"Humanism is about reading, it is about perspective. It is also the practice of identities...." -Edward Said
Saturday, September 20, 2008
The Fires by Alan Cheuse - AP Language and Composition 9/08
In Alan Cheuse’s novellas, the main characters are set in one case to keep a promise and in another to send out a call of distress. Discuss the symbolism of “fire” and analyze the author’s purpose in writing the stories as a novella.
Alan Cheuse conjoins two novellas that focus on one theme to form The Fires. Although the plots of these two novellas differ, the symbol of fire and death remains the same. Fire itself is one of the four classical elements. However, it also represents rebirth and immortality which is how it is portrayed in both novellas. Gina Morgan, the main character of the first story, witnesses a reincarnation ceremony in honor of her husband, who dies in a car crash. The ceremony causes her to experience intense emotions and causes her whole life and death perspective to change. In the other story, Tom Swanson’s daughter Ceely sets fire to a baby grand piano out of sorrow due to the death of her mother, who was a famous jazz pianist and drug addict. Both stories depict the loss of a human being and the concept of rebirth through fire. Cheuse separates these ideas into two different novellas that deal with the same kind of conflict for a reason. Personally, I think he does this because he wants to illustrate a direct point through two different angles and perspectives. What I mean by that is he is not intending to narrate a titillating and useless story that goes on and on. By keeping the actual story short, the deeper meaning becomes less vague. The point is conveyed through two different stories that, despite having different characters and situations, correspond to each other.
The two novellas, The Fires and The Exorcism, are presented back to back in a single book. The collection of the two stories is appropriately titled The Fires, by Alan Cheuse. At first glance both the stories seem to be opposite. But as the reader ventures forth deeper into the stories they will see that both the narratives work to complement each other through the image of fire, giving different backgrounds to similar unexpected deaths. In the first of the novellas, Gina travels to Uzbekistan to carry out her husband’s final request. Upon arrival she discovers the reality of this difficult request but manages to find a group of Buddhist willing to cremate Paul’s body. The cremation is the first scene in the stories where a fire becomes visible. However, throughout the story the theme of fires is apparent. For example the fire in Gina’s heart that she feels for Paul, both out of extreme grief and hatred for him driving when he should not be. The theme of heat and fire is also seen in Gina’s hot flashes that she receives consistently throughout the story. The second story, The Exorcism, deals with the same theme of unexpected death, a cremation, and the burning pain of dealing with this complicated loss. The obvious representation of the fire is seen when Ceely torches a grand piano at her college. The flaming of the piano corresponds to the death of Billie, as Ceely tries to express the loss of a great musician. The narrator takes the death as an opportunity to sort out his own life as he tries to cope with both the fires, (the cremation of his ex wife and the burning of the piano). Both these stories work together to show the reader the multiple “fires” one passes through in life, focusing mainly on the fire of death.
Alan Cheuse relates the two novellas The Fires and The Exorcism by using the element of fire as the bridge. Although the novellas each contain their own unique plot, Cheuse joins them together through the symbol and meaning of fire. Fire is one of the four natural elements along with water, earth, and air. Fire can be a symbol of destruction and fear. However it can also be viewed as a purifier, rebirth and love as an eternal flame. In The Fires, fire is seen as a cleanser in the cremation ceremony and also can be interpreted as the strong love Gina held for her husband Paul. Then in The Exorcism, Tom Swanson’s daughter Ceely sets a baby grand piano on fire. Fire in this novella has a similar yet totally different meaning. It again depicts a strong emotion, but this time grief is added to love. Ceely sets the piano on fire in honor of her mother, Billie, who died years before. This also gives the fire a new meaning, one of rebirth. Billie who was a jazz pianist is being reborn through the fire and sacrifice of the piano. Alan Cheuse makes a critical decision in telling his stories in novella form. Instead of telling a long seemingly pointless story of grief and finding ones self, he tells two short and to the point novellas. This format lets the reader think and bond with the characters in their time of need. The two novellas are connected, The Fires showing one dealing with grief in the present and The Exorcism showing grief in later years.
The Fires by Alan Cheuse is a compilation of two short novellas. Both novellas revolve around fire as a theme. The plot and characters of each novella is entirely different from the other, however they do have fire and death in common. In the first novella there is a woman by the name of Gina Morgan, who had to fly all the way to Uzbekistan for her husband’s cremation. As the reincarnation-cremation ceremony takes place, emotionally she goes through a lot. Ultimately she does believe that her husband has reincarnated, and that he’ll come back. She doesn’t know what he’ll be back as, but she’s sure that they’ll be together again. Like Becky said, her perspective on life and death changed dramatically. Not only did the fire give rebirth to her husband, but in a sense also to her. After the ceremony, she was a completely different woman. In the second story, Tom Swanson’s daughter Ceely sets fire to a grand piano due to the sadness and frustration she felt towards her mother’s death. Her mother, Billie, had been a famous jazz pianist, but also a drug addict. In this story fire also causes rebirth in both Ceely, and her father Tom Swanson. After the fire incident they both decide that what they need is a change. In the end they have a stronger father-daughter relationship than they had ever had. Both stories portray the death of a loved one, in exchange for rebirth through fire. The author wrote the stories as a novella, in order to keep them nice and short. Sometimes long books don’t convey what they ought to convey. The symbolism and plot get missed by the reader. The author clearly wanted the symbolism of fire and both the concepts of death and rebirth to be conveyed. He probably wanted two different situations that involved these ideas, so his symbolism could have been conveyed more easily to the reader.
