focus on the textual level, such as, for example, the narrative situation or plot development, but also on their cultural aspects. This is basically why both close reading and wide reading seem to be the most suitable methods to analyze Kingsolver’s narratives. According to Ansgar Nünning and Vera Nünning, close reading and wide reading are based on the assumption that the cultural dimension of a text is inherent and
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Butterfly Phenomena: a Study of Climate Change on Barbara Kingsolver’S Flight Behaviour
    © 2018 JETIR October 2018, Volume 5, Issue 10 www.jetir.org (ISSN-2349-5162) The Butterfly phenomena: A Study of Climate Change on Barbara Kingsolver’s Flight Behaviour. Rejani G.S Research Scholar (Ph.D) (Reg.No.18113154012020) S.T Hindu College ,Nagercoil Affiliated to Manonmanium Sundaranar University, Abhishekapatti.Tirunelveli. Abstract Barbara Kingsolver’s Flight Behaviour is a clarion call for the forestalled eco-apocalypse, climate change or global warming .Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring, Maggie Gees The Ice People, Jeanette Winterson’s The Stone Gods and many other novels in the same vein are futuristic. Even though there is always imagination in fiction, Flight Behaviour does not focus on the aftermath of any global disaster. Rather it reflects the actuality of climate change and Monarch butterfly migration. It also focuses on the story of a young woman trying to change her life, and a deeply humane account of working people responding to the local effects of the global climate crisis. Kingsolver has carved a career from examining social issues in her novels, from economic inequality to environmentalism. Flight Behaviour portrays the inducement and consequences of climate change that forms the butterfly effect. The paper throws light on the enormous consequence of climate change and the ignorance of reality. Keywords - Climate change, Butterfly phenomenon , Futuristic, Global Warming and Environmentalism. Climate change is the defining challenge of our age. The science is clear, climate change is happening, the impact is real. The time to act is now. -Ban Ki-Moon Climate novel is an emerging literary genre that has caught much attention and popularity in recent years.
    [Show full text]
  • Reading Group Discussion Questions—The Lacuna the Word “Lacuna” Means Many Things: a Missing Piece of a Manuscript, A
    Reading Group Discussion Questions—The Lacuna The word “lacuna” means many things: a missing piece of a manuscript, a gap in history or knowledge, a tunnel or passage leading from one place to another. What are some of the lacunae in this novel? Several characters repeat the phrase: “The most important part of a story is the piece of it you don’t know.” What does this mean to you, in terms of both public and private life? Are you likely to give this consideration more weight, since reading the novel? Given the unusual presentation of the novel, as diary entries written by a person who does not want to be known, how did you come to know Harrison Shepherd? Which of his passions or dreads evoked a connection for you? The opening paragraph of the novel promises: “In the beginning were the howlers,” and suggests they will always be with us. As you read, did you find yourself thinking of modern occasions of media “howlers” purveying gossip, fear, and injurious misquotes? Why does this industry persist? Has an increasingly rapid news cycle changed its power? Did any historical revelations in this novel surprise you? How has our national character changed from earlier times? How would we now respond, for example, to the universal rationing imposed during World War II? Or to the later events aimed at containing “un-American activities?” What elements shape these responses? What is the value, in your opinion, of the historical novel as a genre? What places or sensory events in the novel appealed to you most? Are you a more visual, auditory, or olfactory sort of person? What sensory impressions stayed with you after you had finished the book? The two important women in Harrison Shepherd’s life, Violet Brown and Frida Kahlo, seem to be opposites at first glance.
