The Enigma of Arrival: Full Comments

Discussion Nine A--The Enigma of Arrival

Jennifer J. and Jennifer F. will lead and respond to, respectively, The Enigma of Arrival. We will allow this discussion to go until next week Tuesday--since you are on Spring Break. Please create your own questions and topics for discussion. Always place your names under your comments/questions so that you can receive credit. Members of this discussion include: Dutchess, Juanita, Anica, Rachel, Angie and Lara. Have fun!

Date: Fri Apr 5 2002 12:05 am
Subject: Re: Themes
Jennifer,
I agree that alienation and displacement are current themes throughout Naipaul's novel. Two examples come to mind almost immediately . Jack the gardener is an example of both alienation and displacement. Jack's alienation within in his own home caused him to kill Brenda. He wasn't sure of his place in Brenda's heart. Another example is the young girl, Angela who flirted with him only in the company of others. The fact that she took Naipaul up to the room to see the old man (alienation and displacement) to let him see the old man attempt to take a peek up her dress and get some type of satisfaction from it shows her displacement. Angela had no idea who she was or her purpose in life which is indicative in the letter she wrote him many years later.
Rachel

Date: Fri Apr 5 2002 12:19 am
Subject: Re: Themes
Jennifer,
I'm sorry I meant to say Les murdered Brenda. I think Jack appeared to be accepted, but somehow I feel that he, too, was alienated and displaced. Naipaul states on page 92 in reference to Jack: "I had seen Jack as solid, rooted in his earth. But I had also seen him as something from the past, a remnant, something that would be swept away before my camera could get the picture. My ideas about Jack were wrong, he had created his own life, his own world, almost his own continent." How could I forget the Dairyman? He was definitely alienated and displaced. His notions and ideas were soon rejected by the villagers; and he was ostracized, which ultimately resulted in he and his family leaving the village.
Rachel

Date: Sat Apr 6 2002 1:14 pm
Subject: Re: Themes
Rachel,
I agree with your points. Also later in the novel when Mrs. Bray tells the story of her husband and the estranged girl (from the train station) is a good example of alienation and displacement. The relationship of friendship ends as though there was no relationship between Pitton, the gardener, and the narrator. Yes, I also agree that the book deals with the themes of alienation and displacement.
Sue Ellen

Date: Fri Apr 5 2002 7:33 am
Subject: Re: Themes
I see the inevitability of change throughout this book. (It doesn't feel quite right to call it a 'novel.') On his daily walks, he remarks on the old ruins which surround him and these are juxtaposed with the new farm buildings. Yet, even the new buildings are dismantled during his 10 (was it?) years there. When he returns to his homeland, he finds a different place than the one that he has kept in his heart and mind -- and in that travel book he wrote. The latent anger of the people and the different hairstyles are mentioned specifically. Though I've never read Thomas Wolfe's book, this part reminded me of the title "You Can't Go Home Again." Naipaul has a unique perspective in having the time to walk everyday among his surroundings. Most of us are too busy in the details of our daily lives to notice the setting. (How many of you walk with a friend, only to discuss the difficulties of the day?) That's another unique element of this book, in that it's all setting. I found this troubling because it was so far from my own experiences in reading literature.
Anica

Date: Sun Apr 7 2002 11:40 am
Subject: Re: Themes
Without the imagery and minute details, the novel would not be considered as a great literature. Even though the book is all about setting, Naipaul does have a way with words. I think this would be a good book to read while sitting by the ocean or in the mountains when you need to just relax and enjoy the leisure of the book. His descriptions of water meadows, ancient footpaths, and mushroom shaped stones are phrases that we don't read or hear, but it gives the reader a feeling of being there. I can't imagine how long it would take a beginner to write words like these that involves the reader without having a plot to follow.
Starr

Date: Mon Apr 8 2002 8:41 pm
Subject: Re: Themes
Starr,
I too found the descriptions fascinating and wish that I had more time to really enjoy reading this novel just for sheer enjoyment. It is worthy of a second reading. Even in my hurry to finish it (due to all the other constraints on my time), I found myself unable at times to put it down. I think it would take a novice writer much time to create such a work of literature.
Rachel

