that usually contain a cruel, and unfair burden towards them. The world has demonstrated this profound relationship since human history first began, not only in their way of life, but in literature. For example, Geraldine Brooks, displays the oppressors, in her novel The Year of Wonders, by implicating strong men, and a powerful family; while the oppressed are numerous wives, and everybody inside of the village. Sue Monk Kidd displays oppression in The Secret Life of Bees, by recreating images of
The premise of the novel (Year of Wonders) could be seen as the antithesis of a journey as the villagers voluntarily agree to undertake a quarantine, which means they literally cannot go anywhere. In what way does this text represent a journey? Though the characters in Year of Wonders are unable to take a physical journey due to their actions, their circumstances cause them to embark on many spiritual, mental and emotional journeys through the course of the novel. Anna Frith, for instance, is
The literary The literary melodrama Year of Wonders (2001), by Geraldine Brooks, is a moving story of a community who quarantines itself in a great act of selflessness. Year of Wonders is a first person account of the plague, is told through the eyes of Anna Frith, a servant of the Mompellion household. Anna is a woman believed to be around 20 years old, who suffered physical and mental abuse at the hand of her father (Josiah Bont) throughout her childhood. Anna spends the most duration of the
The literary melodrama Year of Wonders (2001), by Geraldine Brooks, is a moving story of a community who quarantines itself in a great act of selflessness. Year of Wonders is a first person account of the plague, is told through the eyes of Anna Frith, a servant of the Monpellion household. Anna is a woman believed to be around 20 years old, who suffered physical and mental abuse at the hand of her father throughout her childhood. Anna spends the most duration of the novel in the village of Eyam
What do the middle ages, the 1960’s, and the future all have in common? All eras face the gruesome struggle of being oppressed. Author, Geraldine Brooks’ demonstrates this oppression by sending her audience to the past, in her novel Year of Wonders, to follow Ana Frith through the struggles of the plague, societal standards, and coming of age. Showing her audience oppression can be both an internal and active battle. Susan Collins takes a different approach, leading her readers through a futuristic
Madison Howlett Year of Wonders; Essay “While many characters in ‘Year of Wonders’ display admirable qualities, Anna Frith is the true heroine of the novel” Throughout her novel ‘Year of Wonders’, Geraldine Brooks presents readers with many characters that are viewed as admirable in their village of Eyam, during the time of the plague. Set in 1665-66, Brooks creates an environment that many people would not be able to cope with. Numerous deaths and a village that is crumbling around you can
in her novel, The Hunger Games. In The Secret Life of Bees, Sue Monk Kidd displays how a community can change a person’s beliefs, therefore changing their identity. In Year of Wonders, Geraldine Brooks displays how a community can come together as one to fight against a major issue within their community. Kidd, Collins and Brooks all depict different types of communities within each of their novels. Yet each novel displays how a person’s surroundings impacts their identity, therefore changing their
While Kidd’s novel reflects on the influence a mother has with her child, Brooks’ novel Year of Wonders uses the main character Anna, to reflect on the impact a child has on a mother’s identity. Describing her children, Anna expresses Jamie and Tom as the light of her life, in one precious moment between the three of them, even stating “‘This,’ I thought, smiling gratefully up at him, ‘this moment is my miracle’” (Brooks 71). However soon after this moment Anna’s children are claimed by the plague
the Madonna of the Black Mary. Soon Lily finds mother figures in the Black Mary, and the sisters, and only then is finally able to discover her identity. The role of motherhood in the establishment of identity takes a different path in Brook’s Year of Wonders. Anna Frith is not in fact a child, but a mother, who orients her identity around her children. At the beginning of the novel Anna is a recent widow, with two children, called Jamie and Tom. Jamie and Tom give Anna a sense of independence. She
back to their family. Either reflecting on the thought of them or their morals or, in search of hope and security. Characters within the novels, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd, and the Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks are each presented with a time in which they are targeted by oppression, provoking thoughts centered around their family unit in order to guide them and provide motivation through a time of brutality. Within the novel The Hunger Games