Complex Analysis of "The Narrow Road to the Deep North"
Introduction
The Australian novelist Richard Flanagan won the 2014 Man Booker Prize for his historical fiction novel, The Narrow Road to the Deep North (Man 16). This book is complicated at times, steeped in emotion and at the same time depressing and sad. The story covers the love, life and losses of our protagonist, Dr. Dorrigo Evans as he struggles to come to terms with his guilt after leaving a prison camp in WWII. Flanagan takes us on the journey of Dorrigo Evans troubled life as he grapples with feelings of guilt that stem from his affair with his uncle’s wife, memories & flashbacks of his experiences as a POW in World War II, and the unwanted recognition he receives as a war hero.
As with most soldiers' returning from war, we see how one can try to put the horrors and suffering of war in the rearview mirror and somehow get on with life.
Author & Title
The Tasmania born author of award winning novels such as Death ofRiver Guide, The Sound of One Hand Clapping, and The Unknown Terriorist is a master at drawing in his audience. (McKenna) It is said his most applauded novel, The Narrow Road to the Deep North was so renowned because “the two great themes from the origin of literature are love and war: this is a magnificent novel of love and war written in prose of extraordinary elegance and force, it bridges East and West, past and present, with a story of guilt and heroism” (AC Grayling, Masters). The book gets its title from a book of the same name by Japanese poet, Matsuo Basho. Additionally, the book is said to be in honor of Flanagan’s father, Archie Flanagan, was an allied POW in 1943, and is said to have worked the on road while on the Burma Death Railway.
Summary
In The Narrow Road to the Deep North, our protagonist, Dorrigo Evans, grapples with feelings of guilt that stem from his affair with his uncle’s wife, memories & flashbacks of his experiences as a POW in World War II, and the unwanted recognition he receives as a war hero. As with most soldiers' returning from war, we see how one can try to put the horrors and suffering of war in the rearview mirror and somehow get on with life.
Setting
Because the novel spans so many years, and the protagonist has so many flashbacks, we see multiple settings. The most important, the integral setting, is the POW camp in Saim set along the River Kwai and the Burma Railway in Japan. This is where Dorrigo Evans encountered such great hardships that his life was forever changed. He could never get over the loss of his nephew, Darky Gardnier. Siam sets the mood for the rest of the story, dark and desperate. The backdrop settings include the Evans home in Tasmania, Australia and Adelaide, where his brother lives.
Characterization and Conflict
Flanagan was able to create such round characters that seemed so real, you really felt you could relate to them all. -Our protagonist, Dorrigo Evans, is a dynamic character. A man loyal to his troops and country, He is a brave and courageous leader and an intelligent, well-respected surgeon. Our character goes through multiple changes. As a young doctor in Australia, he joins the military to defend his beloved country and protect his one true love. Upon being captured by the Japanese, he is thrown into a prison camp, where his life is forever changed. He become selfish and uncaring in order to survive. Here he suffers from guilt and depression that will last his lifetime. Upon leaving the camp, he must learn to adapt to the modern world. In his later years, he becomes lazy, doesn’t know how to fight for what he wants and realizes he may never again find anything that makes him feel alive.
Antagonist-In this book, I believe the antagonist is actually the protagonist. By definition, The antagonist is the force in conflict with the protagonist. It may be society, nature, or fate, as well as another person. It can also be the protagonist's own self, if he or she has an internal conflict. Such is the case with Dorrigo Evans. Dorrigo creates the trouble with in himself. His constant guilt (shows emotion) and continuous affairs (motivation for finding satisfaction), causes his never ending unhappiness.
Conflict-The internal conflict in Narrow Road is the Dorrigo Evans versus Dorrigo Evans. The conflict is with himself. His struggles are between his own thoughts and ideas. He continues to have affairs because he is just searching for anything that will make him feel alive again. Sadly, nothing will, because he is the one that won’t allow it. There are also elements of external conflict such as dealing with time spent in the prison camp. This caused Dorrigo to make poor choices in his adult life because he was so conflicted about the fate of those in the camp. The men in the POW camp believe that “toabandon one man was to abandon themselves” (NRDN 186) and that “if the living let go of the dead, their own life ceases to matter their own survival somehow demands that they are one, now and forever” (NRDN 204). This conflict ties in directly with the real world, our veterans come back everyday trying to figure out how to blend back into society.
Plot
There are 3 basic plots to the story. The story begins with the capture of our protagonist, Dr. Evans, in Japan. He has just come out of military training and is captured almost immediately. He is sent to a POW camp where he sees death, despair and brutality. It is here that Dorrigo witnesses the cruel beating of a young man, Darky Gardiner.