The Fires, by Alan Cheuse is a novella consisting of two seperate stories with highly similar themes although they were in direly different settings. The somewhat brief segments which he wrote of pertaining to the characters' lives were credible and truly appealing to the emotions. At first I wondered at how two stories, though owning seperate titles, could fit under the same heading. Upon completion of the book, however, I gained understanding as to the main flow of ideas that were being conveyed. Both stories involved death, fire, loved ones, and ultimately, a sort of peace with their own internal conflict. Both deaths, of Gina's Paul and of Billie, involved cremation and of course, with cremation was the ever-present factor-fire. Fire has been used throughout history to represent several themes ideas and at times not very much at all, but here, Cheuse seemed to position it to represent Ceely's anger, the many instances of love which were portrayed throughout the book, a method of destruction, a distributor of some sort of justice and honor, a new chance at life, and maybe a liberation from the turmoil which the characters had undergone. Unrequited love and a thirst for more love is shown with both Gina and Tom - perhaps even Ceely, with her longing to feel a mother's prescence. At the end of each story, a sense of peace is subtly manifest within them but one can also tell that the scars of their traumatic experiences can only be healed by time, like burns. Personally, the stories were not the type of literature that I am accustomed to reading but Cheuse's ideas were conveyed in a frank and simple manner with many connections to every day life which one could identify with easily and the book left me with a feeling of sympathy for individuals who had undergone a similar experience.
Short stories and novellas allow authors to express ideas quickly without having to drag things out to novel length. Novellas are more focused than novels. If a novel only provides one idea, I am usually disappointed. A novella can focus on one idea and make it all the more powerful. With the two novellas, The Fires and The Exorcism , Alan Cheuse uses the symbol of fires to draw them together. The symbol of a fire is a common one in literature, but it usually takes on different meanings. Fire is many times seen as a symbol of destruction, but it is also seen as a giver of life and strength. In these stories, fires are a symbol for rebirth. Both stories involve someone being cremated and they both contain references to Hinduism. Aside from the fact that Hindus cremate their dead, Hinduism connects to the theme of the stories because Hindus believe in reincarnation. Reincarnation is all about another life after death: the idea that life will never end. This is constant theme throughout the stories: things that do not end. For example, take the fact that Billy is a jazz musician. Jazz is all about improvisation. Many jazz songs seem to never end. This is not a criticism, but an observation. A jazz song is unpredictable, like a fire, and it goes on and on. At the end of The Exorcism, Tom says that he sees in Ceely what he once was. He talks about a fire in her skull. He will not really die because a part of him will still be alive while she is alive. Is this not true for all children? Children always have a piece of their parents. When their parents die, they are still alive with the children. When the children die, their children still have a piece of their parents and, therefore, their grandparents. The end of The Fires describes Gina’s stream of consciousness. There are very few things more like a fire than the human mind. It is unpredictable. We feel different thoughts and emotions move around and pop up when we least suspect them. The writing style itself is like a fire. There is no order or structure. There does not need to be any. Her mind is a fire. Compare fire to ice, its equivalent on the opposite end of the spectrum. Ice is rigid. It can be broken, but it cannot move. Fire moves. It moves constantly and unpredictably. Fire is alive. Of all inanimate things, fire is the closest to being alive. Water moves, too, but it is confined to a certain path. Fire cannot be predicted or controlled very well. Fire is a symbol for rebirth in the two novellas because fire is life itself.
The Fires contains two very interesting novellas: The Fires and The Exorcism. The first novella is the story of an older woman who finds out her husband has died on one of his trips to Uzbekistan and must travel there to cremate him. The second novella is the retelling by the male narrator to his third wife of the events of last year which included the death of his first wife. Although they are very different stories, they have common themes running through the both of them most notably fire and Hinduism. Fire is depicted in the first one in the process of cremation and in the second as the daughter sets a piano on fire in a suicide attempt. In the first story, the cremation is completed by Hindus because the country was mostly Islamic which does not allow cremation. The cremation scene has a magical feel with the chanting, the young man leading the ceremony, and the elephant god. In addition it is the wife who steps forward and sets fire to her husband's corpse. In the second story, the fire seems to be the turning point through which people become closer and heal especially the daughter. Although in a way the fire is the height of her despair before someone steps in to rescue her. The decision to make them novellas and not novels is also significant. The novellas provided the perfect outlet to express his ideas without making it overly wordy or taking away some of the emotion.
Alan Cheuse uses a very unique method of combining two separate unrelated stories through one common theme, fire. Although it is unknown why the apparent theme is fire in these two novellas, it is known that fire plays a major part in both The Fires and The Exorcism. In the first story, The Fires, Cheuse portrays fire very subtly in one instance through the cremation of Paul, Gina’s husband. Also, when Gina is constantly complaining about her hot flashes at the beginning and throughout the remainder of the story, her hot flashes represent the fire within her body that is burning. Cheuse does an excellent job of using his theme of fire in several instances throughout the book without making it known that fire is the major theme of both of his novellas. When Gina attends the reincarnation ceremony several emotions envelope her as she witnesses the ceremony. A fiery hope burns within her as she believes that her husband has once again been reincarnated and they will soon meet again in this lifetime. In the second story, The Exorcism, the theme of fire is seen much more prominently as Tom Swanson’s daughter has set fire to a baby grand piano using gasoline and a borrowed lighter. Her fiery rage from the death of her drug addicted, jazz playing mother has urged her to do so causing her to be suspended from college. The symbolism of fire is also noticed when Tom stays at the hotel and hears two women next door having sex. He thinks to himself in a somber tone, why he doesn’t have that kind of fiery passion in his life. Also, his daughter Ceely is constantly seen smoking a cigarette along with her male companion Rashid, and she has been exposed to weed as well both of which are ignited using some sort of flame. The author’s use of two separate novellas is very unique and although at first it seems that these two stories have nothing in common, it is soon noticed that they are very much indeed connected. His purpose of writing separate stories could possibly be to strengthen his point which is that fire is an important theme in life whether it be the actual element, or the fiery feelings one experiences.