    [Show full text]
  • “Charged with Resistance”: an Ecocritical Reading of Barbara Kingsolver’S Prodigal Summer and Flight Behavior
    “CHARGED WITH RESISTANCE”: AN ECOCRITICAL READING OF BARBARA KINGSOLVER’S PRODIGAL SUMMER AND FLIGHT BEHAVIOR A Thesis by BRENDAN T. HAWKINS Submitted to the Graduate School at Appalachian State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS August 2015 Department of English “CHARGED WITH RESISTANCE”: AN ECOCRITICAL READING OF BARBARA KINGSOLVER’S PRODIGAL SUMMER AND FLIGHT BEHAVIOR A Thesis by BRENDAN T. HAWKINS August 2015 APPROVED BY: Dr. Kathryn Kirkpatrick Chairperson, Thesis Committee Dr. Sandra Ballard Member, Thesis Committee Dr. Holly Martin Member, Thesis Committee Dr. Carl Eby Chairperson, Department of English Max C. Poole, Ph.D. Dean, Cratis D. Williams School of Graduate Studies Copyright by Brendan T. Hawkins 2015 All Rights Reserved Abstract “CHARGED WITH RESISTANCE”: AN ECOCRITICAL READING OF BARBARA KINGSOLVER’S PRODIGAL SUMMER AND FLIGHT BEHAVIOR Brendan Hawkins B.A., Milligan College M.A., Appalachian State University Chairperson: Dr. Kathryn Kirkpatrick This thesis analyzes Barbara Kingsolver’s Prodigal Summer and Flight Behavior through an ecofeminist lens. The women in these novels understand that human and nonhuman lives, including plants and animals, intersect in real and meaningful ways. This realization allows the female characters to move past the dualistic or hegemonic culture they inhabit. iv Acknowledgments I would like to thank Dr. Kirkpatrick, Dr. Ballard, and Dr. Martin for their support, advice, and expertise. Thank you to all of my family and friends for their help and support in this endeavor. Your encouragement always means so much to me. I would also like to thank my cohort for their unwavering support of me and my project.
    [Show full text]
  • Barbara Kingsolver... Grize¨ Ll a Zar-Luxton Provides Insight Into This Author,Cum Archeologist,Cum Copy Editor
    BOOKWORLD CONTENTS / INHOUD Barbara Kingsolver... Grize¨ ll A zar-Luxton provides insight into this author,cum archeologist,cum copy editor... Barbara Kingsolver... the list is endless 18 The poisonwood Bible A discussion by Franschhoek Reading Circle's archaeologist, copy editor, Marion Marsh 20 x-ray technician, housecleaner, Realms of ice and snow. Some books about biological researcher very cold places An unusual discussion of a wintery topic by and translator of medical documents Margaret Iskander 22 Realms of ice and snowbooklist Margaret Iskander provides a detailed Compiled by booklist 24 GRIZEè LL AZAR-LUXTON Aanbevole prenteboeke vir babas en peuters Lona Gericke se nuttige leeslys 25 arbara Kingsolver was born on Kingsolver has always been a story- April 8,1955. She grewup`in the teller:`I used to beg my mother to let me tell B middle of an alfalfa field', in the part her a bedtime story.'As a child, she wrote biologicalresearcher and translator of of eastern Kentucky thatlies betweenthe stories and essays and, beginning atthe age medicaldocuments. Aftergraduate school, opulent horse farms and the impoverished of eight, kept a journalreligiously. Still, it a position as a science writer for the Uni- coal fields. never occurred to Kingsolver that she versityof Arizona soonled herinto feature Kingsolver was a little girl of seven when could become a professional writer. writing forjournals and newspapers. Her she and her familylefttheir Kentucky home Growing up in a rural area, where work articles have appearedin dozens of news- tospendtwoyearsintheCongo.Whenshe centered mainly on survival, writing didn't papers and magazinesin North America returned, the world looked totally different seemto be a practical career choice.