Date: Mon Apr 8 2002 10:31 pm
Subject: Re: Themes
Starr,
You're right. I think Naipaul is attempting to closely link his reader to the place by describing the scenery in great detail. Maybe, he feels that if the reader understands the surroundings, if he/she can see every detail, then he/she can better understand the things that are happening with the characters in the story-why they do the things they do. Angela

Date: Mon Apr 8 2002 10:32 am
Subject: Re: Themes
You guys are right! You find yourself swept away and consumed with his pastoral descriptions, and then you think--hey, where's he going with this? I like theme of self-discovery when the narrator goes back to Trinidad and then returns to England, aware that his own life and experiences are worth writing about rather than the falseness of all the British, French, etc. history and literature that he has learned in the schools established by the British. He reminds me a lot of Jamaica Kincaid, a Caribbean writer on whom I focused for my book project. I am also using Kincaid for my research paper and will be able to draw parallels between Naipaul and Kincaid as they both deal with eliminating the effects of oppression and its visionary limitations.
Dutchess

Date: Mon Apr 8 2002 8:49 pm
Subject: Re: Themes
Jennifer,
I too had the same difficulty at times. There were times when this novel reminded me of Rushdie's Midnight Children. The classics that we have come to love and enjoy reading have a very different style. However, Naipaul and Rushdie's style is very familiar to those accustomed to reading it. I'm sure that more exposure to this type of literature would enhance our understanding. Can you imagine how those who are accustomed to Naipaul and Rushdie must feel when they read Hemingway or Poe?
Rachel

Date: Fri Apr 5 2002 10:59 am
Subject: Re: Themes
I think these are recurrent themes because Naipaul feels displaced himself. In The Enigma and in his work, The Mimic Men, Naipaul describes his characters that don't quite fit in with their surroundings. I think this is a direct reflection with his own life. He left Trinidad to study in England. He didn't feel "at home" in Trinidad and in the beginning did not feel "at home" in England.
Susan

Date: Sat Apr 6 2002 8:30 am
Subject: Re: Themes
I agree with the displacement of the narrator in his inability to at first find himself in England. After getting over the wonderment of the place he's learned about only through foreign studies of an existence he hasn't known first hand all his life, he seems to recognize the importance of defining himself as an individual with his own heritage, ideas, and cultural concepts.
Dutchess

Date: Mon Apr 8 2002 9:13 pm
Subject: Re: Thoughts/?s
Rachel,
I read an article published in the online Bangladesh newspaper, The Independent, written by Niaz Zaman. He had this to say concerning the title and theme: "...arrival is an enigma because the narrator arrives in a place that is familiar and unfamiliar, a place that is home and yet not home, a place that changes even at the very moment that the writer is writing about it, above all, a place where one arrives by not arriving."
Jennifer J.

Date: Thu Apr 4 2002 9:25 pm
Subject: Home
In The Enigma of Arrival, Naipaul writes a fictional account of his experience in moving to England from Trinidad. What he finds is that a break from his old home does not mean he'll have a new home. Why do you think this is true?
Jennifer J.

Date: Thu Apr 4 2002 11:53 pm
Subject: Re: Home
Jennifer,
I think that Naipaul thinks the break from his home will bring automatic acceptance from his new associates. What he finds instead is that he is often in isolation and often treated differently. For instance, when he was on the boat and the Trinidadian is upset because they want to put him in the room with Naipaul as he says, "Because I'm Black." Naipaul realizes that he is viewed as a minority in a negative connotation. The mere fact that the Trinidadian doesn't want to be in the room with him makes him feel inferior. None should feel inferior at home. When we think of home, (the Judy Garland tune has begun to ring in my mind, yet I can't remember the lyrics)...but I know Home is usually associated with acceptance and happiness.
Rachel

Date: Fri Apr 5 2002 4:00 pm
Subject: Re: Home
The concept of 'home' as a place of rest and relaxation -- of comfort -- As I have been reviewing a variety of postcolonial authors, I have noticed a trend. It is as though the 'invasion' of British culture irrevocably changed the 'home' of the colonized nations. The influence of British customs and economics changed the landscape of Trinidad (the non-native cash crops -- sugar, for example). There is a sense of displacement -- a sense of being lost and having no home.
Anica

Date: Thu Apr 4 2002 9:24 pm
Subject: Change
The motif of change is carried throughout the novel. Not all change, however, is becoming better. Identify and describe your thoughts on some of the passages that involve change. What is the importance of each?
Jennifer J.