The Fires, two novellas that create a beautiful relationship between fire and death, is a fascinating piece of work. In the first novella, a woman named Gina Morgan must travel to Uzbekistan to cremate her late husband. Gina is tortured by menopause, having hot flashes all the time, and with her husband gone, she has no one to comfort her during this difficult time. When cremating her husband, the fire, and the fact that she lit the fire herself, seem to create a sense that Gina is letting go of Paul and accepting his death. She had promised to him, reluctantly so, that she would have him cremated if he ever were to die. Fire in this first novella seems to be a three-dimensional sort of symbolism. It tortures Gina in her hot flashes and it killed Paul, the love of her life, in a car accident. Yet, when she sets Paul's body alight, the fire is comforting and creates a sense of finality in Paul's death.
In The Excorcism, Cheuse creates another level of symbolism for fire. Fire is much more connected with anger in this novella, and much more raw in terms of grief. Ceely sets fire to a grand piano because she is still mourning her dead mother, a jazz pianist named Billie. There is rage burning inside of Ceely, an unquenched thirst, a fire that cannot be extinguished. All of this emotion was caused by her mother's sudden death and her inability to process all of her grief. In an outward pouring of emotion, almost like an explosion or volcanic eruption, Billie sets the piano on fire in hopes of somehow letting go. Tom, her father, also lets go of his grief in an "explosion" during his exorcism.
Fire ends all things and is often a classic example of armageddon. Here, it creates finality and seems to end, or at least lessen, grief. Writing these two novellas, both of which deal with sudden, tragic deaths, creates a whole spectrum of symbology and emotions for the element of fire. They create and describe different ways of dealing with grief, and in the end, create a satisfying, hauntingly realistic portrait of humanity.
The Fires, written by Alan Cheuse, contains to novellas; The Fire and The Exorcism. In both stories the purpose of fire does not change, the fire represents the idea of rebirth. Both bring up the Hindu belief of being born, death, and reincarnation. Even though in both novellas fire, the theme represents reincarnation, Cheuse’s novellas depict two different types of ideas. The first novella describes the life of Gina Morgan, the wife of Paul Morgan and her experience of going to a foreign country to insure her husband death is taken care of. After attending a ceremony for him and going through mental and emotional pain, she finally trust that her husband has reincarnated and will return to this earth. Unsure of when, where, or what he will come back as, she is certain that he will come back to her. Although this was an unfortunate event, the fire brought about a new flame, it gave both her and her husband a rebirth. Now she is a new woman with a new ideal of life. In the second novella, it revolves around the death of a mother and former wife. Ceely Swanson, the daughter of a once famous Jazz pianist as well as an intense drug addict is in a great deal of pain from the loss of her mother. In hopes of coping with her feelings, she sets a baby grand piano on fire. Just like in the first novella, the fire gives them a chance to be born again. Both Ceely and her father finally realize that what they need is something new, they need a change. Through this they work together, to rebuild their loss relationship over the years and build it up to a much stronger one. Cheuse brings about the same idea and result in both novellas. Both show the loss of a loved one in order to gain rebirth from the fire. I agree that the reason for the novellas shortness in length allows the meaning to deepen and the effect to be stronger. Without the extra pages of detail and extras, the stories remain short, to the point and neat. This allows the concept of the stories to be portrayed much easier for the readers. Even though the stories are depicted much differently they still symbolized the same thing. The idea that the fire represents death and rebirth is shown. In both novellas he is able to convey his ideas without overdoing it, making these two very well written novellas.
Alan Cheuse’s captivating novellas, The Fires and The Exorcism, both contain an obvious theme of fire. As the title conveys, these stories are linked through the mutual use of this well-known and powerful element of nature. In these stories, fire is presented in both a positive and negative way. In The Fires, it helps to put Gina’s husband somewhat to rest in her mind, through the powerful cremation ceremony. In The Exorcism, Ceely uses the unpredictability and force of fire as a suicide attempt. The novellas both deal with the cremation of a loved one. The Fires is the story of a search for this posthumous request, while in The Exorcism, the cremation has occurred before the story begins. This ancient tradition connected the stories right from the beginning. Another example of the use of fire in both novellas is the fiery anger that the characters feel towards events past and present. Gina harbors a great deal of anger in her interactions with people in Uzbekistan after her husband’s death. She only reaches some semblance of peace during her husband’s cremation ceremony. Ceely and her father are angry for various reasons, sometimes at each other, and sometimes at uncontrollable events. Ceely never quite recovers from her beloved mother’s death, which leaves her with a great deal of pent up resentment. Perhaps the most obvious use of fire in either story is that of Cella’s setting fire to the baby grand piano. She talks about her desire to have killed herself in the fire that consumed the instrument. She is also an avid cigarette and pot smoker, two activities that also involve the use of heat and fire. Gina frequently experiences hot flashes as she tries to cope with menopause and the fluctuating passion she feels for her husband. This is yet another example of Cheuse’s reoccurring theme. She has a great deal of difficulty as age takes its inevitable toll on her body. The fact that these stories were written as novellas makes them extremely compelling. To me, a concise and quickly progressing story is often more powerful than an overly detailed novel. These novellas gave me the opportunity to read the whole story in one period of time, a luxury I do not usually have the time to experience. Cheuse probably appreciates the strength of reading these novellas all in one sitting. The characters’ stream-of-consciousness in his writing compelled me to keep reading all the way through both of his wonderful stories.