    [Show full text]
  • Harpercollins Books for the First-Year Student
    S t u d e n t Featured Titles • American History and Society • Food, Health, and the Environment • World Issues • Memoir/World Views • Memoir/ American Voices • World Fiction • Fiction • Classic Fiction • Religion • Orientation Resources • Inspiration/Self-Help • Study Resources www.HarperAcademic.com Index View Print Exit Books for t H e f i r s t - Y e A r s t u d e n t • • 1 FEATURED TITLES The Boy Who Harnessed A Pearl In the Storm the Wind How i found My Heart in tHe Middle of tHe Ocean Creating Currents of eleCtriCity and Hope tori Murden McClure William kamkwamba & Bryan Mealer During June 1998, Tori Murden McClure set out to William Kamkwamba was born in Malawi, Africa, a row across the Atlantic Ocean by herself in a twenty- country plagued by AIDS and poverty. When, in three-foot plywood boat with no motor or sail. 2002, Malawi experienced their worst famine in 50 Within days she lost all communication with shore, years, fourteen-year-old William was forced to drop ultimately losing updates on the location of the Gulf out of school because his family could not afford the Stream and on the weather. In deep solitude and $80-a-year-tuition. However, he continued to think, perilous conditions, she was nonetheless learn, and dream. Armed with curiosity, determined to prove what one person with a mission determination, and a few old science textbooks he could do. When she was finally brought to her knees discovered in a nearby library, he embarked on a by a series of violent storms that nearly killed her, daring plan to build a windmill that could bring his she had to signal for help and go home in what felt family the electricity only two percent of Malawians like complete disgrace.
    [Show full text]
  • Taylor's Search for Self-Identity in the Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver
    A Self-discovery Voyage: Taylor’s Search for Self-Identity in The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver Amaia Ochoa Herrera Degree in English Studies Department of English and German Philology and Translation and Interpretation Tutor: David Río Raigadas Academic year: 2017/2018 Abstract Western literature has conventionally been concerned with male characters and their lonely journeys, however, Barbara Kingsolver has escaped the constraints of the genre. Hence, the aim of this paper is to analyze the main character’s self-identity search in The Bean Trees. In order to accomplish this, first, some background information about Barbara Kingsolver is introduced as well as a general explanation about the ecofeminist theory and its influence in the author. The paper deals with the building process of Taylor’s identity regarding four principal themes: gender, community, ethnicity, and nature. In each section, secondary sources and close reading are combined in order to analyze the role of the main characters of this novel. Lastly, the conclusion rounds up how the previously mentioned themes have influenced Taylor’s self-identity and addresses her development throughout her journey. Key words: self-identity, ecofeminism, The Bean Trees, Barbara Kingsolver 2 Table of Contents 1) Introduction.................................................................................................................4 2) Author: Barbara Kingsolver........................................................................................6 3) Ecofeminist Theory.....................................................................................................8
    [Show full text]
  • Barbara Kingsolver Flight Behaviour
    Flight Behaviour by the same author Fiction The Lacuna Prodigal Summer The Poisonwood Bible Pigs in Heaven Animal Dreams Homeland and Other Stories The Bean Trees Essays Small Wonder High Tide in Tucson: Essays from Now or Never Poetry Another America Nonfiction Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life (with Steven L. Hopp and Camille Kingsolver) Last Stand: America’s Virgin Lands (with photographs by Annie Griffiths Belt) Holding the Line: Women in the Great Arizona Mine Strike of 1983 Barbara Kingsolver Flight Behaviour a novel First published in the US in 2012 by HarperCollins Inc. First published in the UK in 2012 by Faber and Faber Limited Bloomsbury House 74–77 Great Russell Street London WC1B 3DA Printed and bound by CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon, CR0 4YY All rights reserved © Barbara Kingsolver, 2012 The right of Barbara Kingsolver to be identified as author of this work has been asserted in accordance with Section 77 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 Excerpt from “Now Is the Cool of the Day,” by Jean Ritchie, is used by permission. © 1971 Geordie Music Publishing Co., all rights reserved. A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 978–0–571–29077–2 2 4 6 8 10 9 7 5 3 1 for Virginia Henry Kingsolver and Wendell Roy Kingsolver Flight Behaviour 1 The Measure of a Man A certain feeling comes from throwing your good life away, and it is one part rapture. Or so it seemed for now, to a woman with flame- colored hair who marched uphill to meet her demise.