As Evans tries to intervene, one of the guards offers him medicine, specifically Quinine, that can be used to save the lives of other prisoners. All Evans has to do is stop interfering and the medicine is his. In this moment, he realizes that some must die in order for others to survive. The climactic death of Gardiner sets forth a motion that will stay with Dorrigo for his entire life, from this point on he will never find happiness. “For the world did not change, this violence had always existed and would never be eradicated, men would die under the boot and fists and horror of other men until the end of time, and all human history was a history of violence. ” (NRDN )
As our story unfolds, Flanagan, the master of flashbacks, sends us back to a time shortly before Dorrigo takes off to participate in the war. Dorrigo has begun a love affair with Amy, the wife of his uncle Keith. As Dorrigo takes a break to read a book in the prison camp, he thinks back to Amy and says QUOTE- PAGE NUMBERAnother aspect of foreshadowing is seen with the letter Dorrigo receives from Ella while he is in the POW camp. The author reveals that there is a letter and that Dorrigo can't wait to read it, but the contents are not revealed until much later. Ella lies in that letter, saying that police had confirmed that Amy died in the explosion. It's not until this letter is revealed that the reader realizes what drives Dorrigo for much of his life (p184)
Narration and Point of View
The narrative is omniscient and consists of third person narration, written from a number of different limited perspectives that show the lives of several characters before, during and after the war. This allows Flanagan to write in the voice of man or woman, giving us depth and objectivity. A major example of this is seen when Keith confronts Amy about her affair with Dorrigo and gives Amy the false information that Dorrigo has died in a POW camp. “It’s a war, Amy. Bad news is no news. It vanishes. There’s the best part of a fifth of the Australian army missing and only a few reliably traced. “ “That doesn’t mean he’s dead, Keith. It’s like you want him dead. ” (NRDN 154)
Mood and Atmostphere
The mood of the book is dark and depressing. Flanagan provides the reader a clear example when he writes: “They had smoked to keep the dead out of their nostrils, they had joked to keep the dead from preying on their minds, they had eaten to remind themselves they were alive, and Darky Gardiner had run a book on whether he himself might get killed, believing his chances were improving all the time. ”
Symbolism
Flanagan adds depth and meaning to NRDN with his use of symbolism. There are many, but the one the stands out the most is the Burma Railroad. It literally symbolizes death. The railroad was built mainly by Australian Prisoners of War during their captivity in Japan. Thousands of prisoners actually dropped dead while being forced to build the railroad.
Theme-Accepting Consequences
Flanagan is great at letting you know what he wants you to take away from his novel. The theme is one that we all deal with on a daily basis. When Darky Gardiner is being beaten to death, Dorrigo is involved in a complicated surgery. He doesn't manage to save the man's life and always feels that he should have been able to do more. By the time he arrives at the scene of the beating, it is too late to save Darky's life. Dorrigo’s guilt weighs on him for most of He is never quite able to accept the consequences for that decision and the thought eats at him most of his life, especially after he discovers that Darky is his biological nephew.
Tone
The tone is one of deep, dark, despair. It is that of helplessness to overcome the situations that life throws at you. There are many examples of this tone, seen through Dorrigo’s loveless marriage, the multiple affairs, the scenes from the POW camp and the despondent Japanese and Korean soldiers who are merely doing their duty.
Intended Audience
The book is intended for those who love history, more specifically, those who love to read about historical fiction. It is for those who want to experience a dark and deep road, no pun intended. The book would also be great for those who are war buffs as the book gives insight to the daily happenings and lives of soldiers, Korean, Australian, Japanese, and their struggles to survive as prisoners war camps.
Archetypes, Motifs, Allusions
Archetype- The archetype in Flanagan’s novel is that of a situational archetype. The Unhealable Wound – This wound, physical or psychological, cannot be healed fully. This would also indicates a loss of innocence or purity. Often the wounds’ pain drives the sufferer to desperate measures of madness. ( Ms. Volta web definition ) This definition is the essence of Dorrigo Evans. His psychological wound, guilt, keeps him from finding happiness and keeps him from finding anything that makes him feel alive. It is derived from not being able to save many men in the POW camp. It stays with him for his whole life.
Allusion- There are several allusions in the story including: the opening line of section 2 in chapter one, “A happy man has no past, while an unhappy man has nothing else. ” (NRDN 4) which references “ Tolstoy’s notion of family, either characterised by their conformity in happiness, or by dysfunction in unhappiness. Similarly, in another direct allusion, Dorrigo consciously decides to “charge the windmill” just as in Cervantes’ Don Quixote”. (Paz)Motif- In a literary work, a motif can be seen as an image, sound, action, or other figure that has a symbolic significance, and contributes toward the development of a theme. Motif and theme are linked in a literary work, but there is a difference between them. In a literary piece, a motif is a recurrent image, idea, or symbol that develops or explains a theme, while a theme is a central idea or message. Death-The main recurrent idea is that of death. Death of human life at the POW camp, death of love, death of happiness.
The whole purpose of the book is to show how one has to operate around and get through the death of things in our life. Both the guards and the prisoners have to deal with the death of those that were captured. The author does a great job of giving us both sides of the emotion. Those who must watch the horrific loss of life from disease or beatings and from those that must do the beatings, killing men that have families and loved ones just like themselves. Death of Evan’s marriage, as he continues to have multiple affairs and of course, the death of Evan’s own happiness, as he sabotages his own ability to find joy in his life.
Conclusion
In The Narrow Road to the Deep North, although Dorrigo Evans faces many trials and tribulations that add to his imperfection; he often blames the way he is on external elements, rather than internal. He blames all his imperfections and flaws due to the war, and how being a POW damaged him beyond repair. He let his past mistakes of adultery and infidelity, the regret of his failure, and his depression and madness, wean away his opportunity to gain true greatness. With his self destruction, he allowed excuses to rule over his life, and made no attempt at reaching greatness. Dorrigo wallowed in his regret, failure, and sadness, and realizes actions can have detrimental consequences. His actions cost him the life he had imagined, his reputation, and his wife. While war, regret, and memories, can drive away one from achieving greatness, Dorrigo Evans exemplifies the only thing holding an individual back from achieving said greatness, is oneself.
