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.
Edward Wilson website:
http://www.edwardawilson.com/life/11TNova.shtml
Continue working on your "Fugitive Pieces" story.
parhelions:
http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/atmos/halo22.html
For Friday, 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?
1. This Is Because Biskupin Was Covered In Mud And Filled With Fossils Of Preserved Corpses. The Fossils Were Like Old Artifacts From The People Who Once Inhabited The Land
ReplyDeleteGabriela & Harrison
ReplyDelete1. The first chapter is called The Drowned City because Jakob himself has become drowned and buried beneath history in this chapter. The city itself is a metaphor for what happened to Jakob after the door breaks. "The wonder of wood is not that it burns but that it floats."
2. Antarctica was Athos' point of true direction. It was a land marked entirely by geography. The story of the expedition is also a metaphor for the hopeless but honorable perseverance of Jakob and Athos through the cold of Nazi terror.
3. Jakob spends his life living with a ghost of Bella. He spends his life constantly with death, halfway between the world of living and the ghost world. Throughout the book Jakob must journey back from Hades by letting go of Bella and allowing her death.
3. The Dead And Gone Have Not Died And Disappeared. Instead They Live On And Teach Their Ways Or Show Themselves To The Lives On Earth. They Will Not Let Their Stories Die Along With Them. The Living Have To Try To Move On Yet The Souls Of The People Before Them Are Stuck Inside Their Minds
ReplyDeleteTaylor Rugg and Mariah Gonzalez
ReplyDelete1. The first section of the novel, Fugitive Pieces, is entitled “The Drowned City” because the city was preserved by the bog, which drowned the city, but also the people. Jakob is drowning in memories and in silence as he buries himself into the foundation of his city. Athos recovers Jakob by pulling him from the bog, thus ceasing him from drowning himself.
2. Athos was inspired by Edward Wilson’s watercolors and was intrigued by how beautiful the watercolors were, while also revealing so much information. “His pigments were not only beautiful, but scientifically accurate. His paintings of atmospheric phenomena depicted the exact degrees of the sun” [33]. He was also obsessed with Antarctica because there were so many answers there that could be derived from calculations. This is comforting to him during a time of so much turmoil. The Scott expedition was ironic because they were so close to survival and yet they died. This relates to Athos and Jakob because they are constantly in the shadow of death, and yet they survive. The Scott expedition directs their lives because both Athos and Jakob find hope in it: Athos finds comfort in the watercolors and knowledge; Jakob finds bravery in Wilson. “Wilson had borrowed a book of Tennyson’s poetry for the final march to the pole and, even when every ounce tore at his thighs and shoulders, he persisted in carrying it back, in order to return it to his lender. I could easily imagine a favored item to the ends of the earth, if only to believe I’d see it’s beloved owner again” [36]. Jakob connects to this because he is carrying Bella with him and he would carry something tangible if he had been able to.
3. Jakob Beer must bear the weight of witnessing his family’s murder and being the only survivor. He carries their memory and spirit with him as he buries himself into the earth, and when he goes to Greece with Athos. Throughout the novel, Jakob speaks about Bella being a part of him: “…Bella clung. We were Russian dolls. I inside Athos, Bella inside me” [14] and “…as I hestitated in the doorway, that I was letting Bella enter ahead of me, making sure she was not left behind. I paused when I ate, singing a silent incantation: A bite for me, a bite for you, an extra bite for Bella” [31]. The expedition of General Scott and Edward Wilson, resulting in their death, influenced Athos because he admires their strength and perseverance. This could have influenced his decision to rescue Jakob – in its own way, this is their expedition that they are trying to survive.
Shannon, Erin, Ashley
ReplyDelete1. The title was called The Drowned City because it was a bog. After Jakob buried himself into the mud he called himself a bog man.
2. Edward Wilson and Athos were both watercolurists. They experienced some of the same things such as being hungry all the time and imagining they were eating better food.Athos and the scientist both studied geology. They also told lectures and tales. Basically both Athos in Greece and the explorers in Antarctica went through similar pains and experiences both internally and externally.
3.He is haunted by his sister's spirit. He says there is a thin line between the living and the dead. "But the dead surrounded us, is an aurora over the blue water." [44] He also acted like his sister spirit was still with. He lived as though she was still alive with him. He would step aside and let his sister's spirit go through the doorway before him. He called the wall between the living and the dead the Gossamer Wall.
2. (again) Athos' fascination with Antarctica leads their lives through the continuing stories he tells Jakob. As long as the stories continue so can their lives.
