Hi folks,
Following our lesson on the symbolic significance of Mr Quill on Friday, I decided to devote a blogpost to explaining my thoughts about this character - hopefully in a clearer and more convincing way.
Let's consider what we know about Mr Quill so far (at the half-way point of the book):
At the end of this blogpost, you'll find my notes on the extract from last lesson.
So, what conclusions can we draw from all this detail? Here's my rambling attempt at an interpretation:
Mr Quill can be seen as a symbol of representation and artifice. As a chart-maker, his primary role is to create official documents that chart, measure and label the land. But he's an artist and a romantic too; perhaps his character is better suited to the role of the artist. He is humane, sensitive, sympathetic and a lover of the natural world. His colours are too vivid and his romantic nature leads him to mis-label and misrepresent the world; his re-naming of 'Turd-and-Turf' as the 'Blossom Marsh' demonstrates his unreliability as an observer and recorder of reality.
He doesn't quite seem to fit in with either the world of the village or with his employer and fellow gentleman and townsman, Edmund Jordan. Indeed, he is openly mocked by Jordan for his humanity and empathy towards the villagers, as well as for his disfigurement. Perhaps Crace's depiction of Quill as weak and disfigured represents his status as outsider, or perhaps it depicts the powerlessness of the humanist and the artist in this brave new world of ruthless efficiency, progress and prosperity. Quill does not belong in this brave new world and seeks a home amongst the villagers who are about to be dispossessed; he is a man out of time and place, a man from a bygone era.
Mr Quill is a collector and recorder of names and labels. He is eager to find out the names of all of the flowers and plants; he keeps cuttings and presses flowers into his book, which he calls 'his personal Natural History'. This latter word is significant. Mr Quill is an artist by temperament; he represents the village through his artful experimentation with colours and shapes. But, in a sense, he is a historian too. A historian creates a representation of events and civilisations and communities; he creates a record of the world for a future in which that world no longer exists. Because Mr Quill's charts are 'dishonest', the history he is leaving behind of this village will be dishonest too. In effect, once the village is transformed, there will be no accurate record of the lives of the villagers. 'Turd-and-Turf' will cease to exist. Somewhere, a lost piece of vellum will record instead a 'Blossom Marsh' which never existed.
Mr Quill will leave behind two maps: one is a map of the village as it is now, a 'dishonest' image of a 'brawny-headed man' . The other is a map of the future: a brawny-headed man who has 'lost his face'. Mr Quill's charts are an imperfect record of these two worlds on whose boundary the events of the novel take place. They also provide Thirsk with a new perspective - an aerial view that no human has ever seen. Just like when Thirsk sees himself in the mirror at the Manor House, this image provides us with a sudden and startling view of objective reality. It takes Thirsk a while to come to terms with this new perspective, but once he has, it makes perfect sense and will alter his perception forever. This reflects how the new reality of Jordan's ownership and enclosure of the land will suddenly seem inevitable and natural after the initial shock.
It is said that 'history is written by the victors'. If Mr Quill's charts are to be seen as a representation of history, then they are a well-intentioned but inaccurate effort which are blighted by too much artistic licence. In creating his charts, he is 'experimenting' and trying to 'make the story of our farmscape.' In reality, he is writing a fictional history. Once Jordan's transformation and decimation of the village is complete, there will be no trace and no record of the village as it actually was. Quill's charts show Thirsk an apocalyptic revelation of the termination of their way of life. Just like in Yeats's 'The Second Coming', we get a glimpse of the world that has spiralled out of control until 'the falcon cannot hear the falconer'; the world to come is alien, terrifying and uncertain, but by the time we have realised where we are, it is too late to do anything but wait for the inevitable. Crace does not try to re-write or re-direct the arrow of history. He is not arguing that capitalism and modernity can be combatted and defeated. Instead, he gives us an unseen perspective of it from the point of view of the losers and the dispossessed, perhaps with the aim of making us reflect on the excesses of capitalism and the victims of sudden, irreversible social change.
I hope this makes sense. Remember, we are only half-way through the text; Mr Quill's story is far from over. From here, we need to see how Crace develops the symbolic meanings of Quill and his charts, and how he develops the themes of representation, history, art and nature.
Thanks for reading. My notes are below (click to enlarge).
Mr M
Let's consider what we know about Mr Quill so far (at the half-way point of the book):
- His real name is Philip Earle.
- He is introduced in Chapter 1 when his presence unnerves the villagers; he is 'marking down our land'.
- He is a chart-maker, a record keeper; but he has an artistic flair, an appreciation of beauty and a romantic disposition .
- He is a 'pleasant man' of about 30; he has a 'a townsman's beard, a wealthy beard'.
- He has a 'stiff arm and shoulder on his left'; he is a 'stumbler'.
- He is the subject of mockery from the villagers on harvest day.
- When the villagers confront the strangers, Mr Quill shows the 'greatest bravery' and 'courtesy'; Thirsk later calls him 'brave and bloodless'.
- He plays the fiddle at the harvest feast in Chapter 3.
- He enters into village life by choosing the Gleaning Queen; he opts, 'sweetly', for little Lizzie Carr.
