RMST202-Literature Review

“The Passion According to G.H” is a novel that could very easily be labeled difficult and convoluted and therefore not worth anyone’s time. I certainly felt lost and confused upon starting this novel and therefore found it hard to enjoy. However, as soon as I gave up trying to decipher it and simply took it in for what it was I found that I not only started to enjoy it but also that my brain was subconsciously piecing together some sort of narrative. I’m not sure if I completely grasped the entire meaning of this novel; however, these are my initial thoughts…

This novel tells the story of a woman going through a revelation or transformation. She endures a lot of deep inner rumination and seems to decipher value and meaning from things that others would find mundane. An arc that I found throughout the beginning of the novel was the idea of perspective. More explicitly the perspective of others imposed on G.H. We only know our narrator by her initials that are found on her suitcase, not by her own name. Which potentially represents the narrator’s own perspective of herself as a character through other people’s eyes. Throughout the novel, the narrator reevaluates her identity and her own self-image. She realizes that living life exclusively from the perspective of those around you leads to living a false life, an imitation of life. As her transformation progresses, G.H starts to piece together a new identity, someone who is her more authentic self. 

This photo was taken with a disposable camera when I went to the PNE back in August

“How to explain, except that something I don’t understand was happening. What did she want, that woman who is me? What was happening to a G.H. on the leather of her suitcase? 

Nothing, nothing, only that my nerves were now awake– my nerves that had been calm or simply arranged? Had my silence been a silence or a high mute voice?” (pg.36)

This quote kinda illustrates my point exactly of how G.H comes to realize her new identity and how her authentic self was there the entire time, she just had to change her perspective to find it. 

Another main plot point (if not the only real plot point) is the cockroach and its presence which is what spurs most of the main character’s inner unraveling. The cockroach triggers G.H’s intense rumination because of her hatred for the insect. She says the reason for this hatred is because of their timelessness and the fact that they have existed on earth for hundreds of thousands of years without evolving much. Another theme I found in the novel was gender and G.H.’s own identity of being a woman. Furthermore, throughout the novel, G.H. compares herself and the cockroach and humanizes it by giving it female characteristics.

This is also a film photo from when I visited Granville Island with my roommate on the first day I lived in the city:)

 As well, on a couple occasions, G.H. describes herself as a painting on a cave wall and declares that she has been alive forever. I think that the comparison between herself and the cockroach and the presence of the cockroach in general, is supposed to symbolize how similarly to the endurance of cockroaches as a species, women have endured a lot throughout history and their societal responsibilities haven’t changed much. G.H hates cockroaches because in her mind they symbolize the stagnant role of women that she doesn’t fit into. This theme is also seen throughout the novel when G.H. compares the cockroach to women’s reproductive organs and relates the insect to her own abortion. 

My question for this week: Throughout the novel, G.H narrates the story to the reader and sometimes identifies the reader with endearing terms such as “my love” or other terms such as “mother” or “doctor”. What do you think is the role of the “reader” or “listener” of G.H.’s story?