The writing of this paper was initiated by a seminar on the concepts and implications of civilization and wilderness in American fiction. When Frederick Jackson Turner analyzed the significance of the Frontier in American history, he claimed that the true American character was not influenced by Europe, but built by the constant, strenuous interaction with and the heroically endured hardships of nature’s wildness, which presented itself to the pioneers along the frontier line up until 1890, when the frontier was considered officially closed (Turner 1893). Accordingly, nature and wilderness play an important role in American history, character, and literature. Wilderness visualized as trees or the woods in general, symbolizes a lawless place and, thus, not only allowing for the idea of beasts but also of criminals living there. The uncanny in this picture is obvious and allows for mystifications quite a lot. Besides symbolizing a place of evil, wilderness has also been a space for the individual, most evident in the Puritan idea of expelling non-conformist people, sinners, from the community and sending them to exile into the woods. In this regard, Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter and its adulterous protagonist Hester Prynne serve as a perfect example from literature.
In this instant it becomes clear, that wilderness and civilization serve as binary oppositions, that have been primarily favored as neatly separated categories in the Puritan thinking. Civilization has been praised as the ideal, refining, and humane state, which can only be realized in the community and its democratic institutions. The missionary thought of bringing civilization to the continent and, thus, taming the wilderness, evoked a new idea: that of Manifest Destiny. Pioneers turn into the chosen people, bringing light into the darkness of the wild continent.
The author would like to note that the following pages were attempted to be structured according to those concepts. Trying to do so, however, the subject of the paper, Stewart O’Nan’s novel A Prayer for the Dying, proved itself to be challenging for such a proceeding. The concepts of civilization and wilderness can be found throughout the novel and to a certain degree can be deconstructed nonetheless, but they present themselves not in an exclusive, absolute, and categorical but rather in a confused and intertwined manner.
Table of Contents
1. About this Paper
2. About the Author and the Novel
3. The Structure and Genres of the Novel
4. The Concepts of Civilization
5. The Implications of Wilderness
6. Conclusion
Objectives and Topics
This paper examines the complex and inseparable relationship between the concepts of "wilderness" and "civilization" as presented in Stewart O'Nan's 1999 novel, A Prayer for the Dying. By analyzing the protagonist Jacob Hansen’s struggle with communal expectations, religious faith, and individual madness, the work explores how these binary oppositions blur and intertwine in the context of American frontier fiction.
- The role of the second-person narrative in creating a sense of individual and collective guilt.
- The deconstruction of the traditional binary between civilized social order and wild, lawless nature.
- The influence of gothic literary traditions and Western genre tropes on the novel's thematic framework.
- The analysis of the family unit and religious institutions as both bulwarks against and sources of "uncanny" disorder.
- The representation of the American West as both a space of promise and a landscape of apocalyptic destruction.
Excerpt from the Book
3. The Structure and Genres of the Novel
A very fascinating, yet at the same time strange and disturbing institution of the book is its narrator. Narrated by the second person, the reader is presented to the protagonist’s thoughts, gaining insights of this character. Structured like a monologue, Jacob, thus, is given the chance of immediate self-contemplation, -judgment, and justification upon his very actions and thoughts as well. In a way, the address “you” can also be interpreted as a form of accusation or blame for what is happening, for Jacob himself is constantly asking for the guilty one and questions himself if he is responsible for all this – “It’s your fault, you know it is, it’s all your fault” (O’Nan 2000: 88). The problem with the narrator is that the reader sets out to trust Jacob from the beginning, just until it becomes clear that he is (going) mad and, thus, has to be considered as unreliable.
This also marks certain similarities to the narratives in the works of Edgar Allen Poe and elements of the gothic novel. The typical existential angst of protagonists presented in such a tradition can be clearly traced in A Prayer for the Dying, in which, to another degree, the horrors Jacob has to face are both physical (the disease, the fire) and psychical (his going mad), even though critics argue that “[t]he new gothic is the horror of the mind isolated with itself” (Bloom 1998: 3). Accordingly, the dreadful actions and thoughts of the protagonist rather than the ramifications of nature’s raging establish the greater part of the horror and the terror for the reader. An even more frightening element of the American gothic, which definitely holds for O’Nan’s novel being set in a small town, is that it may be set in the immediate neighborhood making it even more shocking because of the terror’s closeness. In that respect, wilderness and the frontier are employed as additional sources of terror, as is the nuclear family as the breeding ground for the uncanny (Freud 1919).
Summary of Chapters
1. About this Paper: This introductory section outlines the historical and literary context of the "frontier" and the traditional binary opposition between wilderness and civilization in American thought.
2. About the Author and the Novel: This chapter provides biographical background on Stewart O'Nan and introduces the plot of A Prayer for the Dying, set in the post-Civil War town of Friendship, Wisconsin.
3. The Structure and Genres of the Novel: This section analyzes the impact of the second-person narrative voice and explores the novel’s gothic and Western literary elements.
4. The Concepts of Civilization: This chapter investigates how societal roles, family structures, and religious institutions fail to maintain order amidst the spreading disease and the protagonist’s internal disintegration.
5. The Implications of Wilderness: This part examines the dual nature of wilderness as both a romanticized retreat and a destructive, chaotic force that ultimately corrupts the promise of the American West.
6. Conclusion: The concluding chapter summarizes the central argument that civilization and wilderness are inextricably linked, with the protagonist’s survival representing a cathartic, albeit tragic, rebirth.
Keywords
Wilderness, Civilization, Stewart O'Nan, A Prayer for the Dying, American Frontier, Gothic, Western, Jacob Hansen, Manifest Destiny, Uncanny, Puritanism, Existentialism, Diphtheria, Memory, Nature.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the core focus of this research paper?
The paper explores the inseparable and often confusing relationship between wilderness and civilization in Stewart O'Nan's novel A Prayer for the Dying.
Which central themes are examined?
The themes include the breakdown of social and moral order, the influence of gothic and Western literary traditions, the role of religious faith, and the psychological impact of war and trauma.
What is the primary objective of the work?
The goal is to demonstrate that the traditional binary opposition between civilization and wilderness is deconstructed in the novel, as they are portrayed as mutually reliant and intertwined.
What methodology is applied?
The author uses a literary analysis approach, contextualizing the novel within American history, Puritan thought, and critical theory regarding the "Machine in the Garden" and the American Gothic.
What does the main body of the paper cover?
It covers the novel's narrative structure, the collapse of community institutions like the family and religion, and the shifting interpretation of the "frontier" and "wilderness" throughout the story.
Which keywords characterize the work?
Key terms include wilderness, civilization, gothic, frontier, American fiction, existential angst, and the uncanny.
How does the second-person narrative affect the reading of the novel?
It serves as an immediate form of self-judgment and accusation, forcing the reader to grapple with the protagonist’s moral culpability and eventual descent into madness.
How is the concept of "the family" used in the novel?
The family serves as a microcosm of society; its disintegration and the protagonist's subsequent attempt to "preserve" the dead at home turn the domestic sphere into a source of the uncanny.
What is the significance of the train in the novel?
The train represents the "Machine in the Garden," acting as a metaphor for progress that simultaneously highlights the conflict and antagonistic relationship between human civilization and nature.
- Citar trabajo
- Matthias Groß (Autor), 2005, "Civilness and Wilderization:" The Confusing, Entwined Terror of Wilderness and Civilization in Stewart O'Nan's "A Prayer for the Dying", Múnich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/52838