Date: Sat Apr 6 2002 10:34 am
Subject: Re: Change
I have been thinking about the futility of man's attempts to change and control nature (or the world around him). Jack worked long and hard in his garden -- his beautiful greenhouse, too. The writer 'watches' as all of that returns to only the concrete slab, and that is even breaking up. Yes, Jack made his world beautiful while he was in it -- but do we as humans have the power to make lasting changes that will live beyond our own existence? I think it is possible when you consider people like George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, whose ideas and philosophies of a new style (for their time -- yes, I know the Greeks used it first) of government have certainly changed the world. But the writer sees changes in his own lifetime -- and sees them revert -- the old farm buildings overgrown with foliage, the new farm buildings (the milking building) -- to watch this new building be dismantled and returned to only the concrete slab. This concept reminds me of the smallness of the individual in the expanse of the universe -- and even in smaller comparisons: our own country, our own state, our own city.
Anica

Date: Sat Apr 6 2002 10:20 pm
Subject: Re: Change
I love your question about whether or not we, as individuals, can make a change in the world. You mention great statesmen who certainly had an impact on forming our nation. But I wonder if the nation we call America today is what they had in mind. In some ways they would probably be disappointed, but in many ways, they would probably be overwhelmed by the greatness of this country. The point I guess I'm trying to make is that even though it is possible for individuals to make a lasting change in their world, they have to be willing at some point to let go and see were things go.
Angie

Date: Sat Apr 6 2002 10:36 pm
Subject: Re: Change
One passage dealing with change is found when he finishes his book and returns to Trinidad. I like the way he describes himself as having lived there in a new way in his imagination. When he returns the island is not at all the way he has pretended that it was for the past two years. I think we do that to people also. When we are away from someone for a long time, we begin to miss them and tend to remember only good things about them. They become almost superhuman in our eyes. "Absence makes the heart grow fonder."
Angie

Date: Sun Apr 7 2002 11:50 am
Subject: Re: Change
I agree Angie that we don't always remember things the way they really are. Naipaul remembered the island the way he wanted it to be, an escape from reality. We all do that when the truth is not pleasing to us. We fantasize about relationships, past memories, material things, etc. I assume this is our personal escape from reality. I know that when someone I care about dies, I tend to remember only the good and forget the bad qualities of that person. As an example, when my mother's second husband died, she glorified him for years when in actuality that was not the case in their marriage. She still believes only the best of him. That's her way of escaping reality. Naipaul is just proving that we are all alike in many ways.
Starr

Discussion Nine B--The Enigma of Arrival

Ricardo and Mysha will lead and respond to, respectively, The Enigma of Arrival. We will allow this discussion to go until next week Tuesday--since you are on spring break. Please create your own questions and topics for discussion. Always place your names under your comments/questions so that you can receive credit. Members of this discussion include: Angela, Starr, Susan, Sue and Tom. Have fun!

Date: Fri Apr 5 2002 5:37 pm
Subject: The Title
I believe either Jack or his wife make mention of the title of the book several times. They relate it to a piece of art as well as some of the traveling that they were involved in. I'm wondering what other meanings could the title hold? Another thought to consider is who is it that at the end, finally "arrives" and "where" is it that he/she arrives?
Ricardo

Date: Sat Apr 6 2002 12:57 pm
Subject: Re: The Title
The title is borrowed from the painting of artist Girogio de Chirico. In Naipaul's book is itself something of enigma or in his words, "of desolation and mystery; it speaks of the mystery of arrival." Naipaul for many years had been inspired by the painting. The writer is the narrator, even though Naipaul never uses his own name. The book is a search for the writer's self, a quest in which Mr. Naipaul feels a kinship with his journey of writing and the land he journeys.
Sue Ellen

Date: Sat Apr 6 2002 1:56 pm
Subject: Re: The Title
Sue Ellen,
Naipaul discusses Chirico's painting as 'surrealist.' Can you give us a few details about what characterizes 'surrealism'? I have always associated the term with the famous Dali painting -- that I can't even name -- the one with the 'melting' clocks. (You see how much help I need in this area, right?)
Anica

Date: Sat Apr 6 2002 8:27 pm
Subject: Re: The Title
I'm sure that Sue Ellen can give a much more detailed explanation of surrealism, but after reading your question I was interested also. Here's the entry for surrealism from the Dictionary of Cultural Literacy: A movement in art and literature that flourished in the early twentieth century. Surrealism aimed at expressing imaginative dreams and visions free from conscious rational control.
Jennifer J.

