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Form Follows Function: the Relationship Between Structure and Content in Three of Karen Hesse’S Novels

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Form Follows Function: the Relationship Between Structure and Content in Three of Karen Hesse’S Novels Wendy Glenn Form Follows Function: The Relationship Between Structure and Content in Three of Karen Hesse’s Novels ouis Sullivan, mentor to Frank Lloyd Wright, form. Walter Dean Myers, Monster; Ellen Wittlinger, once noted that, in architecture, form should Hard Love, and Liz Rosenberg, 17; for example, have Lfollow function; a building should be designed chosen to share, with great success, one of their to suit its purpose. When designing a home for a narratives through a non-narrative form. Karen Hesse, family, for example, it makes sense to create open however, has experimented with form in almost every spaces for gathering and to provide ample storage. novel she has written; it has helped to define her as an These choices encourage family interaction and author. She is a risk-taker who recognizes this pattern maintain some semblance of order in the midst and in her writing, as well as her pleasure in it, as evi- bustle of life. Similarly, a museum that houses large- denced by her claim, “It seems that the projects I scale paintings requires a much different setting than choose demand a different way of telling than the one geared toward the display of portraiture; with regular prose narrative, but they are very satisfying each, presentation space must be used to meet the when you get them right” (Hendershot and Peck 858). demands of the art. Perhaps, more importantly, the Although several of Hesse’s novels serve as models of resulting ambiance and sense of scale affect the the power that results when form and function collide viewer’s impressions. Standing in the vast, open in literature, three—Letters from Rifka, The Music of corridor of the Louvre and viewing David’s larger- Dolphins, and Out of the Dust—represent the unique than-life portrayal of the coronation of Napoleon feels personal forms in which Hesse has chosen to ground different from sitting on a warm couch in a small, her stories. By employing personal forms—letters, salon-style room and seeing Rembrandt’s intimate self- diary, poetry—in these novels, Hesse celebrates portrait. To place the one painting in the setting of the introspection and reaches adolescent readers, in other would detract from the power of the piece. particular, who find relevance in such personal This same premise holds true in literature. exploration given their reflective nature. Hesse Authors make form-related decisions that affect both recognizes the needs of her audience and selects the structural and thematic integrity of their work. forms that will best help them find their way—and Understanding content may be of the utmost impor- themselves—in her stories. tance in making meaning of a literary text; form, however, should not be ignored. A work without Letters from Rifka structure is no work at all, as form is driven by The Plot content. In fact, an author’s choice of form in the Believable characterization and well-developed creation of a novel may reveal as much or more than themes make Hesse’s novel, Letters From Rifka (1992), the content itself. a welcome contribution to the world of adolescent Several young adult authors have written works literature. The critics agree. The novel’s acclaim is that demonstrate this connection between content and evidenced by its selection as a School Library Journal 27 THE ALAN REVIEW Winter 2004 g27-32_TAR_Mar04 27 5/12/04, 10:09 AM Best Book of the Year, Horn Book Book of the Year, and persecution” she and her family face (Rochman, recipient of the National Jewish Book Award. As Hesse 1931). Because she leaves Russia with only a few notes in the novel’s foreword, the work is historical possessions, Rifka records her correspondence in the and draws largely on the memories of Lucy Avrutin, margins of a collection of poetry by Alexander Hesse’s great-aunt. In a Pushkin. As a result, the letters are not sent as they collection of letters to her are completed; Rifka, instead, hopes to be reunited Russian cousin, Tovah, with her cousin, at which point she plans to share her By employing personal Rifka describes her family’s experiences. forms—letters, diary, migration from Russia to Due to Rifka’s resulting isolation, the letter form is the United States from 1919 completely appropriate. Writing letters helps Rifka poetry—in these novels, to 1920. We follow her on maintain a sense of connection with her family. Her her tumultuous journey, written “conversations” with Tovah provide something Hesse celebrates witnessing the inhumane familiar amidst her new surroundings. When she introspection and reaches treatment