The Development of Divinity

I'm at a journalism conference at the University of Georgia (in Athens) this week, and I have an early morning tomorrow. But, of course , inspiration strikes at the most inconvenient times.

I'm taking a class on modern American literature this summer, and it's been a stretch for me as I tend to focus on antiquity and the medieval period much more than I do on modernism. I'm also pretty ignorant when it comes to American literature in general. Shamefully, I've read very few of the classics. But that means this class has been really interesting for me, because the style and goals of the writing are so totally new.

We've read Susan Glaspell, William Carlos Williams, H.D., Wallace Stevens, and John Steinbeck so far. We read H.D.'s HERmione the week before last, and, unfortunately, I'm missing the lectures on her later poetry while I'm out of town this week. (I'll probably be writing my second paper on her though, so at least I'll get a chance to look more in-depth into the evolution of her writing over the course of her life.)

Anyway (there is a point), HERmione was extremely hard to get into at first. Once I did, I was entranced. I felt I was actually experiencing the character's emotions. The novel is one written by a poet, which is pretty evident from the narrative style. It's largely autobiographical, telling a story of failure and resulting identity crisis. I may have related to it so much simply because Her/Hermione (the main character) is very close to if not exactly the same age as I am (20).

We talked a lot about the writing style and the lack of clearly described events and an easy-to-follow plot. What we didn't delve into much are the religious overtones of the novel. I have no remarkable insight to offer into the topic, but I found the development of Hermione's perspective toward the divine interesting.

Throughout the majority of the novel, Hermione seems confused, almost blinded by herself and her lack of self, really. She seems to describe overwhelming visions and experiences, mostly related to nature. After a certain transitional series of events (which I won't give away in case you decide to read the book), Hermione comes to accept herself and establishes a stable acceptance and understanding of what she deems divinity.

To me, it's very Hindu/Eastern in the fact that it's as if she herself has transformed into a god. Again, she defines her spirituality in nature; she is very conscious of her feet and the feeling of her bare feet in contact with earth and plants. Aware of her connection with the natural world and thus with all life, she finds her way, carves her individual, ancient, divine self into existence: "She wanted just that plunge into grey dusk, just that finding foothold on the half frozen path to help her. ... a feeling of elation caught at Her, a sort of atavism having to do with Olympia." H.D. as a writer and Hermione as a character connected with the ancient Greek world of mythology and ritual. Through it, she defined her self and her relationship with the divine. The Hindu aspect comes in at the end, as she becomes "practical and at one with herself, with the world, with all outer circumstance."

I hope this entry was at least enjoyable to read if not terribly informative, and hopefully you'll be encouraged to pick up HERmione sometime. (Accomplishment for me: I refrained from quoting too extensively!)