    [Show full text]
  • Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver ______
    Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver __________________________________________________________________________________________ About the author: Barbara Kingsolver was born in 1955, and grew up in rural Kentucky. She earned degrees in biology from DePauw University and the University of Arizona, and has worked as a freelance writer and author since 1985. At various times in her adult life she has lived in England, France, and the Canary Islands, and has worked in Europe, Africa, Asia, Mexico, and South America. She spent two decades in Tucson, Arizona, before moving to southwestern Virginia where she currently resides. Her books, in order of publication, are: The Bean Trees (1988), Homeland (1989), Holding the Line: Women in the Great Arizona Mine Strike (1989), Animal Dreams (1990), Another America (1992), Pigs in Heaven (1993), High Tide in Tucson (1995), The Poisonwood Bible (1998), Prodigal Summer (2000), Small Wonder (2002), Last Stand: America’s Virgin Lands, with photographer Annie Griffiths Belt (2002), Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life (2007), and The Lacuna (2009). She served as editor for Best American Short Stories 2001. Her books have been translated into more than two dozen languages, and have been adopted into the core literature curriculum in high schools and colleges throughout the nation. She has contributed to more than fifty literary anthologies, and her reviews and articles have appeared in most major U.S. newspapers and magazines. Kingsolver was named one the most important writers of the 20th Century by Writers Digest. In 2000, she received the National Humanities Medal, our country’s highest honor for service through the arts. Critical acclaim for her books includes multiple awards from the American Booksellers Association and the American Library Association, among many others.
    [Show full text]
  • Flight Behavior: a Novel
    _____________________________________________________________________________________ Reading Guide Flight Behavior: A Novel Harper Perennial By Barbara Kingsolver ISBN: 9780062124272 Introduction The extraordinary New York Times bestselling author of The Lacuna (winner of the Orange Prize), The Poisonwood Bible (nominated for the Pulitzer Prize), and Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, Barbara Kingsolver returns with a truly stunning and unforgettable work. Flight Behavior is a brilliant and suspenseful novel set in present day Appalachia; a breathtaking parable of catastrophe and denial that explores how the complexities we inevitably encounter in life lead us to believe in our particular chosen truths. Kingsolver's riveting story concerns a young wife and mother on a failing farm in rural Tennessee who experiences something she cannot explain, and how her discovery energizes various competing factions—religious leaders, climate scientists, environmentalists, politicians—trapping her in the center of the conflict and ultimately opening up her world. Flight Behavior is arguably Kingsolver's must thrilling and accessible novel to date, and like so many other of her acclaimed works, represents contemporary American fiction at its finest. Questions for Discussion 1. What is the significance of the novel's title? Talk about the imagery of flight. How is it represented throughout the story? 2. How do the chapter titles relate both to scientific concepts as well as the events that unfold within each chapter itself? 3. Describe Dellarobia. How is she of this mountain town in Tennessee and how is she different from it? How are she and her family connected to the land and to nature itself? How are they disconnected? How does this shape their viewpoints? How does she describe herself? Do you agree with her selfassessment? 4.
    [Show full text]
  • The Bean Trees the Bean Trees
    Prestwick House AP Literature SampleTeaching Unit™ Prestwick House Prestwick House * * AP Literature AP Literature Teaching Unit Teaching Unit * AP is a registered trademark of The College Board, * AP is a registered trademark of The College Board, which neither sponsors or endorses this product. which neither sponsors or endorses this product. ABarbara Kingsolver’sP ABarbara Kingsolver’sP The Bean Trees The Bean Trees Click here A P RESTWICK H OUSE P UBLIC A TION A P RESTWICKto learnH OUSE P UBLIC moreA TION Item No. 307248 about this Teaching Unit! Click here to find more Classroom Resources for this title! More from Prestwick House Literature Grammar and Writing Vocabulary Reading Literary Touchstone Classics College and Career Readiness: Writing Vocabulary Power Plus Reading Informational Texts Literature Teaching Units Grammar for Writing Vocabulary from Latin and Greek Roots Reading Literature Advanced Placement in English Literature and Composition Individual Learning Packet Teaching Unit The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver written by Priscilla Baker Item No. 307248 The Bean Trees ADVANCED PLACEMENT LITERATURE TEACHING UNIT The Bean Trees Objectives By the end of this Unit, the student will be able to: 1. explain the significance of the novel title,The Bean Trees, and of the chapter titles. 2. discuss the role of narrative voice and analyze Kingsolver’s use of point of view. 3. discuss the credibility of the narrator and how that is measured. 4. analyze the use of humor and sarcasm in the novel. 5. discuss the function of setting and the role of nature in the novel. 6. examine the impact of the social and political issues present in the novel on plot, character, and theme.