Russian Jews learns, for example, that she will be detained at Ellis such as Rifka suffer at the Island, she writes, “Dear Tovah, I don’t know how to adolescent readers, in hands of their countrymen, tell about what has happened. I feel numb and I can’t the illness that plagues the believe. I thought if I could tell you, maybe it would particular, who find family members on their make some sense, maybe it would help” (92). Writing relevance in such trek, the isolation that letters also helps her to cope by giving her some sense Rifka experiences when of power over her condition. Although she is physi- personal exploration forced by disease to stay cally unable to leave Ellis Island, for instance, the behind, and, eventually, details she chooses to provide Tovah about her given their reflective the reunion that grants experiences there are determined by her alone. Her Rifka her dream of free- notes provide a means through which she can shape nature. Hesse recognizes dom. Letters from Rifka is a her experience. Finally, writing letters gives her hope. the needs of her audience powerful work of historical As a form of communication, the use of letters implies fiction. It is unique in form an intended audience. This, in turn, suggests that the and selects forms that will without being inaccessible, letters will someday be read and responded to. Rifka and emotional without believes that eventually what she has to say will be best help them find their being melodramatic. The seen by her cousin. This dream of success inspires her way—and themselves—in characterization is com- to persevere. plex, and the themes are her stories. cogent and richly realized. The Music of Dolphins Lucy Avrutin lived a life far The Plot removed from that of many The Music of Dolphins (1996) revolves around readers, but Hesse has succeeded in conveying her Mila, a young girl who is raised by dolphins from the story in a way that is comprehensible, although time she is four years of age when she alone survives amazing to imagine. a plane crash near the Florida coast. Still a teenager, Mila is found and “rescued” by the Coast Guard and Correspondence (and Hope) through placed in the hands of Doctor Beck, a research Letters scientist interested in language development in “wild” children such as Mila. Although Mila is a willing In Letters from Rifka, Hesse adopts the use of participant and thrives at first, she yearns for her letters as the structural means through which to tell ocean home and marine family, eventually accepting her story. Rifka writes these letters to her sixteen-year- her inability to live in human society. In the end, she old cousin, Tovah, who remains in Berdichev. The is returned to her home in the sea but is forever epistolary form allows Rifka to reflect on “memories of changed by her experience on land. A Publishers what she has left behind, including the fierce racist Weekly Best Book of the Year, School Library Journal 28 THE ALAN REVIEW Winter 2004 g27-32_TAR_Mar04 28 5/12/04, 10:09 AM Best Book of the Year, ALA Best Book for Young As Mila’s ability develops, however, the letters them- Adults, and Book Links Best Book of the Year, The selves begin to shrink in size, while her strings of words Music of Dolphins has earned well-deserved respect as lengthen. Her word choice reveals a more advanced a unique and engaging story sure to conjure questions vocabulary, and her depth of explanation suggests with no easy answers. The Music of Dolphins is increasing proficiency with the language. She writes, memorable primarily due to the accuracy of Mila’s Everyone is sleeping. I stand at the window. The light of observations about the human condition and our the moon touches the river. I put my ear to the cold glass subsequent wonderings about what it means to be and I listen to the music of the water. members of this race. The story is unusual in its I am alone. construction but not so much that we cannot relate to I am alone like the baby in the lullaby with the birds and the characters and their dreams and dilemmas. the butterflies around him. The wind makes the trees to sing. The wind makes the Reflection (and Change) Through Diary Entries river to sing. Hesse innovatively employs the diary form in The I sing too. I sing a gray song. A little, little Mila song. Not Music of Dolphins. Although the novel appears big, not many voices. Only one voice. A song of alone. (67) “deceptively easy in format,” it is “complex and With her regression, this process is reversed, so that demanding” (McClelland 120). Selecting this form, by the end of the novel, we see once again simple however, resulted only after a struggle. Hesse tells us, words and large font. Visually, Mila’s progress and It was tricky to pull off because I tend to write in the first decline are evident.
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