- When he and Thirsk go off to chart the land, they start at 'Turd-and-Turf', their 'open privy' (toilet) and 'charnel place' (where animal carcasses are deposited). It is their dumping ground, but Mr Quill thinks it is 'humbling in its beauty' and re-names it 'The Blossom Marsh' on his charts.
- He is interested in the names of plants and trees, and keeps leaf samples "for pressing in his book, his personal 'Natural History'. It seems that listing them is his way of knowing them".
- Edmund Jordan sees Quill as a fool and openly mocks him for his deformity. Quill is not afraid to stand up for himself and for the villagers who will be dispossessed. He is the only one to openly speak out against Jordan.
- In Chapter 8, in which Thirsk and Quill prepare the vellum for his final charts, we learn about his backstory: he has never been in love, never married, his parents are dead, he suffered from a 'sudden palsy' as a child which left him 'wooden' from the shoulder to the ribs.'
- Quill says he fears for 'us' - the villagers. He is evidently putting down roots in this village. He also fears for Mistress Beldame.
- At work: 'He is experimenting, hoping to discover what coloured patterns he can devise to make the story of our farmscape...'
- He creates two maps: one as the land is now and one as it will be when it has been converted into a pasture for sheep.
- Thirsk finds his work dishonest: it's too colourful, too effortless; he finds it hard to recognise it and work out where everything is.
At the end of this blogpost, you'll find my notes on the extract from last lesson.
So, what conclusions can we draw from all this detail? Here's my rambling attempt at an interpretation:
Mr Quill can be seen as a symbol of representation and artifice. As a chart-maker, his primary role is to create official documents that chart, measure and label the land. But he's an artist and a romantic too; perhaps his character is better suited to the role of the artist. He is humane, sensitive, sympathetic and a lover of the natural world. His colours are too vivid and his romantic nature leads him to mis-label and misrepresent the world; his re-naming of 'Turd-and-Turf' as the 'Blossom Marsh' demonstrates his unreliability as an observer and recorder of reality.
He doesn't quite seem to fit in with either the world of the village or with his employer and fellow gentleman and townsman, Edmund Jordan. Indeed, he is openly mocked by Jordan for his humanity and empathy towards the villagers, as well as for his disfigurement. Perhaps Crace's depiction of Quill as weak and disfigured represents his status as outsider, or perhaps it depicts the powerlessness of the humanist and the artist in this brave new world of ruthless efficiency, progress and prosperity. Quill does not belong in this brave new world and seeks a home amongst the villagers who are about to be dispossessed; he is a man out of time and place, a man from a bygone era.
Mr Quill is a collector and recorder of names and labels. He is eager to find out the names of all of the flowers and plants; he keeps cuttings and presses flowers into his book, which he calls 'his personal Natural History'. This latter word is significant. Mr Quill is an artist by temperament; he represents the village through his artful experimentation with colours and shapes. But, in a sense, he is a historian too. A historian creates a representation of events and civilisations and communities; he creates a record of the world for a future in which that world no longer exists. Because Mr Quill's charts are 'dishonest', the history he is leaving behind of this village will be dishonest too. In effect, once the village is transformed, there will be no accurate record of the lives of the villagers. 'Turd-and-Turf' will cease to exist. Somewhere, a lost piece of vellum will record instead a 'Blossom Marsh' which never existed.
Mr Quill will leave behind two maps: one is a map of the village as it is now, a 'dishonest' image of a 'brawny-headed man' . The other is a map of the future: a brawny-headed man who has 'lost his face'. Mr Quill's charts are an imperfect record of these two worlds on whose boundary the events of the novel take place. They also provide Thirsk with a new perspective - an aerial view that no human has ever seen. Just like when Thirsk sees himself in the mirror at the Manor House, this image provides us with a sudden and startling view of objective reality. It takes Thirsk a while to come to terms with this new perspective, but once he has, it makes perfect sense and will alter his perception forever. This reflects how the new reality of Jordan's ownership and enclosure of the land will suddenly seem inevitable and natural after the initial shock.
It is said that 'history is written by the victors'. If Mr Quill's charts are to be seen as a representation of history, then they are a well-intentioned but inaccurate effort which are blighted by too much artistic licence. In creating his charts, he is 'experimenting' and trying to 'make the story of our farmscape.' In reality, he is writing a fictional history. Once Jordan's transformation and decimation of the village is complete, there will be no trace and no record of the village as it actually was. Quill's charts show Thirsk an apocalyptic revelation of the termination of their way of life. Just like in Yeats's 'The Second Coming', we get a glimpse of the world that has spiralled out of control until 'the falcon cannot hear the falconer'; the world to come is alien, terrifying and uncertain, but by the time we have realised where we are, it is too late to do anything but wait for the inevitable. Crace does not try to re-write or re-direct the arrow of history. He is not arguing that capitalism and modernity can be combatted and defeated. Instead, he gives us an unseen perspective of it from the point of view of the losers and the dispossessed, perhaps with the aim of making us reflect on the excesses of capitalism and the victims of sudden, irreversible social change.
I hope this makes sense. Remember, we are only half-way through the text; Mr Quill's story is far from over. From here, we need to see how Crace develops the symbolic meanings of Quill and his charts, and how he develops the themes of representation, history, art and nature.
Thanks for reading. My notes are below (click to enlarge).
Mr M
