The Literary Traveler: The Gardens of Mont Saint Michel and Great Barrier Reef - Book Report/Review Example

No: The Literary Traveler: ‘The Gardens of Mont Saint Michel’ and ‘Great Barrier Reef’ The Literary Traveler is an anthology of different short stories about various traveling characters and their experiences that they obtain while traveling. The two stories that appear most inspirational are The Gardens of Mont Saint Michel by William Maxwell and Great Barrier Reef by Diane Johnson. These stories share some common themes but are also different from each other. This paper compares and contrasts the two stories. The Gardens of Mont Saint Michel is the story about an American couple who revisits Mont Saint Michel, a French spot with its family. The couple first visited the place at their honeymoon eighteen years back. They find the place quite transformed that makes them disappointed. They note a number of changes that are not pleasant for them such as increasing tourists, commercialism, lack of courteous manners and much more. The Gardens that looked inspirational and captivating previously were transformed into commercial enterprises and the place that they named as ‘earthly paradise’ was no more the same. Great Barrier Reef is the story about two lovers who take a journey to reach the Great Barrier Reef. The journey is through a cruise that is committed to take them to the reef within five days. The narrator of the story is not interested in traveling and disgusts her fellow passengers and the ship’s crew throughout the journey and after her prize winning is able to see some goodness in the characters of her fellow travelers. According to Tisdale (1995), the narrator hated all the fellow passengers, which shows her weariness to life (p. 68). Mr. J. is very much interested in seeing the reef and is passionate for his final discovery of the reef. They are able to see the reef that was spongy and alive. In both the stories, we find the theme of traveling as the protagonists along with other characters of the stories travel in order to reach a place that is inspirational and attractive for them. In the first story, The Gardens of Mont Saint Michel, the American couple has already seen the place that they visit again in order to revive their memories but feel dejected at their discovery. In the second story, Great Barrier Reef, not both members are passionate at seeing the reef as only Mr. J. shows aspiration to see the reef, however, he is so ambitious and mentally exhausted at seeing his discovery that he starts thinking of coming pains in his life and his lover at seeing his condition thinks about his sound sleep. Disappointment is also depicted in the character of the narrator as she was unhappy and distressed during the whole journey (Tisdale 68). In both the stories, the characters travel so we can see the matching theme of traveling. Along with traveling, the theme of disappointment and dejection are also clear as in both the stories, we find that the characters intend to see something marvelous and heavenly but when they are able to finally see what they have aspired for, they are disappointed. According to Dodson (2004), John Reynolds gets disappointed at visiting the places that he visited previously. In The Gardens of Mont Saint Michel, Mont Saint Michel has changed from an earthly paradise to commercial place, which disappoints the American couple while in Great Barrier Reef, Mr. J. gets so much fatigued at discovering his aspired place that he has negative thinking about his future. He is no more ambitious or happy. Commercialism and materialism are also witnessed in the two stories. In The Gardens of Mont Saint Michel, John Reynolds and his partner see that Mont Saint Michel, a French historical spot now lacks the values that were magical previously. The couple when visited the spot eighteen years back was the only tourist couple at the place and they were welcomed whole-heartedly. The people were also courteous and hospitable while in their latest visit, it was seen that the government was much more interested in attracting tourists just for commercial purposes. In additional, the tour through the castle that was long enough previously was quite short now because there were many commercial enterprises working there in order to earn some money from the tourists. More tourists were there but the attraction was less. According to Warren (1995), Reynolds witnesses the changes as compared to his last visit and is disappointed at seeing the changed status of the places. The guides who were responsible for the tour were less engrossed towards their work and show more attention and curiosity towards the tip that they intend to receive. To the protagonist’s surprise and dejection, the castle Gardens that they intended to see again in their lives were transformed into commercial places by expanding them. This was shocking for the couple and they thought that the history cannot be revived and that what is changed cannot be brought back. According to Dodson (2004), the couple thinks of never returning to France and thinks that the place has lost its attractions with time. In Great Barrier Reef, materialism can be witnessed by the change of attitude that is shown by the narrator of the story. She at once realizes that the crew and other passengers are not bad as she supposed them to be and that they are good natured and engaging. This change happened because she won the keychain as a prize for wearing the best costume, a pumpkin. Her materialistic nature is evident here, as she categories people as good and appealing on the basis of their property that they have given her a prize. Change in people’s attitude, change in the aspired places and change as an inevitable element is shown in both the stories. Mr. John Reynolds shows change in his attitude in The Gardens of Mont Saint Michel as before visiting the place, he was ambitious and happy but when he finally visited the place, he became disappointed. Similarly, we can find change in the attitude of narrator in Great Barrier Reef, in which, the narrator was annoyed and tormented with people’s presence around her and also disliked her surroundings as according to Novakovich (2008), “the woman sulks throughout the journey” and is resentful (p. 69). However, near the end of the story, she shows change in her attitude and she starts liking people. Change in aspired places is shown in The Gardens of Mont Saint Michel, as the American couple is unable to find any similarity with the Mont Saint Michel that they saw eighteen years back. According to Warren (1995), the place transformed from a earthly paradise to a commercial spot overrun with tourists. Similarly, Mr. J. is unable to find the Great Barrier Reef as he supposed it to be, it was changed as compared to his perception. Mr. John Reynolds realizes in The Gardens of Mont Saint Michel that change is inevitable and past cannot be brought back while change is quite clear in Great Barrier Reef depicted by the characters of the story. It is quite clear that both the stories, The Gardens of Mont Saint Michel and Great Barrier Reef depict features and themes that are present in both the stories such as theme of traveling, disappointment, commercialism and materialism and change. Works Cited Dark, Larry. The Literary Traveler: An Anthology of Contemporary Short Fiction. New York: Penguin Books, 1996. Dodson, Margaret A. “The Gardens of Mont-Saint-Michel.” Masterplots II: Short Story Series, Revised Edition (2004): 1-2. Literary Reference Center. Web. 8 Oct. 2012. Novakovich, Josip. Fiction Writer’s Workshop. New York: Writer’s Digest Books, 2008. Tisdale, Sallie. Never Let the Locals See your Map: Why Most Travel Writers should stay at Home. Harper’s Magazine 291 (1744) (1995): 66-74. Web. 8 Oct. 2012. Warren, Tim. Maxwell’s Stories are among the Best. The Baltimore Sun, 9 January 1995. Web. 8 Oct. 2012. Read More