AGENDA:
Discuss with a partner questions 1, 2, and 3. Look up the Scott expedition to Anarctica. Get additional information. Then post a comment to answer the first 3 questions of this reading guide. Be sure that you indicate both partners' names for credit.
Continue working on your "Fugitive Pieces" story.
For next Tuesday, read to page 101
Fugitive Pieces Reading Guide
Reading Group Guide
Fugitive Pieces
by Anne Michaels
About This Book
The questions, discussion topics, and reading list that follow are intended to enhance your group's reading of Anne Michaels's Fugitive Pieces. We hope they will aid your understanding of the many rich themes that make up this radiant and lyrical first novel by one of Canada's foremost poets.
In Poland during World War II, seven-year-old Jakob Beer's parents are murdered by Nazi soldiers and his adored elder sister, Bella, is abducted. The mourning child flees and is miraculously rescued by Athos Roussos, a Greek geologist. Athos smuggles Jakob to his native island of Zakynthos, where he successfully hides him from the Nazi authorities and introduces him to a new world of geology, poetry, botany, and art. After the war the two move to Toronto, and Jakob embarks on marriage and a career as a poet. Through the experience of profound love, Jakob eventually transcends the tragedies of his youth; but his spirit remains forever linked with that of his lost sister. As Jakob gets older, his life and work provide inspiration and, eventually, spiritual regeneration, for Ben, a younger man whose own family has been blighted by the Holocaust.
Fugitive Pieces is an incandescent novel, heartbreaking and finally joyful. Its vivid images, its poetry and its wisdom will prove unforgettable.
1. Why is the first section of the novel entitled "The Drowned City?" Why is the title repeated for a later section?
2. Jakob says that Athos's fascination with Antarctica "was to become our azimuth. It was to direct the course of our lives" [33]. Why do you think Antarctica obsessed Athos? How does the story of the Scott expedition relate to that of Athos and Jakob? Do you agree with Jakob that Athos's fascination directed their lives?
3. "When the prisoners were forced to dig up the mass graves, the dead entered them through their pores and were carried through their bloodstreams to their brains and hearts. And through their blood into another generation" [52], Jakob writes, and later, "It's no metaphor to feel the influence of the dead in the world" [53]. How does the theme of the dead's influence on the living work itself out in the course of the novel?
4. The communist partisans in Greece, who had valiantly resisted the occupying Nazis, themselves committed terrible atrocities after the war, as Kostas and Daphne relate. Do you agree with their theory that violence is like an illness that can be caught, and that the Greeks caught it from the Germans [72]? What other explanations can be offered?
5. "I already knew the power of language to destroy, to omit, to obliterate," says Jakob. "But poetry, the power of language to restore: this was what both Athos and Kostas were trying to teach me" [79]. What instances does the novel give of the destructive power of language? In what ways does writing--both the writing of poetry and of translations--help to heal and restore Jakob? Does silence--the cessation of language--have its own function, and if so, what might it be?
6. "We were a vine and a fence. But who was the vine? We would both have answered differently" [108]. Here Jakob is speaking of his relationship with Athos; of what other relationships in the novel might this metaphor be used? Does Michaels imply that dependence is an integral part of love?
7. What is it about Alex's character that attracts Jakob and makes him fall in love with her? Why does he eventually find life with her impossible? Do you find Alex a sympathetic character, or an unpleasant one?
8. "History is amoral: events occurred. But memory is moral" [138]. "Every moment is two moments" [161]. How does Jakob define and differentiate history and memory? Can you see Fugitive Pieces as a comparison of history and memory?
9. Music is an important element of Fugitive Pieces, and it is central to the lives of at least three of the characters, Bella, Alex, and Naomi. What does music mean to each of these characters? Why has Michaels given music such a prominent metaphoric role in the novel?
10. What does Fugitive Pieces say about the condition of being an immigrant? Jakob never feels truly at home anywhere, even in Greece. Ben's parents feel that their toehold in their new home is infinitely precarious, an emotion that communicates itself to Ben. Does Michaels imply that real integration is impossible?
11. Can you explain the very different reactions Ben's parents have had to their experience in the Holocaust? What in their characters has determined the differing ways they respond to grief and loss?
12. The relationship between Ben and Naomi is a troubled one. Why is he angry at her for her closeness to his parents and her attention to their graves? Why does he reject her by leaving for Greece without her? How can you explain his intense desire for Petra--is his need purely physical? How do Petra and Naomi differ? What is the significance of their names?
13. Science has as important a role in the novel as poetry and music. Why is geology so important to Athos, meteorology to Ben? Does science represent a standard of disinterested truth, or does it merely symbolize the world's terrifying contingency?
14. Why might Jakob have named his collection of poems Groundwork, and in what way does that title relate to his life? Jakob calls his young self a "bog-boy" [5]. Why does Ben take such an interest in the preserved bog people he reads about [221]?
15. The last line of the novel is Ben's: "I see that I must give what I most need." What does he mean by this? What does he most need, what will he give, and to whom?
16. What is the significance of the novel's title? What do "pieces," or "fragments," mean within Michaels's scheme? Where in the novel can you find references to fragments?
Whitney Lora and Alaina Howell.
ReplyDelete1. Biskupin is a drowned city. Everyone's possessions and memories are buried under water and mud and they will never be recovered.
2. The Scott expedition to Antarctica obsessed Athos because during during the Scott expidition they died and all their belongings were buried under the snow just like in Biskupin.
3. The theme of the dead influence on the living works itself out in the course of the novel because in the book Jakob is still holding onto his sister Bella, she still haunts him, and in order to be free of her, he needs to let her go. In a way, Jakob is still holding onto his sister which is hurting his relationships, and he'll have to learn how to release her memory to be happy and free.