The Fires, by Alan Cheuse, is an interesting combination of two novellas to represent a common theme of fire. Both of these novellas show fire’s destruction, however they also show the elements ability to cleanse and renew. I enjoyed how each novella was strikingly different from the other in plot and characters, yet still very much the same in theme. This showed me how a common theme can be used and integral to so many different situations and stories. In the first novella, The Fires, a woman named Gina travels to Uzbekistan to carry out her husband’s wishes for his unexpected death. However, the Muslim country makes it difficult for Gina to complete her husband’s wishes for cremation. She finds help and ends up going to Hindus in order to cremate her husband. The theme of fire is present in the novella not only through the obvious cremation of her husband, but through the character of Gina herself as she struggles through her husband’s death. Her constant heat flashes are signs of the fire raging inside of her and the fire she has for her husband. In the end, the fire cleanses her and as it rages through her mind she is renewed. The second novella, The Exorcism, tells of a Tom Swanson’s journey through the death of his ex-wife, a famous jazz singer. He goes to retrieve their daughter from college after learning that she almost killed herself setting fire to a grand piano. The theme of fire is present here in an obvious way again, through the fire to the piano, but also is present in renewing and repairing the father’s relationships with his daughter and wife. In the end, this tragedy helped Tom figure out his life and bring him back to his family. I thought it was interesting how the author used Hinduism in his second novella as well to help show the theme of fire and its two sides even more. Using two novellas to convey the theme of fire and its effect of renewal worked better, because by presenting the theme through two different situations it was even more eminent to the reader.
Hi everyone! First of all, I really enjoyed reading Alan Cheuse's work. Although the story seemed very scattered at times and not cohesive, I realized that the lack of continuity is what made the story so intriguing. I wanted to find out how all of the places (Tashenkt, Moscow, and the US)tied together. Although the characters' emotions were conveyed to me, I could not wait to find out what made them feel this way. I think Cheuse's strategic style worked to his ability because I did want to get to the end, although I found the last pages of the first novella very disappointing. I kept waiting for everything to be explained and Cheuse simply threw more confusion at me until the last few pages turned into a high speed blur of dreams and reality that I could not figure out his point.
The second novella, The Exorcism, was much more satisfying. Cheuse maintained the intrigue of his first novel, by writing to Edna, who the reader does not know. However, the relationships, events, and storylines were clear from the very beginning. This added to the continuity of the story, making it easier for the reader to follow the narrator through his journey. The character's life became so detailed and so extensive, that I felt I knew everything about him. Cheuse made the reader more real by adding the depth of his relationship with his in laws, his protectiveness of his daughter, and the awkward feelings of jealousy with his second wife. The Exorcism was a thoroughly enjoyable read.
Please disregard my first comment, as it does not address the prompt. In reference to the use of a novella as a literary form and genre, I agree with Nick. The novella, or short story, is a way for an author to express something specific and powerful without filling up unneeded space with ongoing details. Some say a novel may be more interesting because the author can intertwine story lines and become complex with many characters, as opposed to usually the one character in a novella, I think it is the focus and attention to interesting detail of one character and one story that makes a novella so interesting.
Alan Cheuse's purpose was to express the different forms and different ways people deal with grief, comparing their lives and emotions with a fire. The fire represents something that is very powerful and hard to get rid of, much like Gina's connection to Paul as well as her medical condition. In The Exorcism, the relationship with fire is much simpler. Ceely burns down a piano to symbolize the burning of her mother's life, a musician's life, after her death. The actual fire in The Exorcism also deals with death, but in a more civilized and expected way, cremation. The symbol of cremation and finally letting go of a loved one you have lost is much like putting out a very strong fire that has burning for a long time. Both of these novellas are connected by the use of fire as a metaphor to convey the journeys of two grief stricken characters.
Alan Cheuse’s work, The Fires, tells so little and yet so much in just the title. At once the reader knows that the novellas will have impact and meaning, and that they should proceed carefully to understand the symbolism implied. After reading both novellas the meaning of the fire is destructive, but also creative. I mean that in the sense of, for example, the phoenix. The phoenix self destructs by bursting into flames, but then it is born again, fresh and new. The literal fires in both stories signified an important loss in the world, however, they also brought closure, understanding, and a clear new conscience in which the remaining characters now lived with. For example, in the first novella, The Fires, the description of the cremation of the body was deeply personal while it was still apparent to the reader that the effects would last longer than the actual ceremony. The remaining half of the marriage still lived, and she would have to live with all the memories and images for the rest of her days. She would move on, however, and as time passed the wounds would heal. I think the cremation fire brought a necessary closure to the death of a loved one. In the second story, when Ceely burns her hand in a foolish last glimpse of childhood immaturity, it also symbolizes an end. Ceely is a growing woman now, and the days of playing and acting young will soon fade into the distance. Soon, responsibilities will take over her life, and those young days will float over her head, ephemeral whispers of a forgotten past.
