Away Essay, Research Paper

Life is not a series of isolated ponds and puddles; life is a river. Only in the most literal sense are we born on the day we leave our mother’s womb. In the larger, truer sense, we are born of the past – connected to its fluidity, both genetically and experientially.

The novel Away is a clear example of how people are connected to the past. It characterizes three generations of a family of women. These women are connected through their experiences. They are all women of extremes; they are passionate about everything they do. They have the characteristic of going away. They follow their hearts into a land dominated by their imaginations. Nature is a part of each of the women. They follow the constant change in landscape throughout the novel, from Ireland, to the Atlantic Ocean voyage, to Upper Canada, and finally to Loughbreeze beach. Each woman in the novel is connected to the water; it draws them in and will hold them there forever. The women have relationships with men that they are drawn too because of the man’s individuality. Away portrays three women from different generations and shows how similar they are. The women are strong and passionate about their causes; they are bound together through generations of going away. They leave their surrounding environments in an inner search for peace, compassion, beauty and love. Each woman connects to the other through her uncontrollable passions. The women in the novel are connected throughout each generation by their experiences of the past and present.

The women, in the novel Away, are connected by their experiences of being away. They are connected genetically. Mary is Eileen’s mother and Eileen is Esther’s grandmother. The common characteristic of this family is going away. The women in the family go away at different times during the novel. The women each have their own spiritual guide. Their guides are what take them away. They lead them through different stages of their life and advise them on what they have to do. Each woman leans towards extremes. They are all strong individuals and can take care of themselves. They live their own lives and do not do what somebody else tells them to do. Line after line must be circulated by memory among the folds of the brain. Esther desires to create perfection. Esther drew intersected circles, which symbolize the connection between the three women. The circles edge into the territory of another, sharing the experiences of the women with each other. The women in the novel Away are connected genetically, spiritually, and through their extreme personalities.

Nature in the novel Away connects each woman to the other. The landscapes in the novel change constantly. Starting in Ireland with the potato famine causing death and destruction and ending in prosperous life giving Loughbreeze beach. The story begins in Ireland where the family begins to go away. The fields in Ireland need to be fixed; they are dry and bare due to the potato famine. In Upper Canada the fields are rocky and it is virtually impossible to raise a family when almost nothing will grow in these fields. The family moves to Loughbreeze beach as their final resting-place. They are driven away from there at the end because of the life-taking quarry. The three women are all drawn to the water; it gives them peace and serenity. The water symbolizes endless life, which will be seen for generations of family. The forests surround the family everywhere they go. Mary abandons her family to live in the forests of Upper Canada. Eileen travels through the forest to find her new life. Esther lives in Loughbreeze beach among the forested area. The forests hold the memories of the family. The Canadian Shield is bordered with trees that symbolize the end of growth and the end of life. In order for the survival of the family it is necessary for them to move through the forest to find new lives. Nature symbolizes the connection of the three women and how each are individually connected to the land

The women each have relationships with men that connect the women to one another. Mary falls in love with a dead sailor. She promises the sailor that he will always be free and that she will never lose sight of him. Eileen falls in love with Aidan Lanighan who she vows to love forever. She loves him even after he throws her out of his life. These two relationships are similar because of their undying love. Esther falls in love with a sailor whom she never consummates her love with. This relationship connects Esther and Mary because they both fall in love with men that they cannot be with for a long period of time and that they do not ever consummate their love with. Eileen on the other hand consummates her love for Aidan with him. The relationships the women share with their men are similar with all of the women, but each woman has her own relationship different from the others. Each woman is deeply devoted to their man and shares their life with them. Although the men, in all cases, leave the women the women never leave the men. Mary moves to the sea to remain close to the spirit of her dead sailor. Eileen never again sees another man and dies lonely and by herself at Loughbreeze beach. Eileen waits by the sea in Loughbreeze beach for her sailor to come back to her. The women die alone, awaiting the return of their men. The passion the women share and the relationships with men connect the women through eternity.

The novel Away portrays three women of one family as being women of extremes. These women are bound together through generations of being away. Someone who is away is there in body, but not in mind, they know only of their new state of mind. The women are connected to each other genetically and spiritually. They connect through their distinct landscapes and where they have lived. They are all connected to the water and the forest and they continue to live the life of the tortured Irish. The women all share relationships with men. They are very similar, but Eileen is the only one who gets to be with her man for an extended period of time and is the only one that bares a child from that man. The women of the family are connected through their experiences in life. The women are connected both genetically and experientially.