Angle of Repose, Pt. 2

I just finished the novel from my previous post, Angle of Repose. This is a sort of historic novel that chronicles the marriage of Oliver and Susan Ward. It is sort of historic because it is directly based on the letters of Mary Hallock Foote, the wife of engineer Arthur De Wint Foote (designer of the Arrow Rock Damn and Boise's irrigation system), but the author narrates from the prospective of their grandson and takes enough liberties with the story to make it a clear work of fiction. Apparently there is controversy surrounding the book because Stegner used direct quotes from the letters of Mrs. Foote, but did not credit where he used those quotations. The story chronicles about 30 years of the couple's marriage. The couple were Eastern Americans that moved into the Western frontier in order to establish Oliver as an engineer, but ended up staying in the West. Oliver became a regular frontier man while Susan reject the rough Western culture by attempting to retain her status as a lady of gentility.

It is frequently noted throughout the novel that it is not about the couple's children, the west, engineering or the narrator (who constantly interjects into the novel facts about his own life), but it also can't help but be about all those things. The novel obviously makes connections between the marriage of the Wards and all the previously mentioned things that the book is not about, when in fact it is about all those things and much more. The story of the Wards marriage is written with the underlying hint that all the world is constantly a repetition of the past. We will all make the same mistakes as our parents, grandparents, and neighbors while our children can't help but follow in our footsteps. The end of the novel does not leave out hope for humanity to change it's ways, but it doesn't tell us if the change we hope for happens or not.

I enjoyed the beginnings of Oliver and Susan Ward's relationship and was looking forward to seeing them prosper into a Victorian family to look up to as role models, but as the book went by and the title Angle of Repose became more clear I realized that this story is much more realistic than I had wanted it to be. I wished for a happy ending and was given something else. Not an unhappy ending, but something other than a joyful conclusion.

The story had so much to say about the Frontier culture, the Victorian American culture, and current culture that it is hard to write about each theme of the novel without writing about the next so I will try to keep this theme analysis short. It seemed to me that one fo the major themes I thought about while reading this book was the dependence the Victorian lady had from her husband. The dependence was accepted as necessary to both Oliver and Susan, but was obviously trying to their relationship. After many failures in Oliver's career, Susan began to resent him for not giving her the life a true noblewoman deserves, the fact that she depended so much on him for her happiness and well being was sickening to read at times and was possibly the reason I had times where I struggled to read at a good pace. Susan was not without her talents, she was an illustrator and published author that was able to support the family while her husband was out of work or foregoing a paycheck, but having to use her own skills and money to support the family caused an obvious resentment between the couple. This to me is a very common thing that can still cause major problems in relationships today. Marriage is still not always seen as an equal partnership. It is commonly seen as an extended fatherhood or a way for a woman to survive in the world. If the husband is not offering a livable salary and the wife has to work it is commonly viewed as unideal. The husband is usually still seen as the provider and protector, while the wife is the helpless caretaker that can offer great things to the family, but not to the world at large. I feel a sadness that this is still commonly part of marriages in our modern times because it devalues both the male and the female involved in the relationship and puts unwanted expectations on both husband and wife. Perhaps someday we could get over this view of marriage, but I don't know if I will ever see the day.

To conclude, I thought this was a great novel. It gave me much to think about and analyze while being written with an entertaining voice. I could probably write a much longer analysis of the novel if I wanted to, so perhaps we will see a part three to this post.

P.S. I want to look like Wallace Stegner when I am his age. (or right now).