The lake is a symbol of nature's power in Housekeeping. Nature has power over everything, no matter how hard people try to keep it out. The best example of this is when the lake floods in the spring. It fills houses, furniture, everything. Ruth's house is on the top of the hill and it still is significantly filled with water on the first floor when the lake floods. The town is totally dominated by the flood until the water dissipates, and then the town returns to normal. Even though the Fingerbone's residents value housekeeping and safety in the home, when the flood comes, all of that is lost.
The lake is a symbol of transience as well. It changes with the seasons, freezing in the winter and flooding in the spring. Additionally, when Ruth and Sylvie spend a night out on the lake, they observe the day turning into night and back into day again. the lake drifts them away from the shore and they have to paddle back again. These images of transience are subtle, but they show the lake's power to change itself and change everything around it.
The lake also is also the place where Ruth's grandfather and mother died. In the first chapter, we learn about Ruth's grandfather's death when the train he was on fell off the bridge into the lake, described as "like a weasel sliding off a rock" (6). Ruth's mother also fell into the lake, but she seemed to have driven off the cliff intentionally. This knowledge taints everything having to do with the lake afterwards with a feeling of danger. Even when Ruth and Lucille are ice skating on the frozen lake, the deaths caused by the lake loom over everything.
The long bridge over the lake is also a powerful symbol in the novel. It too holds the image of Ruth's grandfather's death, and it is the only way in or out of Fingerbone. When Ruth and Lucille are first skipping school, they wander down to the lake and witness Sylvie walking on top of the bridge. She says she had always wanted to know what it was like up there, but the girls are uneasy with seeing her walking so high above the water on a thin train bridge. Everyone coming and going takes the bridge by train. Therefore, when Ruth and Sylvie walk across the bridge at the end of the book, they are doing so to intentionally leave Fingerbone behind.
The lake is very important, especially to Ruth and Lucille given that their grandfather and mother both died in it. The lake has complete power over human life that gives credibility to Sylvie's view of transience, the lake is always changing and no matter what the people around it do, it could one day rise up over them. The lake coming up into the house shows how insignificant human efforts to keep it out are and justifies the idea of transience and living in the moment instead of worrying about the future.
ReplyDeleteYou point out a lot of the significance in the 'landmarks' of Fingerbone. It is interesting to analyze what each means in respect to the attention and care that Ruth shows towards it. Due to the disconnect between expected emotion and reality, the reader is left to construct significance on our own, and I think you did a really nice job!
ReplyDeleteWoah this is super cool. I never paid much attention to the lake as a symbol of transience. In your post, you pieced together a lot of small details here and there about subtle changes to the water. I definitely agree about the lake being an extremely powerful object, that shapes everything in Fingerbone.
ReplyDeleteThis last image that you talked about reminded me of the scene right before it, where Sylvie and Ruth are burning down the house. It brings up a very direct contrast, because not only do they burn down the house, they do so with a broom. They use the most basic tool of housekeeping to burn down the house (the symbol for a sedentary lifestyle throughout the book). They escape across the bridge over the lake, which are the two most significant symbols for transience in the book.
ReplyDeleteYou do a great job of explaining the significance of the lake. The lake means a lot of different things to each of the characters in the book. Before reading this, I never realized that the lake could also be a symbol of transience. This image makes a lot of sense and kind of reinforces the idea that Ruth made the right decision in becoming a transient and deciding to leave Fingerbone with Sylvie.
ReplyDeleteYou make a really strong argument for how the lake is a symbol of transience. In addition, I think it's presence is why the residents of Fingerbone are so terrified of transients. They live right next to this symbol that is constantly threatening to overwhelm them and their way of life, and the transients who pass through town add to this, showing that their way of life is in no way permanent or inevitable.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with your comment about the lake win a symbol of transience. I wrote my essay on how natures power and fluidity correspond to transience, and you've made an extremely good point on the lake freezing and flooding, as well as taking lives. In a way, the lake has taken Ruth and Sylvie's lives: literally as people think they've drowned, and symbolically as the lake represents the transience that Ruth and Sylvie has succumbed to.
ReplyDeleteThese are really interesting observations about the lake. I had never thought of it as a symbol for transience but that actually makes a lot of sense. I think that them living next to this lake must really impact them because it is such a strong aspect in their life.
ReplyDeleteYou do a great job of explaining the significance of the lake. The lake means a lot of different things to each of the characters in the book. Before reading this, I never realized that the lake could also be a symbol of transience. This image makes a lot of sense and kind of reinforces the idea that Ruth made the right decision in becoming a transient and deciding to leave Fingerbone with Sylvie.
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