Lockdown Literature

As we all find ourselves stuck at home, most of us have been beset by periods of intense boredom. Now, I may be speaking for myself when I say that there are few activities that I find more fulfilling and enjoyable than reading a book.

Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut 

‘ Cat's Cradle begins as a satire about a journalist's attempt to investigate the life of one of the creators of the atomic bomb, but ends as a bleak allegory about the annihilation of life on earth’ - Anonymous

 Any person familiar with Vonnegut’s supposed magnum opus, Slaughterhouse Five, is intensely aware of the biting, and witty style that Vonnegut employs to articulate and envelop the reader within a bleak world. Vonnegut initially conceived this novel as a way to rationalise the feelings many Americans felt on the day of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings. However, the narrator, cleverly titled Jonah, soon finds himself on a fictitious Caribbean island led by a dictator with a penchant for chemical warfare. Throughout the novel, Vonnegut deals with religion, free will and how these come into conflict with the ever-increasing focus and understanding of nuclear warfare. Crucially, Vonnegut focuses on the detachment that many of the scientists involved in programs such as the Manhattan Project must have felt. In particular, the introduction of Dr. Hoenekker, a fictitious co-creator of the atomic bomb, and his children, exceptionally illustrate the detachment, ego, and child-like revelry that these men must have felt. The title itself ‘Cats Cradle’ succinctly typifies this, as Dr. Hoenekker was playing this children's game throughout the atomic bomb tests. The infamous quote by Oppenheimer ‘ Now I am become Death, the Destroyer of Worlds’ echoes in and out of the narrative. These reflections are coupled to unadulterated insanity that the narrator is party to when he becomes fixated by an esoteric religious leader. 

 Cat’s Cradle therefore offers an irreverent, whimsical and entertaining narrative addressing the development of nuclear weaponry. Like much of Vonnegut’s work, it is a satirical novel that offers a profound reflection on life, death, religion and power. 

The Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan

"Do you remember how you used to play Pilgrim's Progress when you were little things? Nothing delighted you more than to have me tie my piece bags on your backs for burdens, give you hats and sticks and rolls of paper, and let you travel through the house from the cellar, which was the City of Destruction, up, up, to the housetop, where you had all the lovely things you could collect to make a Celestial City." - Little Women, Louisa May Alcott

 This recommendation, I must admit, is a stolen one, as it had first been recommended to me as part of a weekly lockdown book club. I was quite apprehensive at first, as the initial pitch mainly focused on the very intense religious text written in the late 17th century. From this, I initially inferred that while it would be a compelling read, I would have to suffer through it. Luckily, I was pleasantly surprised and found this not only a massively compelling read that focused on philosophical questions that at the time were quite contentious, but the text had a light and convivial tone. Bunyan is a skilled writer who was keyed into the rhythms of colloquial speech that perforated the rural English countryside where the novel is set. 

 Throughout the text, Bunyan introduces us to characters with quite decorous names. Characters such as Obstinate, Timorous, and Mr. Worldly Wiseman add colour to and punctuate the journey that Christian makes towards Heaven. As well as adding humour and wit to the story, these characters advance the narrative and clarify the notions of religion that Bunyan was incarcerated for. 

 Importantly, The Pilgrim’s Progress was the first novel written in English and thus English literature begins with an opening line imbued with notes of a quintessentially English melody: 

"As I walk'd through the wilderness of this world, I lighted on a certain place, where was a Denn; And I laid me down in that place to sleep: And as I slept I dreamed a Dream." 

Middlemarch, A Study of Provincial Life by George Elliot 

What do I think of Middlemarch? "What do I think of glory? – except that in a few instances 'this mortal [George Eliot] has already put on immortality'." - Emily Dickinson, 1973

In this groundbreaking text, George Elliot paints a portrait of provincial life that, ever since its publication in 1872, has become a polarising force. Although being written in the height of the Victorian era, Middlemarch displays none of the fantastical, romantic and noble aspirations that lingered in the literature written at the time. Perhaps Middlemarch is so different from typical Victorian novels because it focuses on the late Georgian period, and is set a good 40 years before its publication, and is thus an intriguing work of historical fiction. 

 The narrative itself may best be described as ordered chaos, as Elliot subtly weaves a tale of pride, shame, morality and the role of women through the characters in and around a rural town in the Midlands. This novel is electrified with staunch realism with most of the characters achieving nothing and being trapped by prisons they themselves have constructed out of their earnest naivete. Although Middlemarch focuses on a host of characters, the narrative of Mrs. Dorothea Casaubon was for me the most magnetic. In Dorothea, Elliot constructs a flawed heroine who is a vessel for Elliot’s own misgivings about the Austen heroines and their all-too perfect endings. Dorothea suffers terribly for her innocence, intellect and altogether good nature. In this context, Middlemarch is very much a product of its time, as the stifling and oppressive nature of the provincial society is a caustic influence on all the characters. 

“We mortals, men and women, devour many a disappointment between breakfast and dinner-time; keep back the tears and look a little pale about the lips, and in answer to inquiries say, "Oh, nothing!" Pride helps; and pride is not a bad thing when it only urges us to hide our hurts— not to hurt others.” 

Aurora Guerrini (Communications Director) is a DPhil student reading Physical and Theoretical Chemistry at Worcester College