Sunday, February 5, 2012
God and Nature
In class we have started talking a bit about Isaac's views on nature and man's dominance over land. This is most obvious on page 245 when Isaac tells McCaslin that he "can't repudiate it. It was never mine to repudiate. It was never Father's and Uncle Buddy's to bequeath to me to repudiate... He created man to be His overseer on the earth and to hold suzerainty over the earth and the animals on it in His name, not to hold for himself and his descendants inviolable title forever..." and he goes on to talk about how the land is not his to do anything with because the land belongs to God and anyone who "had" the land before never actually owned anything. This seems to me to be an introduction to his views on how greedy humans are. On page 246 he says in an sort of cynical tone how "men fought over the fragments of that collapse until at last even the fragments were exhausted and men snarled over the gnawed bones of the old world's worthless evening until an accidental egg discovered to them a new hemisphere." Just the use of the words "collapse" and "exhausted" to describe the earth and the words "snarled" and "gnawed" to illustrate the actions of men make it so obvious how he feels about the avariciousness mankind and how people treat the earth. Do you think this is a valid argument? What do you think this says about him?
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Mari, I completely support your argument. I too believe that Isaac does not agree with the greedy way man attained much of its land, especially in the southern US. He makes it very clear to his Cass (and the reader) that he has no intentions of taking the farm because he does not believe that man can own land. What I think this says about Isaac is that he is a member of the Old South, which is something I said in class today. He obviously has a lot of values and high moral standards, which was a telling sign of the people identified with the Old South. I think Isaac is represents the last generation of old southerners. All around him, industrialization is kicking in and he will be forced to secede or die. After the bear dies, Sam Fathers chose to die because he knew that the end was near. Now, with the mill company tearing down Isaac's wilderness, I think he too will realize there is not a lot of room for old southerners in this New South. Isaac will soon have to face a tough decision similar to the one Sam Fathers faced. The end could be near for dear Uncle Ike.
ReplyDeleteYou also have to remember that he decided to not take the farm over having a family. In the old south (and also seems to be apparent in the new south) family and carrying on the family name is important to their culture. So I do not think that he embodies the old south in that sense, but more is following in the footsteps of Sam Fathers. I agree that Isaacs way of living conflicts with the way the south is progressing. General de Spain seems to conform to this way of life as seen in his office, but i think Isaac has a much stronger relationship with nature and do not think he would conform the way General did.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Isaac somewhat resents industry in general because of the way it turns humans against nature, but also I think he feels betrayed. When he was a young boy, characters like Major de Spain were the ideal hunters and they appreciated nature more than anyone else. Now, Isaac has fought so hard, despite the constant industrial influence that oppresses him, to sustain an understanding for the importance of nature and then in this section of The Bear, he comes back to visit and sees that the very men he looked up to do not seem to be trying as hard and have given up. This must be even more confusing for Isaac because as a child his beliefs (that of the Old South, who loved nature and avoided industrial customs) was the accepted majority and now, he is in the minority and needs to reassure his family of their original beliefs.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Catherine about the family point. Much of the old Southern aristocracy was about bloodlines, family pride, etc. We have seen these themes continuously throughout Go Down Moses, as well as A Rose For Emily; Emily has special treatment from the town because of her blue-blooded family. Isaac's wife fails to persuade him with sexual favors (sorry that sounds SUPER creepy), and he never has children, for his bond to nature and his stance on the property issue is stronger. In addition, the blacks and whites in the McCaslin and Edmonds family are tied together by there bloodlines. Isaac is tied to Sam Fathers very spiritually. This bond between Isaac and Sam hold greater value than any bloodline we have seen. Therefore, is he really part of the true Old South? (this doesn't really answer Mari's question ... my b)
ReplyDeleteMari is right in saying that the relationship between God and Nature and Isaac is very significant. In reading Delta Autumn, the parallel between Isaac and the woods and the old south is clearly drawn. The main point in that story was the similarities between Isaac and the woods as he knows them. They both are rapidly dwindling through their shared lifetimes, and the woods that Isaac knew as a child are gone, just like the rich hunts of his childhood are.
ReplyDeleteI think Peter and Catherine's points are valid. Isaac's decisions about not taking the land is influenced by his magnetic pull to the wilderness and also to his idol, Sam Fathers. Ever since Sam marked Isaac with the blood and he "ceased to be a child", Isaac in some ways has become Sam Fathers and by not taking the land, he is following in the footsteps of his idol. To address the old south vs. new south issue, I think we have to define clearly what the old south truly means. If it is simply a strong connection to nature, than clearly Isaac is choosing the old south. But if it has to do more with hierarchy, bloodlines and family ties, then Isaac is detaching himself with the old south.
ReplyDeleteYou guys said some interesting things that I hadn't thought of - I like how someone said that because he doesn't really have a family so he has a special bond with nature, and also that he was disappointed because the men he looked up to had started to give up on the wilderness.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Issac resents the industrialzation of makind, but I disagree that he is the last of the 'real' old southern generation. Like Catherine said, he doesn't share the value of making a family which we learned from looking at the the values of the family in Was. Issac has an appreciation for nature, and loves the wilderness. That love is what causes him to desire the natural, non-property lived life in the wilderness and to resent the artificial, greedy, industrial life. So in the big picture I see Issac as more of a Naturalist than just an old southerner that is stuck with his old beliefs.
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