ReplyDelete1. It was called the drowned city because the people and the city was buried in mud and muck. They're bodies were preserved in that debris making them like bog man.
ReplyDelete3. The dead influences the living because the living usually take a long time to let go or get over the fact that people are dead. The living try to hang on to old memories making it harder to move on with their lives. Like how Jakob kept thinking about his sister, it was kinda like her memory was haunting him.
2. Athos was obsessed with Antarctica because of the experience he had there. Those men suffered together and though they went through all of that they still had the love of reading poetry, archeology. They bonded over that one thing they all had in common, Survival. It relates to Jakob and Athos because they both had to survive, without Athos, Jakob would have died. Yes I agree with Jakob because if didn't Athos would not have found Jakob.
Emily Teitsworth
ReplyDelete1) Biskupin was referred to as The Drowned City because it had been covered in mud and sand years before, turning all of its inhabitants into bog men. It is referred to a second time when the river of Gasawka literally flooded it and covered the city with its water until 1937.
2) I think Antarctica interests Athos so much for two reasons. One, that it was once a huge continent that broke apart to create the world, or places in the world, and two, that it is abandoned. Scott's story mirrors Athos and Jakob in the way of survival. Scott's men attempted to survive through means of imagination and holding that which is dear close to the heart, and this is how Athos hopes to survive as well.
3) I think the theme of the dead are still living is so important because Jakob can't let go of Bella. In a sense, Those who are dead are not let go by the living, so they have no choice but to stay in this world with those who remember them.
2. Athos is Obsessed With Antarctica And The Scott Expedition Because Of The Fact That It's The Coldest Place On Earth And Man Was Courageous Enough to Venture To There. With Very Much Hope And Thoughts Of Making It Home To Continue On With A Beautiful Life Of Poetry And Arts. To Actually Travel Through Critical Conditions On A Journey Only To Be Denied Their Goal And Still Be Heavy Spirited On A Deadly Journey Home. The Human Imagination Is A Powerhouse. The Expedition Guided Their Lives Just Like The Earth's Features For Athos And Jakob.
ReplyDeleteMADDY AND CASSIDY SAY:
ReplyDelete1. "The Drowned City" refers to the ghetto of Zakynthos, Hania. After the Germans invaded, the two-thousand year old ghetto, a "mix of Jews from Constantinople, Izmir, Crete, Corfu, and Italy" (39), was emptied. The inhabitants were crowded onto a ship, packed together, and a hundred miles off the coast of Polegandros, the ship sank. This haunted Jakob and Athos. The two could not tell stories about explorers: "All Athos's stories went wrong halfway through, and reminded us of the sea." It took months before the "aurora over the blue water" that surrounded them did not reek of the dead.
2. Athos is enraptured by geology not only for its aesthetic beauty, but for its ability to document human history and capture time. He admires limestone, especially--"that crushed reef of memory, that living stone, organic history squeezed into massive mountain tombs" (32). He is particularly interested in Antarctica because he admires Wilson's strength and interest in the world around him. Both the Scott expedition and Athos and Jakob starve--but stay alive on the strength of their imaginations and hunger to know of the inner workings of the world. In this way, Athos is obsessed with the Scott expedition--he wishes to channel their resilience and desire to survive.
3.Jakob is obsessed with the haunting of the dead--at one point, he claims that he is haunting his dead family as much as they are haunting him. He thinks, along with Athos, that the dead exist in a camouflaged, invisible world, one "just as real as what's evident" (49). This directs both of their lives--they study the past to try and escape the fleeting present.
Also, the "Drowned City" was called such because it was buried in a bog years before.
ReplyDelete1.It’s called the drowned city because of the area’s encasement in mud from the bog, which brings Jakob and Athos together. It is repeated later because even in Toronto, there is marshy land.
ReplyDelete2.Athos admires Capitan Scott because he was an explorer of the Antarctic and when he wasn’t the first person to go there he still made the discoveries that he wanted to make. He was in it for the knowledge, which was the same way that Athos felt. Whenever Athos obsesses over something, their entire life wraps around the topic. He studies and later in the book, goes to Toronto over a work piece that he’s obsessing over.
3.The death is something so prominent in Jakob’s life that it’s something he may never really get over. The death has gone into the bloodstreams of many and is so engraved into their lives that it will pass on into future generations. The scars left behind on the Jews hurt by these atrocities will linger over everyone affected. Since we have not finished the novel, as of now it seems that this disaster will forever be with Jakob and he will be struggling to overcome it for a very long time.
