ISOBELLE CARMODY – THE GATHERING

‘ a dark, grim allegory of fascism’

So what’s an allegory, and what’s fascism?

An allegory is like an extended metaphor, in which objects, persons and things in a story (narrative) are compared to something outside the narrative itself.  The underlying meaning has moral, social, religious or political significance, and characters are often personifications of ideas such as charity, greed or envy.

 Fascism comes from the Latin fasces, a group of tightly bundled rods with an axe head protruding from one end, a Roman symbol of power and unity. …how does this fit into The Gathering.  It means a social and political ideology (way of thinking) with the first rule that the state or nation (in this novel, The Gathering and the Kraken!) is the highest priority, rather than personal or individual freedoms – which is what Nathaniel rages against – he hates choices being made FOR him, which is why he’s not happy with his mother, or the school authorities for trying to make him join the Gathering! Of course, this gets all a bit sinister when he starts to discover exactly WHY he doesn’t want to join the Gathering.  Can you imagine living in a world where you do not have any choice about how you live?  It’s happened many times in history of course:  check out Mussolini, and how fascism’s ideals used emotive slogans and old prejudices (for example, against the Jews) to bolster the leader’s strongman appeal, and had a direct influence on Hitler’s Nazism.

a site dedicated to Carmody – books she’s written etc  http://www.carmody-online.com/

a quiz http://www.funtrivia.com/trivia-quiz/Literature/The-Gathering-118761.html

reviews: http://www.misrule.com.au/gathering.html

http://www.allreaders.com/topics/Info_10765

THE USE OF NAMES IN NOVELS – CONNECTIONS TO DEEPER MEANINGS

Sometimes when you look at the meanings of names in novels, you discover that the meaning of the name relates to character (think about Squealer, the propaganda generating pig in Orwell’s Animal Farm, or Napoleon, the fascist pig!).  Does any of the following meanings relate to character in THE GATHERING?

SETH in the Book of Genesis of the Hebrew Bible, is the third listed son of Adam and Eve and brother of Cain and Abel and is the only other son mentioned by name. According to Genesis 4:25, Seth was born after the slaying of Abel by Cain, and Eve believed God had appointed him as “replacement” for Abel “because Cain killed him – his name means ‘appointed’

KRAKEN – In mythology, are legendry sea monsters said to dwell off the coast of Norway and Finland – perhaps attributed to giant squid?  However, Kraken is also from krake, a Scandinavian word designating an unhealthy animal, or something twisted. 

 ELLIS BELL – Did you know Emile Bronte, who wrote Wuthering Heights, used the pen name Ellis Bell?

Odin (Old Norse Óðinn, also known as Oden), is considered the chief god in Norse mythology . He is a god of wisdom, war, battle and death. He is also attested as being a god of magic, poetry, prophecy, victory, and the hunt.

~ by ksasaunders on March 22, 2008.