15 comments:
Alan Cheuse conjoins two novellas that focus on one theme to form The Fires. Although the plots of these two novellas differ, the symbol of fire and death remains the same. Fire itself is one of the four classical elements. However, it also represents rebirth and immortality which is how it is portrayed in both novellas. Gina Morgan, the main character of the first story, witnesses a reincarnation ceremony in honor of her husband, who dies in a car crash. The ceremony causes her to experience intense emotions and causes her whole life and death perspective to change. In the other story, Tom Swanson’s daughter Ceely sets fire to a baby grand piano out of sorrow due to the death of her mother, who was a famous jazz pianist and drug addict. Both stories depict the loss of a human being and the concept of rebirth through fire. Cheuse separates these ideas into two different novellas that deal with the same kind of conflict for a reason. Personally, I think he does this because he wants to illustrate a direct point through two different angles and perspectives. What I mean by that is he is not intending to narrate a titillating and useless story that goes on and on. By keeping the actual story short, the deeper meaning becomes less vague. The point is conveyed through two different stories that, despite having different characters and situations, correspond to each other.
The two novellas, The Fires and The Exorcism, are presented back to back in a single book. The collection of the two stories is appropriately titled The Fires, by Alan Cheuse. At first glance both the stories seem to be opposite. But as the reader ventures forth deeper into the stories they will see that both the narratives work to complement each other through the image of fire, giving different backgrounds to similar unexpected deaths.
In the first of the novellas, Gina travels to Uzbekistan to carry out her husband’s final request. Upon arrival she discovers the reality of this difficult request but manages to find a group of Buddhist willing to cremate Paul’s body. The cremation is the first scene in the stories where a fire becomes visible. However, throughout the story the theme of fires is apparent. For example the fire in Gina’s heart that she feels for Paul, both out of extreme grief and hatred for him driving when he should not be. The theme of heat and fire is also seen in Gina’s hot flashes that she receives consistently throughout the story.
The second story, The Exorcism, deals with the same theme of unexpected death, a cremation, and the burning pain of dealing with this complicated loss. The obvious representation of the fire is seen when Ceely torches a grand piano at her college. The flaming of the piano corresponds to the death of Billie, as Ceely tries to express the loss of a great musician. The narrator takes the death as an opportunity to sort out his own life as he tries to cope with both the fires, (the cremation of his ex wife and the burning of the piano). Both these stories work together to show the reader the multiple “fires” one passes through in life, focusing mainly on the fire of death.
Alan Cheuse relates the two novellas The Fires and The Exorcism by using the element of fire as the bridge. Although the novellas each contain their own unique plot, Cheuse joins them together through the symbol and meaning of fire. Fire is one of the four natural elements along with water, earth, and air. Fire can be a symbol of destruction and fear. However it can also be viewed as a purifier, rebirth and love as an eternal flame. In The Fires, fire is seen as a cleanser in the cremation ceremony and also can be interpreted as the strong love Gina held for her husband Paul. Then in The Exorcism, Tom Swanson’s daughter Ceely sets a baby grand piano on fire. Fire in this novella has a similar yet totally different meaning. It again depicts a strong emotion, but this time grief is added to love. Ceely sets the piano on fire in honor of her mother, Billie, who died years before. This also gives the fire a new meaning, one of rebirth. Billie who was a jazz pianist is being reborn through the fire and sacrifice of the piano. Alan Cheuse makes a critical decision in telling his stories in novella form. Instead of telling a long seemingly pointless story of grief and finding ones self, he tells two short and to the point novellas. This format lets the reader think and bond with the characters in their time of need. The two novellas are connected, The Fires showing one dealing with grief in the present and The Exorcism showing grief in later years.
The Fires by Alan Cheuse is a compilation of two short novellas. Both novellas revolve around fire as a theme. The plot and characters of each novella is entirely different from the other, however they do have fire and death in common. In the first novella there is a woman by the name of Gina Morgan, who had to fly all the way to Uzbekistan for her husband’s cremation. As the reincarnation-cremation ceremony takes place, emotionally she goes through a lot. Ultimately she does believe that her husband has reincarnated, and that he’ll come back. She doesn’t know what he’ll be back as, but she’s sure that they’ll be together again. Like Becky said, her perspective on life and death changed
dramatically. Not only did the fire give rebirth to her husband, but in a sense also to her. After the ceremony, she was a completely different woman. In the second story, Tom Swanson’s daughter Ceely sets fire to a grand piano due to the sadness and frustration she felt towards her mother’s death. Her mother, Billie, had been a famous jazz pianist, but also a drug addict. In this story fire also causes rebirth in both Ceely, and her father Tom Swanson. After the fire incident they both decide that what they need is a change. In the end they have a stronger father-daughter relationship than they had ever had. Both stories portray the death of a loved one, in exchange for rebirth through fire. The author wrote the stories as a novella, in order to keep them nice and short. Sometimes long books don’t convey what they ought to convey. The symbolism and plot get missed by the reader. The author clearly wanted the symbolism of fire and both the concepts of death and rebirth to be conveyed. He probably wanted two different situations that involved these ideas, so his symbolism could have been conveyed more easily to the reader.
