Discussion Question #7 of 13
Because we read this novel as Will's memoir, we get to see very little of Claire Featherstone's inner life and thoughts. Can you imagine the events of this novel narrated in Claire's diaries? How do you think she would describe her relationship to Will or to Featherstone?
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Gwinnett Reads invites Gwinnett County citizens to share the experience of reading the same book. Gwinnett County Public Library and local partners seek to engage the community in the joys of reading and to generate discussion throughout Gwinnett.
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For more information on Gwinnett Reads programming, please call 770-978-5154 or visit http://www.gwinnettreads.org/.
LINKS
- Frazier caps off Gwinnett Reads
- Gwinnett Reads programs begin July 1 at county libraries
- 'Thirteen Moons' book review at Accent Gwinnett
- Author Charles Frazier brings Indian culture to life
- Cherokee Music, Dance and Crafts on Duluth Town Green
- Library lands Charles Frazier for "Summer Reads" program
- 'Cold Mountain' author to speak at Gwinnett Reads
- This Land Is Your Land - Newsweek interview w/ Charles Frazier
4 comments:
I think Clair thinks of being Featherstone's wife as a duty. Of course she doesn't think in modern terms of marriage. I reckon she figured Will was too immature to follow her or she knew she was better off with Featherstone.
As for her get togethers with Will I take it she looked at them like indulgences which she regretted later. Or maybe she just wanted to punish herself by staying away from him.
I would be interested in reading from Clair's point of view. As it stands now, you really don't get any insight into her as a person.
I wonder at her easily romping with Will when they were younger, but then basically shunning him later, even after Featherstones death. You would think that if it was such a great love affair that she would be glad to pick back up with Will again, even marry him.
I often think that Will let her go too easily when they were older. Either that, or he truely did not express his true feelings to her in a way that would get through.
geoff, I agree that Claire thought of being Featherstone's wife as a duty. But even with that duty, she had her "adventures" with Will. To quote Tina, What's Love Got to Do with it? Theirs was a physical relationship. It probably even made her relationship with Featherstone better, with the things she learned from Will. She didn't love Will, and I don't think she had any regrets, either. Claire was strong.I don't envision her pining away for Will. She got what she needed from him, and he was a willing participant.
I think that Clair had something to do with property and was an irony within the book. The Native Americans 'owned' Black Americans. The government owned the land that was 'owned' by the Native Americans... Clair was owned by Featherstone and then (technically) by Will. I think it's a great paradox. Later, when Clair was left to choose between being her own woman and choosing Will, she forged ahead in her life without him. Maybe this was her liberation from being an object. Good thing for her; Will never really knew what he wanted anyway.
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