Monday, October 03, 2011

In Time For The 150th


I'm quite a fan of E.L. Doctorow. But I've skirted around 'The March' till the book swap planted it firmly in my hands. I've got no choice but to get down to it. Just as well. This is the year of the 150th Anniversary of the Civil War. (Refer to The Washington Post's 'A House Divided'.)

Set within the context of the American Civil War and the Battle of Gettysburg, and the ultimate abolishment of slavery, 'The March' can be a little heavy if you're not inclined towards novels about war in general.

The novel is based on the infamous or famous 1864-65 march (also known as the Savannah Campaign) of 62,000 soldiers under the command of General William Sherman, through Georgia and then the Carolinas, fighting off Confederate forces, living off the land and pillaging off the Southern plantations. (Read npr's review, and NYT's review here.)

General Sherman's beliefs are elegantly written, "In this war among the states, why should the reason for the fighting count for anything? For if death doesn't matter, why should life matter?" We are also privy to General Sherman's innermost thoughts, presumably gleaned from the author's extensive research. "There is now Savannah to see to. I will invest it and call its surrender. I have a cause. I have a commnad. And what I do I do well. And, God help me, but I am thrilled to be praised by my peers and revered by my countrymen. There are men and nations, there is right and wrong. There is this Union. And it must not fall."

Central to the story, the plot dances around the issue of slavery and how freeing the slaves along the march doesn't necessary mean full emancipation. The standoff between Union soldiers and plantation owners are a point of contention in the sort of justice served. It doesn't mean justice as you and I might think. It's an arbitrary sort of judgment. The fate of Pearl, a light-skinned slave girl, is told and readers are shown how racial lines are still an issue within the ranks.

The scale and magnitude of the march is such that it's a world unto itself. A world with their own rules and re-imagined social codes as seen through the eyes of the ladies (nurses) Sophie and Emily Thompson. Wrede Sartorious, the surgeon in the Union army provides clinical observations of the going-ons as he moves about his work of tending to the wounded, not out of compassion, but out of duty and scientific curiosity.

The book's concluding paragraph reads, "Later, back on the road, the shadows began to lengthen as the afternoon wore on. The green of the land grew softer, and the road, in a slow descent, passed into a valley. And then there was a dark, thick grove of pine where some of the war had passed through. A boot lay in the pine needles, and the shreds of a discolored uniform. Behind a fallen log, a small pile of cartridge shells. There was still a scent of gunfire in the trees, and they were glad to come out into the sun again."

Is the March really for the altruistic greater good? Is it liberation? Truly? What is honor? What is justice? What is freedom? The written records will then point you to President Lincoln's historic Gettysburg Address in November 1963. The socio-political-economic-racial fallout of the war led to the Reconstruction era where attitudes, mindsets and frameworks were thrown into disarray and reshuffled. The chain of events marked the tide and the turning point in nineteenth century America.

10 comments:

Dawn said...

I loved the book. I recently read an article about Margaret Mitchell and how she didn't realise that the South had lost till she was 10 (and "Gone with the Wind" is another complicated book because of the views expressed). 150 years later and and the civil war still hasn't ended for some.

sinlady said...

the admirable thing about americans is the continual commitment to take on the issue of race relations.

notabilia said...

What Dawn said. The aftermath of the Civil War continues to haunt (?) our geography, our political processes, etc.

Sinlady, not so sure about that. I wish we took on race and racism in a more honest way.

imp said...

judging by the controversy surrounding The Help (movie), the sentiments pre/during Civil War exist strongly still. Not so much of the big cities, but the underbelly of them and the South, this war hasn't really ended in many ways. in fact, switch the races around, and the topics remain the same.

imp said...

also see the latest federal ruling in Alabama that has resulted in Hispanics fleeing the state. http://nyti.ms/nVFnkX then, there's Georgia. http://fxn.ws/n4zcsw

Utah, Indiana and South Carolina. it doesn't sound like progress.

sinlady said...

sigh. i guess i like to kid myself because i really really like the us and the ideals (i believe) it strives to live up to.

notabilia said...

@sinlady, i really, really, REALLY like the US and the ideals it stands for too. But, I don't believe we're there yet. We (Americans) keep fighting the good fight. MLK Jr. said: "The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice."

sinlady said...

@notabilia - the americans are not there yet, but one admires that they keep trying :) we must meet up one day, not to talk about race relations, but just to meet up?

Delphine said...

'The March' has been sitting on my bookshelf for ages. Perhaps I should attempt it. :)

imp said...

delphine: when you're in the mood. give it 2 sittings especially if you're busy in the day!