The Fires, by Alan Cheuse is a novella consisting of two seperate stories with highly similar themes although they were in direly different settings. The somewhat brief segments which he wrote of pertaining to the characters' lives were credible and truly appealing to the emotions. At first I wondered at how two stories, though owning seperate titles, could fit under the same heading. Upon completion of the book, however, I gained understanding as to the main flow of ideas that were being conveyed. Both stories involved death, fire, loved ones, and ultimately, a sort of peace with their own internal conflict. Both deaths, of Gina's Paul and of Billie, involved cremation and of course, with cremation was the ever-present factor-fire. Fire has been used throughout history to represent several themes ideas and at times not very much at all, but here, Cheuse seemed to position it to represent Ceely's anger, the many instances of love which were portrayed throughout the book, a method of destruction, a distributor of some sort of justice and honor, a new chance at life, and maybe a liberation from the turmoil which the characters had undergone. Unrequited love and a thirst for more love is shown with both
Gina and Tom - perhaps even Ceely, with her longing to feel a mother's prescence. At the end of each story, a sense of peace is subtly manifest within them but one can also tell that the scars of their traumatic experiences can only be healed by time, like burns.
Personally, the stories were not the type of literature that I am accustomed to reading but Cheuse's ideas were conveyed in a frank and simple manner with many connections to every day life which one could identify with easily and the book left me with a feeling of sympathy for individuals who had undergone a similar experience.
Short stories and novellas allow authors to express ideas quickly without having to drag things out to novel length. Novellas are more focused than novels. If a novel only provides one idea, I am usually disappointed. A novella can focus on one idea and make it all the more powerful. With the two novellas, The Fires and The Exorcism , Alan Cheuse uses the symbol of fires to draw them together. The symbol of a fire is a common one in literature, but it usually takes on different meanings. Fire is many times seen as a symbol of destruction, but it is also seen as a giver of life and strength.
In these stories, fires are a symbol for rebirth. Both stories involve someone being cremated and they both contain references to Hinduism. Aside from the fact that Hindus cremate their dead, Hinduism connects to the theme of the stories because Hindus believe in reincarnation. Reincarnation is all about another life after death: the idea that life will never end. This is constant theme throughout the stories: things that do not end.
For example, take the fact that Billy is a jazz musician. Jazz is all about improvisation. Many jazz songs seem to never end. This is not a criticism, but an observation. A jazz song is unpredictable, like a fire, and it goes on and on.
At the end of The Exorcism, Tom says that he sees in Ceely what he once was. He talks about a fire in her skull. He will not really die because a part of him will still be alive while she is alive. Is this not true for all children? Children always have a piece of their parents. When their parents die, they are still alive with the children. When the children die, their children still have a piece of their parents and, therefore, their grandparents.
The end of The Fires describes Gina’s stream of consciousness. There are very few things more like a fire than the human mind. It is unpredictable. We feel different thoughts and emotions move around and pop up when we least suspect them. The writing style itself is like a fire. There is no order or structure. There does not need to be any. Her mind is a fire.
Compare fire to ice, its equivalent on the opposite end of the spectrum. Ice is rigid. It can be broken, but it cannot move. Fire moves. It moves constantly and unpredictably. Fire is alive. Of all inanimate things, fire is the closest to being alive. Water moves, too, but it is confined to a certain path. Fire cannot be predicted or controlled very well. Fire is a symbol for rebirth in the two novellas because fire is life itself.
The Fires contains two very interesting novellas: The Fires and The Exorcism. The first novella is the story of an older woman who finds out her husband has died on one of his trips to Uzbekistan and must travel there to cremate him. The second novella is the retelling by the male narrator to his third wife of the events of last year which included the death of his first wife. Although they are very different stories, they have common themes running through the both of them most notably fire and Hinduism. Fire is depicted in the first one in the process of cremation and in the second as the daughter sets a piano on fire in a suicide attempt. In the first story, the cremation is completed by Hindus because the country was mostly Islamic which does not allow cremation. The cremation scene has a magical feel with the chanting, the young man leading the ceremony, and the elephant god. In addition it is the wife who steps forward and sets fire to her husband's corpse. In the second story, the fire seems to be the turning point through which people become closer and heal especially the daughter. Although in a way the fire is the height of her despair before someone steps in to rescue her. The decision to make them novellas and not novels is also significant. The novellas provided the perfect outlet to express his ideas without making it overly wordy or taking away some of the emotion.
Alan Cheuse uses a very unique method of combining two separate unrelated stories through one common theme, fire. Although it is unknown why the apparent theme is fire in these two novellas, it is known that fire plays a major part in both The Fires and The Exorcism.
In the first story, The Fires, Cheuse portrays fire very subtly in one instance through the cremation of Paul, Gina’s husband. Also, when Gina is constantly complaining about her hot flashes at the beginning and throughout the remainder of the story, her hot flashes represent the fire within her body that is burning. Cheuse does an excellent job of using his theme of fire in several instances throughout the book without making it known that fire is the major theme of both of his novellas. When Gina attends the reincarnation ceremony several emotions envelope her as she witnesses the ceremony. A fiery hope burns within her as she believes that her husband has once again been reincarnated and they will soon meet again in this lifetime.
In the second story, The Exorcism, the theme of fire is seen much more prominently as Tom Swanson’s daughter has set fire to a baby grand piano using gasoline and a borrowed lighter. Her fiery rage from the death of her drug addicted, jazz playing mother has urged her to do so causing her to be suspended from college. The symbolism of fire is also noticed when Tom stays at the hotel and hears two women next door having sex. He thinks to himself in a somber tone, why he doesn’t have that kind of fiery passion in his life. Also, his daughter Ceely is constantly seen smoking a cigarette along with her male companion Rashid, and she has been exposed to weed as well both of which are ignited using some sort of flame.
