As I have been trying to think about this book and what I have learned from it, I have been wondering about what the book is about. I have now read the book twice. Is this book about education or romance? Is this an incomplete hero cycle? Did the plot change from education to romance or is there more to it? Is this a tragedy because Miss Prim does not marry the unnamed male lead?
I read the book, so now what? What did I learn from reading this? In order to help me figure out what I wanted to focus on, I reviewed my notes and then focused on the title. What does awakening mean? The Britannica Dictionary lists these definitions: to stop sleeping; to become aware of something. I believe the writer is using the idea of becoming aware of something. Where do I see an awakening?
At the beginning of the book, Miss Prim is hurriedly walking through San Ireneo de Arnois where she does not notice the pretty shops. She is already identifying herself as different from others and feeling that she was born at the wrong time and place.
The book ends with Miss Prim is in Italy talking to the hotel receptionist requesting a check out. The receptionist asks if she has received bad news, Miss Prim states: “Actually”, said Miss Prim, eyes shining, picturing a door being closed with infinite patience, “it’s good news. Extraordinary news, I’d say.” She sighed euphorically. “It’s strange and wonderful news.”….an hour later, she [the receptionist] watched the beautiful, graceful woman walk out of the hotel toward the waiting taxi with her chin held high and a gentle smile on her lips.”
As I reflect on the word awaken and apply it to my experiences, I reviewed what I would have called an “awakening experience”. I have had only a couple of them, but I was changed by them. I started to do things differently and seek different ideas. Therefore, on my second read I was looking for something that might be similar between my experience and Miss Prim’s experience. The only place that I identified was the last page of the book. She has ‘shining eyes’ and is excited about something. The receptionist describes her as beautiful and graceful with her head up and a smile on her face. That is the first time I remember hearing any of these words applied to Miss Prim. To me that is an awakening experience. Everything else in the book was just showing you the path it took for her to travel before she “awakened”. You are left to wonder what she is planning to do so you can’t tell if the story is a comedy (happy ending) or tragedy (taking the path of mediocracy, quitting, or death and sadness).
To me the whole book is about the journey she had to travel before she found her purpose. I remember my own experiences. I had goals and was learning. I was growing and striving to reach my goals. At that awakening experience though I found my goals needed to be changed. However, those goals had led me to the point that I had enough information to see that I needed to make a change to my goals. Each step on the path was needed to help reveal what could be. I think Miss Prim was having those same experiences. As she learned about education and relationships (personal, mentored, and romantic) she was getting ready for that awakening that she didn’t know she needed. She thought she was awake but found out that she was not seeing things as clearly as she needed to.
I think there are a lot of interesting quotes and ideas expressed in the book that really get you thinking, which is what she did in Italy. As she processed those ideas and pondered on what to do, when an opportunity presented itself (the letter), the puzzle pieces aligned, and she could now see the picture and direction of where to go. This fulfilled the epigraph in the book: “They think that they regret the past, when they are but longing after the future (John Henry Newman).” If all goes well Miss Prim will be entering the future ready for the next step of her progression. She has awakened to new possibilities. What those possibilities are we are left to imagine for ourselves. The real question is what will we do? Will be look to the past with regret or move to the future and act on the ideas we have?
I read the book, so now what? What did I learn from reading this? In order to help me figure out what I wanted to focus on, I reviewed my notes and then focused on the title. What does awakening mean? The Britannica Dictionary lists these definitions: to stop sleeping; to become aware of something. I believe the writer is using the idea of becoming aware of something. Where do I see an awakening?
At the beginning of the book, Miss Prim is hurriedly walking through San Ireneo de Arnois where she does not notice the pretty shops. She is already identifying herself as different from others and feeling that she was born at the wrong time and place.
The book ends with Miss Prim is in Italy talking to the hotel receptionist requesting a check out. The receptionist asks if she has received bad news, Miss Prim states: “Actually”, said Miss Prim, eyes shining, picturing a door being closed with infinite patience, “it’s good news. Extraordinary news, I’d say.” She sighed euphorically. “It’s strange and wonderful news.”….an hour later, she [the receptionist] watched the beautiful, graceful woman walk out of the hotel toward the waiting taxi with her chin held high and a gentle smile on her lips.”
As I reflect on the word awaken and apply it to my experiences, I reviewed what I would have called an “awakening experience”. I have had only a couple of them, but I was changed by them. I started to do things differently and seek different ideas. Therefore, on my second read I was looking for something that might be similar between my experience and Miss Prim’s experience. The only place that I identified was the last page of the book. She has ‘shining eyes’ and is excited about something. The receptionist describes her as beautiful and graceful with her head up and a smile on her face. That is the first time I remember hearing any of these words applied to Miss Prim. To me that is an awakening experience. Everything else in the book was just showing you the path it took for her to travel before she “awakened”. You are left to wonder what she is planning to do so you can’t tell if the story is a comedy (happy ending) or tragedy (taking the path of mediocracy, quitting, or death and sadness).
To me the whole book is about the journey she had to travel before she found her purpose. I remember my own experiences. I had goals and was learning. I was growing and striving to reach my goals. At that awakening experience though I found my goals needed to be changed. However, those goals had led me to the point that I had enough information to see that I needed to make a change to my goals. Each step on the path was needed to help reveal what could be. I think Miss Prim was having those same experiences. As she learned about education and relationships (personal, mentored, and romantic) she was getting ready for that awakening that she didn’t know she needed. She thought she was awake but found out that she was not seeing things as clearly as she needed to.
I think there are a lot of interesting quotes and ideas expressed in the book that really get you thinking, which is what she did in Italy. As she processed those ideas and pondered on what to do, when an opportunity presented itself (the letter), the puzzle pieces aligned, and she could now see the picture and direction of where to go. This fulfilled the epigraph in the book: “They think that they regret the past, when they are but longing after the future (John Henry Newman).” If all goes well Miss Prim will be entering the future ready for the next step of her progression. She has awakened to new possibilities. What those possibilities are we are left to imagine for ourselves. The real question is what will we do? Will be look to the past with regret or move to the future and act on the ideas we have?
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