Gus and Gracie
ReplyDelete1. The first section of the novel is entitled "The Drowned City" since the city is destroyed, leaving Jakob a lone survivor. The metaphor of water, drowning, and being submerged underwater is consistent throughout the novel. The city of Biskupin is literally a drowned city, and thus what is a metaphor and what is a reality becomes intertwined and somewhat ambiguous.
2. Athos is obsessed with Antarctica because of its mystery, its distance and barren nature, and the legend behind it; it is cold not only in the weather but in the lack of human souls. The Scott expedition relates to the situation of Athos and Jakob because it was a quest that in its inevitable conclusion was akin to catching fog. They persevered and were so close but ultimately fell short, and yet there's a photograph of Edward Wilson, Athos says, with Scott at the South Pole in which he is laughing even after their journey failed. Yes we agree with Jakob, that Athos's fascination directed their lives, since the joy of these stories that Athos tells and retells brings them together and gives them a continuing, wondrous hope.
3. In Fugitive Pieces Jakob is haunted by his deceased family members, specifically his sister Bella. The novel raises the question whether or not people actually have the capacity to let go of people they lost. The dead continually inhabit Jakob's mind, soul and actions, and influence his behavior. He is haunted by his sister in a sort of loving way; that is, he lets Bella enter through doorways before him, he eats slowly and shares with her. Thus, throughout the course of the novel the dead continually commingle with the living in a distant, foreign matter that relates to love and its consequences.
ASHLEY ERIN AND SHANNON
ReplyDeleteANSWERS TO QUESTION 4&5
4. The theory that violence is an illness that can be caught is easy to agree with. It is possible that the Greeks caught it from the Germans. The Germans used violence to conquer people and get their way. The Greeks probably witnessed and acknowledge this and therefore “caught” it. The method of terror used by the Germans could have been emulated by the Greeks, so that they indeed could get their way with people. Another explanation that can be offered is that the Greeks seen the power that the Germans had and desired the same power. They decided to use violence to get power.
5. Language was a form of rebellion. “Graffitos” were killed instantly by the Germans. “A single letter was exhilarating, it was spit in the eye of the oppressors single letter was a matter of life and death.” [78] Also language was destructive to Jakob personally because whenever he spoke or used Yeddish he remembered his family, which tore him apart. When he grew older, he wrote his life story and tried to overcome his past. Through writing he tries to release his anger and pain.
Maddy, Cassidy, and Angela B. say:
ReplyDelete4. Personally, our group agrees with the quote that "violence is like malaria" (72)--it becomes easy to apply violence when it comes to spreading an ideology, as it is simple and effective. When one is "exposed" to violence, as the communists were to the Germans' violence, it becomes even easier to resort to violence. It seems natural, a basic facet of human nature. The only alternative to violence being a virus would be viewing it as inevitable, an instinct one was born with, just waiting to be resurrected.
5. Language plays an important part in the novel Fugitive Pieces. It destroys and keeps Jacob off-balance--Jacob avoids Hebrew and Yiddish, choosing to translate poems into English to give him protection: "English could protect me; an alphabet without memory" (101). However, Jacob, through Athos and Kostas, learns the power language could have: notably, he is impressed by the graffitos, who risk their lives to write mere letters on walls. As he begins working on Athos's book, Jacob begins to understand the power of not language, but silence. Jacob writes that his life "could not be stored in any language but only in silence" (111), and begins to believe that "if one could isolate that space, that damaged chromosome in words, in an image, then perhaps one could restore order by naming. Otherwise history is only a tangle of wires. So in poems I returned to Biskupin, to the house on Zakynthos, to the forest, to the river, to the burst door, to the minutes in the wall" (112). Slowly, Jakob tries to repair the silence ripped in him by loss with language.
Brezzy and Samm
ReplyDelete4) The Theory Made By Daphne And Kostas Is Very Agreeable Because Violence Is Like An Illness. Once The Germans Began To Hate The Jews They Could Have Heavily Influenced The Greeks To Do The Same. At The Same Time The Greeks Did Have A Choice In The Matter. If Enough People Are Doing Something, Whether It Be Right Or Not, Others Will Follow
5) The Art Of Language Used By Athos When Talking To Jakob Definitely Helped Him Cope With What He Is Experiencing. Jakob Was Practically Falling Apart And Constantly Thinking Of What Happened To His Family. Athos' Discussions Interest Jakob And Take His Mind To Another Level. Words Can Be So Strong That They Can Cause Wars, Hatred, Love Etc. Jakob Even Began To Write His Own Poems. Honestly His Time With Athos As Well As Listening To Kostas Opened Up Jakob To How Deep The World And Literature Truly is.