The author’s use of two separate novellas is very unique and although at first it seems that these two stories have nothing in common, it is soon noticed that they are very much indeed connected. His purpose of writing separate stories could possibly be to strengthen his point which is that fire is an important theme in life whether it be the actual element, or the fiery feelings one experiences.
The Fires, two novellas that create a beautiful relationship between fire and death, is a fascinating piece of work. In the first novella, a woman named Gina Morgan must travel to Uzbekistan to cremate her late husband. Gina is tortured by menopause, having hot flashes all the time, and with her husband gone, she has no one to comfort her during this difficult time. When cremating her husband, the fire, and the fact that she lit the fire herself, seem to create a sense that Gina is letting go of Paul and accepting his death. She had promised to him, reluctantly so, that she would have him cremated if he ever were to die. Fire in this first novella seems to be a three-dimensional sort of symbolism. It tortures Gina in her hot flashes and it killed Paul, the love of her life, in a car accident. Yet, when she sets Paul's body alight, the fire is comforting and creates a sense of finality in Paul's death.
In The Excorcism, Cheuse creates another level of symbolism for fire. Fire is much more connected with anger in this novella, and much more raw in terms of grief. Ceely sets fire to a grand piano because she is still mourning her dead mother, a jazz pianist named Billie. There is rage burning inside of Ceely, an unquenched thirst, a fire that cannot be extinguished. All of this emotion was caused by her mother's sudden death and her inability to process all of her grief. In an outward pouring of emotion, almost like an explosion or volcanic eruption, Billie sets the piano on fire in hopes of somehow letting go. Tom, her father, also lets go of his grief in an "explosion" during his exorcism.
Fire ends all things and is often a classic example of armageddon. Here, it creates finality and seems to end, or at least lessen, grief. Writing these two novellas, both of which deal with sudden, tragic deaths, creates a whole spectrum of symbology and emotions for the element of fire. They create and describe different ways of dealing with grief, and in the end, create a satisfying, hauntingly realistic portrait of humanity.
The Fires, written by Alan Cheuse, contains to novellas; The Fire and The Exorcism. In both stories the purpose of fire does not change, the fire represents the idea of rebirth. Both bring up the Hindu belief of being born, death, and reincarnation. Even though in both novellas fire, the theme represents reincarnation, Cheuse’s novellas depict two different types of ideas. The first novella describes the life of Gina Morgan, the wife of Paul Morgan and her experience of going to a foreign country to insure her husband death is taken care of. After attending a ceremony for him and going through mental and emotional pain, she finally trust that her husband has reincarnated and will return to this earth. Unsure of when, where, or what he will come back as, she is certain that he will come back to her. Although this was an unfortunate event, the fire brought about a new flame, it gave both her and her husband a rebirth. Now she is a new woman with a new ideal of life.
In the second novella, it revolves around the death of a mother and former wife. Ceely Swanson, the daughter of a once famous Jazz pianist as well as an intense drug addict is in a great deal of pain from the loss of her mother. In hopes of coping with her feelings, she sets a baby grand piano on fire. Just like in the first novella, the fire gives them a chance to be born again. Both Ceely and her father finally realize that what they need is something new, they need a change. Through this they work together, to rebuild their loss relationship over the years and build it up to a much stronger one. Cheuse brings about the same idea and result in both novellas. Both show the loss of a loved one in order to gain rebirth from the fire. I agree that the reason for the novellas shortness in length allows the meaning to deepen and the effect to be stronger. Without the extra pages of detail and extras, the stories remain short, to the point and neat. This allows the concept of the stories to be portrayed much easier for the readers. Even though the stories are depicted much differently they still symbolized the same thing. The idea that the fire represents death and rebirth is shown. In both novellas he is able to convey his ideas without overdoing it, making these two very well written novellas.
Alan Cheuse’s captivating novellas, The Fires and The Exorcism, both contain an obvious theme of fire. As the title conveys, these stories are linked through the mutual use of this well-known and powerful element of nature. In these stories, fire is presented in both a positive and negative way. In The Fires, it helps to put Gina’s husband somewhat to rest in her mind, through the powerful cremation ceremony. In The Exorcism, Ceely uses the unpredictability and force of fire as a suicide attempt.
The novellas both deal with the cremation of a loved one. The Fires is the story of a search for this posthumous request, while in The Exorcism, the cremation has occurred before the story begins. This ancient tradition connected the stories right from the beginning.
Another example of the use of fire in both novellas is the fiery anger that the characters feel towards events past and present. Gina harbors a great deal of anger in her interactions with people in Uzbekistan after her husband’s death. She only reaches some semblance of peace during her husband’s cremation ceremony. Ceely and her father are angry for various reasons, sometimes at each other, and sometimes at uncontrollable events. Ceely never quite recovers from her beloved mother’s death, which leaves her with a great deal of pent up resentment.
Perhaps the most obvious use of fire in either story is that of Cella’s setting fire to the baby grand piano. She talks about her desire to have killed herself in the fire that consumed the instrument. She is also an avid cigarette and pot smoker, two activities that also involve the use of heat and fire.
Gina frequently experiences hot flashes as she tries to cope with menopause and the fluctuating passion she feels for her husband. This is yet another example of Cheuse’s reoccurring theme. She has a great deal of difficulty as age takes its inevitable toll on her body.
