The Plot Thickens!

I am now 100 pages into my novel and I can safely say that I am enjoying the book.  The story has begun to pick up and, for the sake of making sense, I will give you a brief overview (which ended up being not so brief, my apologies) thus far:

Mabel and Jack's life on the homestead has gotten increasingly easier since my last post.  Although winter is in full swing on the Alaskan frontier, Mabel and Jack have become friends with a neighboring family, the Bensons.  The Bensons are a rowdy crowd that significantly contrasts Mabel and Jack, but I will go into that a bit later.  Despite Mabel and Jack's original intentions of being completely isolated at their new home, their new friends have given them many insights into surviving the harsh climate.  George, or Mr. Benson, taught Jack how to hunt moose and Esther, or Mrs. Benson, gave Mabel many jams and sour dough yeast starters in hopes of easing their transition to this life.  Yet the most exciting part of this reading was when snow fell for the first time that year.  Mabel and Jack rediscovered their youth (readers learned that they are both around 50 years old) by throwing snow balls, chasing each other around the cabin, and building a young girl out of snow.  This is the first time in the novel that they appear to be happy.  "[Mabel] laughed and laughed until she was doubled over, and then she grabbed another handful of snow and threw it at Jack, and he threw one back, and the snowballs lobbed through the air." (Ivey, 42) The following night something magical occurred.  The snow girl came to life and "scampered through the woods like a fairy." (Ivey, 91)  Yet as hard as Mabel and Jack try to get the young girl to trust them, she never shows herself for more than a minute before retreating back into the forest.  The reading ended in a surprising twist, however.  Mabel and Jack invited the child into their home for dinner and the girl accepted; promptly sitting down at the table.  At this point, I had no other choice than to read on and discover what happened next! But you'll have to wait for my next post to hear how dinner turns out.  

So back to the contrast of Bensons and Jack and Mabel (unfortunately, readers have not yet learned their last name so the wording is a bit choppy - once again, I apologize).  As many authors have done in the past, Ivey juxtaposed two groups of her characters to highlight aspects of the individuals not previously seen in her writing.   In my previous post regarding The Snow Child, I described how Mabel and Jack were living separate, depressing, quite lives.  Mabel had a great deal of time on her hands everyday while Jack worked in the fields so she spent it cleaning and cooking and perfecting every task she could come up with in the cabin.  Ivey uses these conditions of Mabel and Jack's lives to form the contrast to that of the Bensons.  Ivey even comes out right and states the contrast on page 31 when the Mabel and Jack first visited the Bensons house: "It was as if Mabel had fallen through a hole into another world.  It was nothing like her quiet, well-ordered world of darkness and light and sadness.  This was an untidy place, but welcoming and full of laughter."  In addition to the physical differences of their homes and the atmospheres within them, the Bensons have something that Mabel and Jack desperately want: children.  Three of them to be exact. Although the couples joke that Mabel and Jack can "have [the Bensons'] boys anytime [they] want them" (Ivey, 38), the statement is quite ironic because, as readers have discovered, they are unable to have children.  One of the last contrasts between the two couples is the woman's role in the family.  In the Bensons' house, Esther is not afraid to speak her mind and she knows how to fend for herself.  She represents everything that a strong, independent frontier woman should be.  This is a sharp contrast to Mabel, however.  Mabel is shy and self-contained, rarely speaking on controversial issues within her home.  As a result of this, Mabel envies Esther.  For she is the antithesis of Mabel and everything that Mabel wishes she could be.  Through this juxtaposition, readers learn that Mabel desires to be stronger and feels trapped in her quiet life.  Although she is hesitant to accept the Bensons' way of life, she ends up enjoying it.  This shows readers that Mabel may desire more personal connections now - not just isolation anymore.  

Stay tuned for more updates!