Date: Sun Apr 7 2002 9:56 pm
Subject: Jennifer-Re: The Title
Jennifer,
The literature definition is very much like the one for an artist. The surrealism movement was a style not just for the painter but also for the painter. These people feed off each other. That is why one reason it is so interesting how Naipaul and so many of the other writers refer to paintings in their writings. I can just see these people sitting around eating cheese, sipping on wine and comparing their philosophies. Just a thought. I wonder how they would feel about this computer age? Especially since it has become so impersonal to compare our philosophies. In their day I am sure they image this but it would have really been far out there in "The Surrealism Land"!
Sue Ellen

Date: Sun Apr 7 2002 9:41 pm
Subject: Anica-Re: The Title
Anica,
Surrealism is a painting style that started in the early 20th century, during and after World War I in Europe. This style emphasized imagery from dreams and fantasies, as well as an intuitive, spontaneous method of recording such imagery. Surrealism, aimed at "pure psychic automation by which one intends to express verbally, in writing, or by other methods, the real functioning of the mind." Artist who worked in the Surrealist mode are generally separated into two categories, 1) those whose imagery is predominantly figural, which includes Salvador Dali and Rene' Magritte; 2) this group follows more of an abstract style, such as Joan Miro'. The name of the painting by Dali is "The Persistence of Memory". It is true Chirico has been considered a source of inspiration for those artists who created the Surrealist movement. He actually was part of the short-lived school of the "pittura metafisica" in modern Italian art. His type of painting is what one calls "metaphysical painting", it is not supernatural but rather communicating a feeling of reality very different from our ordinary experiences. The surrealists' intention is to discover and explore the "more real than real world behind the real". They also used parts of the Dada movement as well as the abstract to create this style. Chirico painting that inspired Naipaul title is very much appropriate because to quote Naipaul, it pictures a scene "of desolation and mystery; it speaks of the mystery of arrival." http://www.nytimes.com/books98/06/07/specials/naipaul-enigma.html Hope this helps!
Sue Ellen

Date: Sat Apr 6 2002 9:27 pm
Subject: Re: The Title
The puzzling painting by de Chirico is the real subject of the book, according to Folio Books. It also suggests that the title is based on not merely physical or geographical arrival from one place to another but the emotional and spiritual arrival. The arrival is about Naipaul himself and the changes he goes through by living in England.
Starr

Date: Sun Apr 7 2002 9:41 pm
Subject: Re: The Title
I think this is completely about Naipaul's change in his life with his new home. The title itself rings true about his feelings. The Enigma (bewilderment, mystery, puzzle) of his Arrival in a new land with new customs, cultures, etc. I feel that Naipaul felt left out of the life he lived in Trinidad and was in search of his true self. Through his studies at Oxford and his permanent move to England, I think Naipaul solved the mystery and found his niche in life. When thinking of the Chirico's painting, I think it also represents Naipaul and his life. "...in the foreground there are two figures, both muffled, one perhaps the person who has arrived, the other perhaps a native of the port..."(97-98) I would interpret that Naipaul sees himself as the one who has "arrived" in his search for home. I also see the other as the person he wants to be "a native" who feels the true sense of belonging.
Susan

Date: Sun Apr 7 2002 10:22 pm
Subject: Susan-Re: The Title
Susan,
I agree with what you are saying. In my research of Naipaul I found some interesting information on him and the painting. Website; http://www.nytimes.com/books/98/06/07/specials/naipaul-arrival.html According to the article, the painting dealt with two men going into town, one conducting business and not achieving nothing but would continue to return to the wharf. Then he finally realizes the mast of the antique vessel is not there as it was before. It deals with the man's fantasy, but also the article said the fantasy deals with death. (on p. 5) Naipaul quotes about inspiration of painting, "It did not occur to me that the story that had come to me as a pleasant fantasy, had already occurred, and was an aspect of my own." One might agree with this critic because Naipaul deals with his fantasy and reality as a writer with no country, no roots and how he struggles with that as a person. At the end of the book he deals with the fantasy of death because he includes the death and ritual cremation of his own sister and the book was dedicated to the memory of his brother, he also was a writer.
Sue Ellen

