Integrite Fall 2012

34 IntÊgritÊ: A F aith and Learning Journal thinking she is fun-loving but genuinely innocent. In reality, Bessie is the tempter figure in the novel²the means by which evil (and the evils of croquet) enter the lives of the other characters. 6KH FDOOV KHUVHOI ³WKH VHUSHQW LQ WKLV DQWL-croquet SDUDGLVH´ Alick disapproves of croquet because of the social license it encourages between men and women on the lawn, but Bessie defies him and deceives the community into playing the game without telling them what they are playing.

Croquet serves as the cumbersome symbol representing the chaos that doubt causes in a community. 7KURXJK FURTXHW FKDUDFWHUVœ UHODWLRQVKLSV ZLWK others are called into question. Mr. Touchett, for example, that unfortunate clergyman, forgets his place and aspires after playing a match with Fanny, an affront that eventually forces him to leave town. Croquet also leads to more serious consequences²dubious moral behavior. Charlie Carleton develops an immoral desire for Bessie through their interaction in the game, which eventually FRQWULEXWHV WR %HVVLHœV GHDWK The community is deceived into engaging in the game of croquet, and the chaos that ensues is emblematic of the breakdown of the relational and moral aspects of their Christian faith. Bessie is removed from the novel, in what can only be understood as an act of Providence, by tripping over a croquet hoop, giving birth to a healthy son, and promptly dying. The community LV ILQDOO\ FOHDQVHG ZLWK WKH GHDWK RI %HVVLH WKH EULQJHU RI ³WKH LQIHFWLRQ RI FURTXHW IHYHU´ DQG RUGHU DXWKRULW\ DQG IDLWK DUH UHVWRUHG Students love to discuss Bessie and the way croquet functions in the novel, EXW PRVW ZLOO LPPHGLDWHO\ UHFRJQL]H WKDW WKHUH LV VRPHWKLQJ IODZHG LQ <RQJHœV storytelling. It does not take long for a thoughtful class to correctly attribute the narrative flaws to the way Yonge bases the novel on a theological lesson rather than on true, human characterization. 6RPH ZLOO DUJXH WKDW 5DFKHO IHHOV DV ³UHDO´ as Jane does²Rachel is a very well-developed character, despite the didactic purpose of her transformation. Few, however, will aUJXH WKDW %HVVLHœV characterization is as plausible and compelling as characters like Brocklehurst, St. John, or Blanche Ingram in Jane Eyre. While the supernatural voice Jane hears at the climax of Jane Eyre is certainly an act of divine intervention, it does not result in characters who feel and behave any less humanly. The same cannot be said for the divine intervention of the croquet hoop in Clever Woman. The point of this comparison in the classroom is not to bash Yonge or extol BrontͲboth have strengths and weaknesses that can and should be discussed and evaluated. Rather, the comparison provides the opportunity to explore what makes literature ³&KULVWLDQ ´ WKH VRPHWLPHV QHJDWLYH FRQVHTXHQFHV RI LPSRVLQJ D UHOLJLRXV DJHQGD on a novel, and the value of literature for Christians, whether or not that literature is explicitly Christian.

How Should W e T hen Read?

Christians are as susceptible to consumerist reading as the rest of the world. We read looking only for moral lessons. We read to simplistically affirm what we believe. We read to romanticize suffering or to cover complexities with