Saturday, February 20, 2010
Let the Great World Spin--Themes
The book featured several recurring themes—e.g. passage of time, interconnectedness of people's lives, outsider vs. insider perspective, death and its impact on the living, belonging, etc. Was there one central theme that seemed to be carried throughout? Was there a moral to the story? Did the author have a message he was trying to convey or was he simply capturing moments in time?
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I don't know if there was a definitive moral to the story. I do think there was one underlying theme, however. It seemed to me that the author was saying that life is lived in moments--kind of like the snapshots the boy was taking on the subway or the memories Claire had of Joshua--that weave together to create the overall picture/tapestry of our lives. We can revisit these moments--just like the tightrope walker remembered his time on the wire in later years--but we can't turn time back. The world spins on, as Jaslyn says, and all we can do is stumble ahead with it.
ReplyDeleteIt seemed to me that the recurring theme was the interconnectedness between the characters. I liked the way he brought everything back - everything was connected in some way. And the many references to the tightrope walker, to me helped knit it together. I can also see the Death theme. There is death throughout the novel, and it impacts all of the characters.
ReplyDeleteI think there was also a theme of survival - Jaslyn, Lara, Claire, Ciaran each carried on despite their challenges.
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