|
Post by Dr. Nemmers on Jul 4, 2024 17:42:18 GMT
Not sure if this is an Official Existentialist Term or not, but distance seems to play a huge role in this novel, especially the first section, in which it's mentioned at least half a dozen times.
Wondering how the concept of "distance" fits in with some of the existentialist ideas we've studied so far?
Also, if you're distant to everything and everything seems distant to you, is the solution simple enough as just getting closer to everything? Seems like a straightforward solution... and yet I'm guessing not so much.
|
|
|
Post by reluedders on Jul 7, 2024 21:19:21 GMT
I think the idea of distance would depend on whether you would classify someone as "lost" or not. If you're distant from something, then you'd be closer to something else. If you're distant from faith in God, than you're close to an existential lifestyle. You could be distant from your "truth," which could be either an existentialist idea as I see it. You're not sure what direction to go in, and aren't sure where you are at exactly that moment. That would bring in the idea of being "lost."
Am I making sense?
|
|
|
Post by shelbygraham on Jul 10, 2024 3:41:06 GMT
I wonder if distance can be associated with dread. The narrator has experienced a lot of trauma and rocky relationships. The distance created may be a way for him to avoid more potential tragedy or loss. He might have fear or apprehension of what life has to bring next and he wants to create distance from everyone and everything he loves. I also think about alienation when I think about distance; the narrator causes himself to be alienated. He is not only physically alienated but also emotionally alienated. From the people in his life and possibly from himself.
|
|
|
Post by Dr. Nemmers on Jul 10, 2024 4:58:49 GMT
Well, and the further I read into the book the more I noticed how much distance still played a huge role. When the narrator goes to talk to Yellow Calf, for instance, he keeps talking about how to "close the distance" between them. And he does so by making a connection between the present and past, which is a huge revelation for him.
That's a good point, Renee-- that distance is relative, and that anything further away from one thing would necessarily be closer to another. And to expand upon you point, if you were completely distant or disoriented, you'd be lost in this sense. I think that does a great job to describe the narrator-- somehow, he's distant from everyone and everything!
Agree as well, Shelby, that the distance from himself is probably the most harmful here. Do we think he closes this distance in the end?
|
|
|
Post by shelbygraham on Jul 10, 2024 13:59:08 GMT
I think, like you say Dr. Nemmers, the narrator's last conversation with Yellow Calf is a revelation for him and I think that also means the distance is closed, or is at least a contributing factor to him closing the distance. On a more grand scale (and I think this may also be discussed on other boards) , Native Americans grew distant from their pasts as their culture and identity were being wiped away. Staying connected to their history and ancestry is how their identities as Native Americans stay alive. For the narrator to close the distance between himself and the distance from others, he needed that unity with his past.
|
|