The fact that these stories were written as novellas makes them extremely compelling. To me, a concise and quickly progressing story is often more powerful than an overly detailed novel. These novellas gave me the opportunity to read the whole story in one period of time, a luxury I do not usually have the time to experience. Cheuse probably appreciates the strength of reading these novellas all in one sitting. The characters’ stream-of-consciousness in his writing compelled me to keep reading all the way through both of his wonderful stories.
The Fires, by Alan Cheuse, is an interesting combination of two novellas to represent a common theme of fire. Both of these novellas show fire’s destruction, however they also show the elements ability to cleanse and renew. I enjoyed how each novella was strikingly different from the other in plot and characters, yet still very much the same in theme. This showed me how a common theme can be used and integral to so many different situations and stories.
In the first novella, The Fires, a woman named Gina travels to Uzbekistan to carry out her husband’s wishes for his unexpected death. However, the Muslim country makes it difficult for Gina to complete her husband’s wishes for cremation. She finds help and ends up going to Hindus in order to cremate her husband. The theme of fire is present in the novella not only through the obvious cremation of her husband, but through the character of Gina herself as she struggles through her husband’s death. Her constant heat flashes are signs of the fire raging inside of her and the fire she has for her husband. In the end, the fire cleanses her and as it rages through her mind she is renewed.
The second novella, The Exorcism, tells of a Tom Swanson’s journey through the death of his ex-wife, a famous jazz singer. He goes to retrieve their daughter from college after learning that she almost killed herself setting fire to a grand piano. The theme of fire is present here in an obvious way again, through the fire to the piano, but also is present in renewing and repairing the father’s relationships with his daughter and wife. In the end, this tragedy helped Tom figure out his life and bring him back to his family.
I thought it was interesting how the author used Hinduism in his second novella as well to help show the theme of fire and its two sides even more.
Using two novellas to convey the theme of fire and its effect of renewal worked better, because by presenting the theme through two different situations it was even more eminent to the reader.
Hi everyone! First of all, I really enjoyed reading Alan Cheuse's work. Although the story seemed very scattered at times and not cohesive, I realized that the lack of continuity is what made the story so intriguing. I wanted to find out how all of the places (Tashenkt, Moscow, and the US)tied together. Although the characters' emotions were conveyed to me, I could not wait to find out what made them feel this way. I think Cheuse's strategic style worked to his ability because I did want to get to the end, although I found the last pages of the first novella very disappointing. I kept waiting for everything to be explained and Cheuse simply threw more confusion at me until the last few pages turned into a high speed blur of dreams and reality that I could not figure out his point.
The second novella, The Exorcism, was much more satisfying. Cheuse maintained the intrigue of his first novel, by writing to Edna, who the reader does not know. However, the relationships, events, and storylines were clear from the very beginning. This added to the continuity of the story, making it easier for the reader to follow the narrator through his journey. The character's life became so detailed and so extensive, that I felt I knew everything about him. Cheuse made the reader more real by adding the depth of his relationship with his in laws, his protectiveness of his daughter, and the awkward feelings of jealousy with his second wife. The Exorcism was a thoroughly enjoyable read.
Please disregard my first comment, as it does not address the prompt.
In reference to the use of a novella as a literary form and genre, I agree with Nick. The novella, or short story, is a way for an author to express something specific and powerful without filling up unneeded space with ongoing details. Some say a novel may be more interesting because the author can intertwine story lines and become complex with many characters, as opposed to usually the one character in a novella, I think it is the focus and attention to interesting detail of one character and one story that makes a novella so interesting.
Alan Cheuse's purpose was to express the different forms and different ways people deal with grief, comparing their lives and emotions with a fire. The fire represents something that is very powerful and hard to get rid of, much like Gina's connection to Paul as well as her medical condition. In The Exorcism, the relationship with fire is much simpler. Ceely burns down a piano to symbolize the burning of her mother's life, a musician's life, after her death. The actual fire in The Exorcism also deals with death, but in a more civilized and expected way, cremation. The symbol of cremation and finally letting go of a loved one you have lost is much like putting out a very strong fire that has burning for a long time. Both of these novellas are connected by the use of fire as a metaphor to convey the journeys of two grief stricken characters.
Alan Cheuse’s work, The Fires, tells so little and yet so much in just the title. At once the reader knows that the novellas will have impact and meaning, and that they should proceed carefully to understand the symbolism implied. After reading both novellas the meaning of the fire is destructive, but also creative. I mean that in the sense of, for example, the phoenix. The phoenix self destructs by bursting into flames, but then it is born again, fresh and new. The literal fires in both stories signified an important loss in the world, however, they also brought closure, understanding, and a clear new conscience in which the remaining characters now lived with. For example, in the first novella, The Fires, the description of the cremation of the body was deeply personal while it was still apparent to the reader that the effects would last longer than the actual ceremony. The remaining half of the marriage still lived, and she would have to live with all the memories and images for the rest of her days. She would move on, however, and as time passed the wounds would heal. I think the cremation fire brought a necessary closure to the death of a loved one. In the second story, when Ceely burns her hand in a foolish last glimpse of childhood immaturity, it also symbolizes an end. Ceely is a growing woman now, and the days of playing and acting young will soon fade into the distance. Soon, responsibilities will take over her life, and those young days will float over her head, ephemeral whispers of a forgotten past.
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