Country of the Pointed First

¶ … Country of the Pointed Firs, by Sarah Orne Jewett. Specifically, it will answer the question: What kind of literature does Sarah Orne Jewett seem to endorse (meaning believe in and promote), given this novel as a whole? In other words, what does she seem to recommend that writers write about, how, and why? "The Country of the Pointed Firs" is a classic turn-of-the-century novel about women, their relationships, and the natural beauty of a place. Sarah Orne Jewett's book is not only a classic novel, it is a classic treatise on writing, and what great writers write about, and how they use fictional devices to create classic works.

Country of the Pointed Firs

Sarah Orne Jewett has created the best of both worlds in her novel "The Country of the Pointed Firs." She created a beautiful and engaging fictional world, and yet, she uses her experiences as a writer to promote her own ideas about writing as a whole. Jewett seems to be saying throughout the novel that everyday occurrences are the stuff of great fiction, and great writing, and that each of us has a place inside that we can share with others, and that understands those around us, as this passage illustrates. "In the life of each of us, I said to myself, there is a place remote and islanded, and given to endless regret or secret happiness; we are each the uncompanioned hermit and recluse of an hour or a day; we understand our fellows of the cell to whatever age of history they may belong" (Jewett 132). Great writers have the ability to share not only themselves, but also the inner "regret or secret happiness" of those surrounding them, and Jewett certainly does that with her characters in "Pointed Firs." For example, Mrs. Todd's character is vital, alive, and very believable to the reader because of her emotions, her frailties, and her attachment to the Narrator at the end. Who has not had trouble saying goodbye, and who has not reacted just as Mrs. Todd did?

When I went in again the little house had suddenly grown lonely, and my room looked empty as it had the day I came. I and all my belongings had died out of it, and I knew how it would seem when Mrs. Todd came back and found her lodger gone. So we die before our own eyes; so we see some chapters of our lives come to their natural end (Jewett 305).

These characteristics make people real to the reader, and Jewett's book is not only charming and full of natural beauty, it is a handbook for any beginning writer who wants to know how to create compelling characters. Jewett seems to be recommending the age-old adage for writers, "write what you know." The author has written about the coast of Maine and its people because she personally experienced them, and that is one of the reasons they are both so memorable. She has written about something she knows and loves, and that comes through in the novel. It may not be heavy in plot, but it is certainly heavy in the devices of character and place, which are important devices employed by any good writer.