Jerry Figueroa
ReplyDelete1. It's called "The Drowned City" because all their things were drowned and stuck beneath the city
2. All of their things that were valuable to them were buried under the snow just like the Scott Expedition in Antarctica.
3. He still stuck on his sister and basically he needs to let her go to be happy in life.
Alex and Wade
ReplyDelete1. The first section of the novel is entitled “The Drowned City” because the Nazis came through and destroyed the entire population (with the exception of Jakob) as well as any history and memories of the city. The title is repeated for a later section because the main character of that section’s life can be seen as a parallel to that of Jakob’s.
2. Antarctica obsessed Athos because of the watercolor paintings of the region created by scientist Edward Wilson, which captured the phenomenon and peril of the region. The story of the Scott expedition relates to the lives of Jakob and Athos because it describes how the members of the expedition carried each other through crisis, similar to how Athos and Jakob “carry” each other.
3. The influence of the dead upon the living is a feeling that Jakob carries throughout his life. Initially, he sees this as a curse – the constant thoughts and nightmares of his family forcing him to relive the guilt he feels of their deaths. However, this also helps him, as it serves as a reminder of his family’s love for him.
Marissa Santana and Shayla Sanders
ReplyDelete1. The first section is called “The Drowned City” because everyone has either died or tried to flee the city. Just as in a flood everyone evacuates the city, every thing is gone and nothing is left.
2. It obsessed Athos because he was obsessed with rocks and the rocks of Antarctica shown to be torn away from a continent. This was a very slow process but it shows that Antarctica won their independence from the other continent.
3. Jakob is constantly influenced by the dead, his sister Bella. When Jakob thinks about his sister he becomes haunted by her memories. In order to be happy he needs to learn to let go.
Victoria H. Justice D. Ta'shae R .
ReplyDelete1. The first section of the novel is entitled "Drowned city " because all there belongings got drowned and stuck beneath the city .
2. Antarctica obsessed Athos because when they died the belongings were damaged , and buried . Yes we agree that athos fascination directed their lives .
3. The theme of the dead's influence on the living work itself it makes him a loner and it affect in his relationship and life and makes him keep to him self .
It is called “The Drowned City” because it was originally submerged within water, then when the Nazis came it went back under water. The streets were flooding with Nazis as they took over the town. They forced the citizens to be lost souls drifting under water both literal and figurative ghosts.
ReplyDeleteHe was fascinated with Antarctica because exploring was part of his lineage, which he was very strongly connected with. Scott’s story related to Athos and Jakob because he is in Greece and is disconnected from his past and his self. I agree with Jakob because Athos is driven to certain places, which causes him to impart his knowledge on to Jakob and exposed him to new experiences and guided by his love for Antarctica and geology.
Jakob always carries with him his elder sister Bella, she leaves and imprint on his life. He eats with her, he walks with her, and he opens doors and waits for her to pass through them. The weight of the dead shapes his character as he grows up and moves through life.
-Valerie and Danielle.
1.) The first chapter of the book is called the drowned city because the Gasawka river had flooded. It could also be metaphorical, for the nazis killing the jews. (nazis being the water, and jews being the drowning people.)
ReplyDelete2.) Athos was fascinated with Antarctica after he became a student at Cambridge, which later became our Azimuth. Antarctica could direct the course of our lives, because its blank.(white) It could start new beginnings.(i.e; blank paper). Athos admired the scientist Edward Wilson who was with Captain Scott at the south pole. This correlates to Athos and Jakobe because Captain Scott led men to Antarctica to discover new things. Athos was leading Jakobe to Greece so he could discover new things. I agree with Jakobe.
3.) His family, and other jews death during his childhood still haunts him and will always haunt him throughout his life, and in everything that he does. It prohibits him to move on with his life.Everything that he does, he will slways have memories of his parents. Anne Michaels says, "And through their blood into generations." When she says this, she indicates that no matter how much time passes the death of his parents will follow him. Nautica Graham , Brianna Corbitt, Kennethea Wilson
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete1. At the end of the first chapter, the ravaged Biskupin was buried in sand and Jakob emerges form the sand.
ReplyDelete2. Azimuth’s fascination with Antarctica and the Scott expedition had to do with his respect for Edward Wilson. During the Scott expedition, all of their valuables were buried, which is exactly what happened to Jakob in Biskupin. I agree with Jakob that Athos’s fascination directed their lives, because Athos was obsessed with his work and it carried the both of them to numerous places.
3. Jakob’s memories of his family and friends haunt him throughout the novel. His entire emotional conflict is based on around his missing sister and the horrific effects of the Holocaust.
Zachary Gilbert-Mahoney
Adeline Ainsworth
Ledibel, Monica, Jenee
ReplyDelete1) The title of the first section is named the drowned city because it gives us that imagery of a city that is covered in water. On page six the author tells us that Biskupin have been carefully excavated for almost a decade, for thousands of years biskupins sidewalks were covered with fish.
2) I think Antarctica obsessed Athos because Athos fascination with Antarctica began when he was a student in Cambridge University. Athos admired Wilson, who was with Scott at the South Pole, also like Wilson Athos was a watercolorist.
Antarctica was Athos’s obsession because of its scenery, artifacts, color, and build. All of its characteristics were “beautiful and scientifically accurate”.
Yes I agree that Athos fascination directed there lives because they moved to Toronto.
3) Throughout the novel the theme of death played a part in the book. For example, Jakob’s family dying is a barrier for him throughout his childhood years as he tries to remember the events he keeps describing how death is everywhere. Also he describes how something as little as music leads into memories of a husband or son leaning over his dinner. (pg. 52)