Analysis of The Professor's House Novel Written by Willa Cather - Book Report/Review Example

The House Contents Introduction 3 Connection between the novel and the Bible 3 Conclusion 5 Works Cited 7 Introduction The House is a novel written by Willa Cather during the year 1925 which is a narrative of the 52nd year of Godfrey St. Peter’s life, who is a history professor at an anonymous Midwestern college in the residential community of Hamilton, which outskirts Lake Michigan. The Professor has of late completed his artful culmination, an account of the experiences and information of the Spanish pilgrims in North America and his spouse Lillian and he are at present moving to another house assembled with the returns of his finished work. The Professor has however then once more, has developed significant connections with his old house. The other parts of the novel are made basically out of his insights about his unanticipated profession, which was inseparably connected with his blissful unanticipated wedded life, his later vocation, which was inseparably interfaced with his mentorship of a splendid scholar named Tom Outland, and his family, which embodies, aside from his wife, two little girls named Rosamund and Kathleen. The thesis of the novel is based on the unblinking portrayal of middle-aged frustration, the illustration of the transformational process taking place within a secular mind, the flaws in a materialistic life and the beautiful relationship between a student and the teacher. Connection between the novel and the Bible The full name of the protagonist is Napoleon Godfrey St. Peter. The name is a blend of both history and religion. The author’s application of such a complex name in the novel indicates her innate perception of what contemporary psychology has come to recognize as the inter connection between a sense of religious faith and self. The term “Godfrey” refers to “God Peace” (Hall Petry 1987). It is an obstinately religious name which, from the initial stare, appears to be independently sarcastic for a man, who obtained no religious education in his childhood, does insightful study at residence on Sunday morning in place of heading towards the chapel and must inquire the Roman Catholic tailor of the family for data on the Magnificat. Having been drenched in history for around 30 years, the educator has had no time, no evident space in his life, for the philosophical as well as religious matters. St. Peter is described throughout the novel as a completely secular minded individual. He uncovers his lack of awareness of the New Testament by not actually being familiar with the Magnificat, the well known Song of Mary in Luke 1:46-55, regardless of being an educated man and a teacher of history. Cather never prescribes that he heads off to any Church or has any universal conviction framework. He doesnt know anything of scripture or revelation. Cather appears to be avid to dishonor normal suppositions that enchantment or any sort of religious or profound awareness hinges on upon these fundamental components of religion. Making accentuation by differentiation, Cather even has one character who is rehearsing Baptist carry on egotistically and envy. She appears to be demanding a common demeanor. It is evident from the conversation with Augusta when she asks him, “Why, Professor! Did you receive no religious instruction at all?" and the Professor replies, “How could I, Augusta? My mother was a Methodist, there was no Catholic church in our town in Kansas, and I guess my father forgot his religion” (Cather 2002). This is where we find a connection between the novel and the Bible. It can be said that the professor had two sides in his character, one that was attached to history and the other that started realizing the significance of spirituality, which has started to unite as the professor completed his massive eight-volume “Spanish Adventurers in North America” with the motivation from his alter-ego and his student, the demised Tom Outland. The Professor comes to figure it out that the two aspects namely historical facts and spiritual faith are not diametrically opposed or contradictory: each one is grounded in the ability to transcend discrete actualities, to recognize a request and symmetry on the planet which may not be promptly obvious to somebody submerged in quotidian occasions. The amalgamation of the tender aged materialistic person and the middle-aged profession minded St. Peter and his transformation into a spiritual person at pious peace makes the symbolic death of his entirely professional personality necessary. The representation of feeling "the ground under his feet" is not ironic or pessimistic; and the way that Cather uses such a hearty analogy to pass on a confirmed profound experience focuses to the centrality of "St. Peter" which is the Professors last name. John H. Randall contends that "since [the professor] regards history as the source of all value, it becomes for him a kind of heaven. As a historian, he is like the original St. Peter who holds the keys to the kingdom of heaven much as his nan1esake holds the key to history” (Hall Petry 1987). On the other hand, Barbara Wild states that Cather is drawing intensely upon the relationship between St. Peter and Christ. In the gospel as per St. Matthew, Christ says to his follower Simon Bar-Jona," ... you are Peter [petros], and on this rock [petra] I will raise my congregation ..." (Matt. 16:18) (Hall Petry 1987). Drawing upon the Peter/rock comic story and the incomprehensible Christian fundamental that "the Church" is all the while symbolic and simultaneously literal, a physical building and a set of convictions, Cather has the ability to prescribe that the professor comes to understand that he must manufacture his own "Church," and it is upon this note that the novel concludes. Conclusion Thus it can be concluded that religion has the ability to sway individuals to keep tabs on the incredible, unsolvable puzzles of life instead of commonplace portions like cash or common enjoyment. Religions energy to lift human savvy action is the reason it ought to be venerated in cutting edge progress. Nearly identified with this perspective is Cathers grip of Episcopalianism and Catholicism; however she was not religious regarding conviction, she regarded the pageantry and condition that filled Catholic and Episcopal administrations as a common outgrowth of other positive societal impacts, in particular symbolization and history. Works Cited Hall Petry, Alice. In the Name of the Self: Cathers The Professors House. Colby Quarterly. 1987. Pdf. Cather, Willa. The Professors House. A Project Gutenberg of Australia eBook. 2002. Web. Read More