Woolf believed that “a woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction.” What Woolf presents through this book is her ideas andWoolf believed that “a woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction.” What Woolf presents through this book is her ideas and a train of thoughts supporting this statement.
But what truth lies in this statement? For women to pick up a notebook and a pen? It is easy, you say now. Were there any lives sacrificed eons ago to make this statement a reality? Woolf herself gave up her life by drowning with her overcoat pockets filled with stones. Had she been born in this 21st century, would her life's purpose be reduced to mere pen and paper?
"She, a woman. She pervades poetry from cover to cover, she is all but absent from history. She dominates the lives of the kings and conquers in fiction; in fact, she was the slave of any boy whose parents forced a ring upon her finger. Some of the most inspired words, some of the most profound thoughts in literature fall from her lips; in real life, she could hardly read, could scarcely spell, and was the property of her husband."
Women scarcely kept diaries to write their handful of letters in existence. They left the world with no mark, no play or poems to judge them. What good writing is? They asked. Lock up the libraries, they said. But no lock or bolt can ever set upon the freedom of a mind.
What Virginia Woolf asks the women of today is to earn money and have a room of their own, so as to live in the presence of reality and invigorating life. It is much more important to be oneself than anything else.
What Virginia Woolf wants when she asks the women to write books is to do things for their own good and for the good of the world at large.
"Because masterpieces are not single and solitary births; they are the outcome of many years of thinking in common, of thinking by the body of the people, so that experience of the mass is behind the single voice."...more
Now I think stories are more complicated. Not a simple one; instead, something ancient and a pile of stones. Stories piled on one another like stones.Now I think stories are more complicated. Not a simple one; instead, something ancient and a pile of stones. Stories piled on one another like stones. You knock one stone off and the whole cairn collapses.
So what do we have here? Three stones; before the war, during the war, and after the war.
Which stone must lay the foundation? Before the war, right? It takes back to the time when the Button Factory was a serious business. There was a high demand for buttons in the 1870s, you see. Buttons were made and sold cheap. Benjamin Chase, the founder of Chase Industries, pounced upon this opportunity and opened up his factories in Port Ticonderoga. They stood derelict, windows broken and roof leaking. But, they did well in spite of that, the factories flourished and so did their lives. Until. Until? Until war struck.
The war began in August 1914. Benjamin lost two of his sons in the war and handed over his business to his only son Norval Chase. Under his leadership, the business plummets and he forces his daughter Iris Chase to marry one of his competitors Richard Griffen.
This is where the real story begins and you start understanding the things which you were supposed to understand. Wait, I said understandable and not simpler, okay? Atwood is the most generous author, she gives you a story within a story, that's two stories in two different genres and a hell lot of evidence through newspaper snippets and diary entries which you didn't ask for.
Did I miss after the war scenes? Yes, it was on purpose. Eeep! I don't mean to tell you about that. Come on, I read a 600-page long book which could've been narrated in half its size, and I'd give spoilers right away? Duh, I am not that good. Go away and read this and tell me later, What happened ten days after the war ended?...more