Date: Tue Apr 9 2002 9:16 pm
Subject: Thomas-Re: The Title
Thomas,
Naipaul will never be at ease because he has travel so much he has become rootless. I believe one that travels continuously like he did their journey may be enjoyable but never gives them the stable roots of one that settles in one place.
Sue Ellen

Date: Mon Apr 8 2002 5:39 pm
Subject: Re: The Title
I think the spiritual and emotional aspect of arriving has not been thoroughly brought out in this text. Can anyone explain the ways the author captures the spiritual and emotional arrival of the characters in this book?
Mysha

Date: Tue Apr 9 2002 8:21 pm
Subject: Re: Enigma
I think he is keeping the name of the painting, so that the allusion is perfectly clear. If Naipaul had chosen another word, we might never have found the actual painting. "Enigma" has three meanings, according to www.m-w.com (Miriam Webster's online dictionary). 1. an obscure speech or writing 2. something hard to understand or explain 3. an inscrutable or mysterious person (synonym: see mystery) Interestingly, all three of these definitions could apply to this work. I was reading an article about Naipaul's Nobel Prize, and it mentioned that this book is not typical of his other works. Also, I find it interesting that Chirico was not the one who named the painting -- it was the poet Apollonaire. The website "Good Morning, My Name is Guillaume Apollinaire" (http://art-bin.com/art/aguillaumee.html) states that Apollinaire had an identity crisis. Regarding Chirico (the date of the painting "Enigma of Arrival" is 1912: "Immediately prior to World War I, the Greco-Italian painter Giorgio de Chirico created enigmatic paintings in which he used a traditional style to describe not the external world, but haunting dreamscapes confused with illogical images, bizarre spatial constructions, and a pervasive melancholic mood. He was greatly inspired by the writings of Friedrich Nietzsche, who believed hidden realities were seen in such strange juxtapositions as the long shadows cast by the setting sun into large open city squares and onto public monuments. De Chirico called his art "metaphysical," and with it hoped to destabilize the meaning of everyday objects by making them symbols of fear, alienation, and uncertainty." (this came from "A Handbook of the Collection: The Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art" as found on this website: http://www.museum.cornell.edu/HFJ/handbook/hb150.html) This information makes me think of the 'expatriates' who no longer felt they had a 'country.' I think Naipaul identifies with both Chirico and Apollinaire in the basic questions of identity and home. Imagine Naipaul's sense of loss when he realized that the Trinidad of his memory no longer exists. I think of it compared to going back to your hometown to find out that everything that was important to you (your house, grandma's house and the elementary school, etc) has been replaced by a new shopping mall and parking lot. It's almost as if the world has progressed 'without' you -- we want to mark our progress according to our starting point, but what happens when the starting point is erased?
Anica

Date: Tue Apr 9 2002 8:11 am
Subject: More Thoughts
In the section entitled "Ceremony of Farewell," the speaker talks of the dream of disappointment and exhaustion. As he grew older, he then turned his thoughts to death. I have two thoughts to consider. One, he talks of how it was only after his thoughts of death that he really began to get the feeling to write this book. Is death a part of this "enigma"? If not, how does it fit in. Secondly, is it possible that Naipaul was in some way, predicting or feeling his sister's impending death?
Ricardo

Date: Tue Apr 9 2002 10:33 pm
Subject: Ricardo-Re: More Thoughts
Ricardo,
One would have to say that death is very much apart of the "enigma". Everyone deals with death rather it may be in your dreams or become a reality. The older one gets death becomes a reality and you tend to fantasize how it will play out or what others might do. Naipaul was writing about his writing and he gets older in the book. He dealt with the enigma (mystery) of dying through Jack. For example, Jack the gardener, who had roots, peace and who he thought so much of dies in the book. At the end of the book he deals with the fantasy of death because he includes the death and ritual cremation of his own sister and the book was dedicated to the memory of his brother, who was also a writer.
Sue Ellen