-Orson F. Whitney.
Whitney makes no mistake. The "Home Literature" he requests the saints to make separates itself from Milton and Shakespeare and Virgil and Homer because it has the gospel. It will not harm the essence of the literature, it will strengthen it.
Nephi Anderson takes this and runs. I found it interesting that he took such a stark, scriptural approach in the first part and projects that high-religious characters into the ones (who are extremely similar to Anderson's contemporary's) in part 2. This brings the religious directly into the reader's every day life in an engaging way. Anderson, although he has a story to tell, gives a staunch religious prelude that the reader simply can't forget. I mean, you can just imagine the messenger sending the Flinders family -- I mean, Delsa and Homan down the tube.
One afterthought: I did notice that Anderson's Norwegian bit summons the vision of Milton's Adam and Eve, with Signe running away from Hr. Horbert and then looking at her reflection in the pool. And of course Milton was referencing Apollo and Daphne, and Echo and Narcissus. Does this throw a wrench in Whitney's warning against mimicking the classics, or does it show an extra layer of depth?
That's interesting that you make a parallel to Milton's Adam and Eve with the pool scene--it was something I hadn't thought about before, but now I can make the connection between the two. I think a lot of times in our literature today, we reference them, and act as though there are morals to be told within their stories.
ReplyDeleteI found a ton of parallels to Milton in this story! Haha, it almost seems like Nephi Anderson is trying to do his own version of the Adam and Eve story, but for an LDS audience with LDS characters. The themes of temptation and goodness are there throughout.
ReplyDeleteWow. I did not notice this connect to Milton with the pool at all. That is super interesting. I don't think that it is going Whitney though, because it isn't supporting those traditions ''wicked" religious traditions. At least that is my take.
ReplyDeleteThat's really fascinating; it didn't occur to me that Anderson was referencing Echo and Narcissus. Instead of going against Whitney's warning, maybe Anderson is trying to make his work more literary by hinting at all of these classics (without explicitly mentioning things like Milton and Greek mythology). By bringing in heavy theological dialog, Anderson is creating a balance in his work between unique LDS Christian literature and an awareness of the more general literary canon.
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