Some people do
not seem to have difficulties making decisions as they know their
priorities and they do not think too much about what they do and what
they have been told to do. They go about their daily life and execute tasks
without much thinking and will carry on their lives doing what everyone else is
doing. They are achievement and goal oriented. They are pragmatic people. While some people constantly find themselves
in a bind and even if they do not like what they are doing, they will carry on
doing what they are doing as they know it is essential to earn a living and
they are uncertain about venturing beyond what they deem their limitations. It
is therefore inspiring to know that there are always some people who are brave enough to follow through
what they believe is their calling and they are focused in pursuing their
dreams as they make unconventional choices. Whatever we wish to do or not to do
with our lives, there will be the difficult resolution which usually becomes
the necessary resolution.
A cousin of mine
once comments that my life is a hundred times better than my mother’s. I love my mother but I used to be angry
with her for being weak. On reflection, she was strong in the way she could be
given the circumstances she was in. She was a traditional woman and she had
given up her job as a needlework teacher
at a secondary school in order to care for the family. When my late dad
started his own enterprise, she had cooked meals for his workers and helped
around in the workplace. She was a very humble person, definitely an introvert
who had imparted in me the passion to read and she used to save up news article
about Sanmao 三毛, a travel writer so that I could read them when I was home for
my vacation during varsity days. Both my mother and I felt that Sanmao led
a very adventurous and romantic
lifestyle. The Taiwanese writer had written about her experiences living in the
Sahara desert and we had enjoyed reading them. My mother’s heart was broken when she discovered that my dad had another
family. She originally came from a neighbouring country so when her marriage went terribly wrong, there was nowhere
else to run to. After witnessing what my mother had gone through in her
lifetime, I am constantly preoccupied with seeking my own personal happiness
separate from the role of a wife and mother. I am very often drawn to stories
that centre around women’s struggles and success as I find them inspiring.
Stella Bain , a novel
written by Anita Shreve
is about a woman of exceptionally strong character and stamina. The
protagonist, Etna Bliss is extremely courageous as she was determined to go
through insurmountable distance to right a wrong that has been caused by her husband. The story is set in the late
19th Century and early 20th century where Etna has set
out to France to serve as a nurse’s aide in the war. She is determined to track
down someone who has been sent to war as an ambulance driver with the British
Red Cross in France after his reputation and academic career have been ruined
as a result of her husband’s manipulation. Etna feels that she owes it to her
husband’s rival who has been victimized and sent away from his homeland to
France .
Despite her
strength, I do not find myself particularly motivated or moved by Etna Bliss
while I find the character whom she tries to track down inspiring and
endearing. Even when the going
gets tough, Phillip Asher looks for beauty in order to survive the war zone.
‘ Etna is suddenly curious.
“What do you do when you’re not driving?”
He sits back and twirls his
glass. “ If you mean a pastime, I suppose I’d have to say I look for
….well….beauty. It sounds ridiculous, but you’d be surprised how difficult it
is .”
“ It doesn’t sound ridiculous
to me at all.”
“ It’s a humble but challenging
quest in this place, a bit like a treasure hunt. When I find something, I note
it in a small notebook I carry. Keeps me from going mad, I suppose.”
“What have you found?’
He sits back and clears his
throat. “I once saw a large flower struggling to poke through the earth. The
cracks in the soil caught my attention. I watched the bent stalk pop up as if
it were spring-loaded. It was amazing. Let’s see.” He takes a sip of wine. “I
saw a beautiful man, an officer.” He pauses, his face somber, perhaps
remembering a death. “ A field of snow , lit pink. A tooled navy leather
journal a soldier kept inside his uniform. He’d barely made two weeks of
entries before he was killed. I once watched a priest take ten years off a
man’s simply by calming his nerves. Gunfire is beautiful. If you didn’t know
what it signified, you’d think it was beautiful , too.”'
I am not
familiar with Anita Shreve’s writings and perhaps this may not be the best book
to start. I somehow cannot fully
empathize with the main protagonist in Stella Bain despite the fact that she
suffers amnesia after having gone through extraordinary circumstances and is
pushed beyond her limits. Anita Shreve is obviously portraying a woman whose
courage and noble intentions are intended to be inspiring. While I appreciate
that Etna is definitely a woman
struggling to live life on her own terms, due to the complex situation she has
landed herself in, I find the character rather contrived. As a rule, I believe that there is
often a lot of truth in fictions
and fictions can be closer to
truth. Despite all the vivid descriptions about the horror of World War I and the post-trauma stress disorder
termed as shell shock that was suffered by many who were involved in the front
, I find that the female character, Etna Bliss remains purely fictitious only.
Nonetheless the book is absorbing enough to make a compelling read.
Venice |