It seems that every quarter of the novel slowly changes and progresses to a different character and then proceeds to start fresh and give us their entire life’s story. Nonetheless due to the nature of the story this is a critical step as each character has a very unique journey but not one that necessarily interconnects with the others.
This section focuses on Tilman (Klara’s brother) who has always been one to wonder away from his life and explore the outside communities. Reverting back to the beginning of his life away from home the author is then able to help you make a better connection within all the characters that would otherwise be impossible. It almost seems as if the author is using Tilman as a tool to create characters that she can then later bring back and weave into the story. Although nothing decisively has been done to demonstrate this yet, it seems peculiar. The reason for this is because she is creating very in-depth characters for someone related to Tilman who is likely to move around and flee from containment in any posed situation.
Capturing the height of the depression as well as the state of the country is not an easy task. Yet, the author is doing an impeccable job of describing the state of the country during the depression. Everything from riding the rails to the moral state of communities were achieved through Tilman’s experiences travelling the world. I found it very intriguing because everything was based in Canada so Tilman faced experiences like being, “. . thrown off the train twice in Saskatchewan, near Moosejaw on the way out,” and his description of the “huge marble palace of Union Station.”
It will be interesting to see whether these well developed characters will tie back into the story or whether the author just decided to add extra focus to these auxiliaries. Either way she continues to focus on excellent character development and has now (at least seemingly) introduced to all the characters. For this reason it will be interesting to see what becomes of them all.
Good observations. Don't forget that in your research you can check out historical facts and events. As well, you can look at various themes and motifs in Canadian literature and see which ones might be at play in the novel. Good work so far!
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