Wild Geese by Martha Ostenso
A lot of great Canadian authors base their books on the prairie or land and its inhabitants. Wild Geese by Martha Ostenso is a wonderful example of this. Throughout the novel, many references are made to natural elements and also animals. Three very noticeable references could be picked out. These references were made to Judith, who is seen as a wild horse, to the wild geese that always move to new places, and also to the weather and how the family's attitudes and emotions, especially Caleb's, are changed by it.Wild Geese are talked about quite frequently throughout this novel. There are many references to people who are compared to the wild goose, along with what they symbolize. Lind Archer, the schoolteacher, is considered the wild goose for the first while. She came from a large municipality, "to a region beyond human warmth...beyond even human isolation..." (Ostenso, p.34). Mark Jordan is also compared to a wild goose for fundamentally the same reasons as Lind. When he first meets Lind, she thinks that his cry seems to be a, "smote cry upon the heart like the loneliness of the universe..." (Ostenso, p.53). Both Mark and Lind can be compared here, because they are both lonely and isolated. The wild goose symbo
Ostenso, Martha. Wild Geese. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart Inc., 1961 a great, defiant body, her chest high and broad as a boy's; her hair was wild-locked and black and shone on top of her head with a bluish luster; her eyes were in sullen repose now, long and narrow; her lips were rich and drooped at the corners. Lind eventually begins to see Jude as, "a beautiful creature. She's like a - a wild horse" (Ostenso, p.76). Lind is not the only one who sees Jude as a horse. Sven looks at her and sees, "Her head was high and fine as that of a thoroughbred horse" (Ostenso p.178). Although everyone sees Jude as beautiful in her own way, Jude sees herself as unattractive. She feels that she works too hard and that, "She was not an animal, to be driven, and tied, and tended for the value of her plodding strength" (Ostenso, p. 235). Jude acts out like a wild horse by not wanting to stay in her household. Caleb tries to keep her like a domesticated horse, inside and with the rest of the family, by she feels that she needs to run free and have her own life. You can not keep a wild horse locked up, it will eventually get away and that is what happened with Jude. In conclusion, there are three main elements of the novel. They are all mentioned many times throughout the novel and are all there to symbolize something. The geese symbolize Mark and Lind. The horse symbolizes Judith. And the weather symbolizes the mood and emotions of the family, especially Caleb. There are a lot of great points in this novel and it is very educating and interesting. It is a great novel to read if y
Some common words found in the essay are:
Mark Lind, Lind Jude, Caleb October, Jude Caleb, Martha Ostenso, Caleb Ellen, Mark Jordan, Lind Archer, Wild Geese, Hail Ostenso, wild geese, mark lind, wild horse, wild goose, throughout novel, compared wild, emotions especially caleb's, family especially, mood emotions, novel references, horse ostenso, throughout novel references, shown mark lind, compared wild goose,
Approximate Word count = 1078
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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