Montana, 1948, Chapter Two, pages 57-102(47-93)
Pages in ( ) are 2007 edition.
1. As the second chapter begins, we see David Hayden begin to reconstruct his father's investigation. We are reminded that, in large measure, the story of what happened that summer in Montana is heresay and deduction. How accurate do you suppose are David's conclusions? Do the three deductions presented on the following pages give us confidence in his ability to feret out the truth? Why or why not?
2. Ollie Young Bear--his role in the story is slight. In fact, he virutally disappears after this one scene. Why is he in the story? What is the significance of the fact that he has a white wife?
3. What's important about the scene in the bowling alley on page 59 ?(p.49) What does it show about David, about his father?
4. What's the significance of the weather in the scene on page 63 (p.53), when David and his mother are temporarily banished from the house?
5. On page 65 (p.55), David's mother delivers a short soliloquy on the geography of Montana, and the geography of her youth. David interprets this as her way of saying "she wanted a few moments of purity." He also ads that he is "on the trail of something that [will] lead him out of childhood." Explain.
6. On page 67 (57), en route to the ranch, David's father makes a tentative suggestion that the family take a trip to Yellowstone, a national park in Montana and Wyoming. Is this destination arbitrary? And what do you make of David's observation that "unfortunately, he did not often keep his promises."
7. On page 69 (59-60), we get to see David's grandfather for the first time. What sort of figure is he? Does he resemble anyone else in the story, or anyone else you have seen in the literature and film of the West?
8. On the same subject--what do you make of the Hayden's house on page 68 (58)? What does it say about its occupants?
9. On page 71 (62), the subject of Frank's and Gloria's childlessness comes up--just when David, who is eavesdropping, expects his father to tell Grandpa Hayden about Frank's improper sexual relationships with Indian girls. What do you make of this juxtaposition? Why do you think David's father is bringing up the subject now?
10. On the same page, David thinks: "Tell Grandfather. Tell him, and he'll take care of everything. He'll grab Uncle Frank by the shoulders and shake him so hard his bones will clatter like castanets. He'll shake him up and shout in Frank's face that he'd better straighten up and fly right or there'll be hell to pay. And because it's grandfather, that will be the end of it." What does this deep faith in his grandfather show about David? And what do you make of the violence of this vision? Why his grandfather, and not his father?
11. David's grandfather, on the next page, lets slip that his son Frank has "always been partial to red meat." He is speaking about Indian women, of course, but the metaphor he chooses is telling. What does it show about him? How does he seem to feel about his son's improprieties?
12. The novel then moves to flashback, returning us to a distant memory of Frank's bachelor party. Again., David relays an overheard conversation. Look to page 75 (65)-here, his father delivers a drunken speech about the "Hayden boys," describing them as a kind of fraternity of lawlessness and macho bravado. "We are the law!" he says. Then he vomits. Explain the connection between this scene and the statement on page 21 (9) that David's father is a man "who tried to turn two ways at once" .
13. On page 76 (67) we meet David's grandmother. How is she different from the other women in the novel, especially David's own mother? What is this meant to show?
14. On page 77 (68), David confesses his erotic attraction for his Aunt Gloria, and describes a scene when, bedridden, she tended to him. He even pretends to be asleep, in order that he may enjoy her closeness to him: "as she bent down to feel my forehead," David confesses, "I could smell her perfume." Does this arrangement--an erotic attraction in the midst of medical care--remind you of anything else in the novel?
15. Subsequently, David overhears a whispered conversation between his aunt and his uncle, then the squeaking of their bedsprings. What's going on here? Does this scene change, if briefly, our sense of Uncle Frank the Indian molester?
16. On page 79-80 (70-71), David is given an automatic pistol by his grandfather and told to go shoot coyotes. David says of handguns: "They were something not serious, not for bringing down game but for shooting as an activity in and of itself...." How is this gun different from the guns David's father has given him and trained him to use? Is it significant that it comes from his grandfather? Does it have a symbolic meaning?
17. What is the double meaning of the two paragraphs on page 80 (71) that begin: "I shot up the entire box of bullets." (Consider that in the scene immediately preceding, David has experienced powerful erotic sensations at his aunt's perfume--and disgust as well.)
18. Of the magpie that he shoots, David says on page 81 (72), "I hadn't even known it but I needed to kill something." What is he struggling with? Why must his anger manifest itself in violence?
19. Continue your interpretation on page 82 (73), with the paragraph that begins "I felt the way I did when I woke from an especially disturbing and powerful dream....." Pay particular attention to the lines: "I realized that these strange, unthought-of connections--sex and death, lust and violence, desire and degredation--are there, there, deep in even a good heart's chambers."
20. One last point to consider. A heart has chambers, as David says. So does a gun. What's the symbolic connection?
21. On page 82 (74), David sees his father and uncle talking. What's the first strange thing he notices? What is the significance of this?
22. Why does David pantomime shooting his uncle? What would his motive be for murder?
23. As the scene closes on page 84 (75), David notes that "My father and Uncle Frank walked off together, their broad shoulders almost touching." What are we meant to think has transpired between them?
24. What's wrong--or insufficient--about David's father's remarks to his wife on the return drive page p.85 (75)?
25. What is the significance of Marie's strange remark on page 86? (77) ("He's hard to see when you look for him.") What's hard to see? What's David been looking for?
26. On page 87 (78), David says that he "knew, knew immediately what had happened." What does he know? How does he know it?
27. What's the symbolic significance of the open medical bag on the table on page 87(78)?
28. On page 88(79-80), Uncle Frank suggests a couple of explanations for Marie Little Soldier's sudden death. David also notes that as he spoke "he stood up so straight he seemed to be at attention." What's the meaning of this body language? A soldier is one who stands at attention. Whose orders is he following?
29. On a related note--speaking of soldiers, what do you make of Marie's last name?
30. On page 89(80), Uncle Frank says, "Pneumonia is still a serious disease. Very serious. We mustn't lose sight of that." What is he asking his audience to do? And is there a connection--an echo--between these words and Marie's last words on page 86 (77)?
31. On page 93(84), Len, who has served as a deputy under both David's father and grandfather, explains what it means "to be a peace officer in Montana." What does it mean? Does it mean that still, in this story, in the summer of 1948?
32. Why do you suppose the author, Larry Watson, chose to make Len an alcoholic? What does this say about the kind of life he has led? Is this a by-product of being "a peace officer in Montana"?
33. David also supposes that Len is, or has been, in love with his mother. Nothing much comes of this in the novel--the matter is simply noted here, then dropped. Why is it in the story? What does it say about Len, his basic qualities of character, his loyalties and allegiances?
34. Why do you suppose David chooses not to tell Len what he saw on page 94 (85)?
35. After David tells his father what he saw, he notices his father's injured knee. Go to the paragraph on page 100(91) that begins "My mother turned on the lamp beside the bed." What is the connectin that David notes between his father's injured leg and "the pain he felt over his brother"?
36. Closing the chapter, on pages 101-2 (92-93), David has a dream about all the Indians in Bentrock, on top of Circle Hill. He notes, among other details, that in his dream, they aren't dressed as they are in the movies, but just as they appear in his daily life. How do you interpret this dream, in particular the way they are dressed?
No comments:
Post a Comment