    [Show full text]
  • 'A Critical Literary Analysis of the Fiction of Barbara Kingsolver'
    “The Things That Attach People”: A Critical Literary Analysis of the Fiction of Barbara Kingsolver Ceri Gorton, MA Thesis submitted to the University of Nottingham for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy JULY 2009 ABSTRACT This is the first full-length scholarly work dedicated to the fiction of Kentucky-raised feminist activist and trained biologist Barbara Kingsolver. Interrogating the political efficacy of the work of an author who proclaims that art “should be political” and that “literature should inform as well as enlighten”, this thesis explores the ways in which Kingsolver positions herself variously as an environmentalist, liberal, communitarian, feminist and agrarian. It unpacks the author’s issues-based approach to writing fiction and its effect on her commercial popularity and through close readings of her fiction provides an assessment of this popular and critically acclaimed contemporary American writer. This study maps the oeuvre of a writer who has achieved critical success in the form of Pulitzer nominations, American Booksellers Book of the Year awards, a National Medal for Arts, and commercial success in the form of bestselling novels and even non-fiction works – not to mention the populist accolade of being selected as an Oprah’s Book Club author. It analyses tropes, techniques and tensions in Kingsolver’s novels and short stories published between 1988 and 2001, namely The Bean Trees (1988), Homeland and Other Stories (1989), Animal Dreams (1990), Pigs in Heaven (1993), The Poisonwood Bible (1998), and Prodigal Summer (2001). Rather than act as an introductory survey, this assessment posits that there exists a difficult but fruitful tension between writing fiction for readers and writing to a political agenda.
    [Show full text]
  • Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver
    Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver If Rachel Carson (1907-1964), whose book Silent Spring (1962) inaugurated the current environmental activist movement, had written a novel, it might have resembled Prodigal Summer. Set in the small farms of southern Appalachia, this novel is built around a triple plot, each strand of which parallels the other and all of which eventually merge. The strands are interwoven, each title appearing ten times: “Predators,” “Moth Love,” and “Old Chestnuts.” The initial plot, “Predators,” involves a U.S. Forest Service worker named Deanna Wolfe, a native of rural Zebulon County on the Virginia-Kentucky-Tennessee border. A 47-year-old loner and committed environmentalist, Deanna wrote her master’s thesis on the importance of coyotes to ecosystems. Ironically, she falls prey romantically to a younger man, a Wyoming sheep rancher and predator hunter, Eddie Bondo. She attempts to teach him the error of his killing ways. In the second plot, “Moth Love,” Lusa, an entomologist from Knoxville, Tennessee, and hence an outsider (in various ways—her parents are Jewish and Palestinian), is widowed and left to run the family farm in this marginal area. Her major conflict involves her deceased husband’s several difficult sisters. The third plot strand, which offers up much of the humor in the book, pits 75-year-old Nannie Rawley, who operates a successful organic garden and apple orchard, against the nearly eighty year-old Garnett Walker III, widower and retired vo-ag teacher at the local high school. Although he aspires to produce a disease-resistant breed of the American chestnut that once flourished in the region, Garnett represents traditional and creationist values.
    [Show full text]