Common Threads Between Nabokov's "Pnin" and Muriel Spark's "Prime of Miss Jean Brodie"
Common Threads Between Pnin and The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
Pnin and Miss Brodie, although exceptionally different, are quite similar. The parallels begin at their very roots. Though they do not originate from the same country, both
Miss Brodie and Pnin are foreign to the land in which they end up settling in. Miss Brodie travels from her home in Switzerland to teach at the prodigious Marcia Blaine School for
Girls, located in Scotland while Pnin must travel from Russia to America. This, being a much farther distance than Switzerland to Scotland, culturally and distancewise, causes
Pnin to be the the oddmanout the moment that he takes his first steps in America; he spends the rest of his life struggling with English, complicated train schedules, and many other cultural differences. Whether it be by sheer luck, her prime, or a more kindly author, things happen to be much easier for Miss Brodie.
All good novels must provide the reader with a conflict and neither Nabokov or
Spark disappoint. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie and Pnin admirably satisfy a reader’s desire to experience someone else’s pain, despair, and betrayal. Miss Brodie struggles with her romantic life and the harrowing fact that someone that she felt dear to ended up betraying her and ending her seemingly perpetual prime. Pnin, too, is faced with betrayal and unrequited love. Both come from his exwife, Liza, when she leaves him for another man and disallows him to move on by snaking in and out of his life.
All things alike must also have differences. Miss Brodie and Pnin are analogous characters, but they are antithesis in many aspects. Both characters exist on the fringes of their society; Miss Brodie is intentionally choosing to ostracize herself, but poor, émigré
Pnin wants nothing more than to fit in with his American peers. Some people use others
while others allow themselves to be used by some people. Miss Brodie’s membership to the former set and Pnin’s belonging
Pnin and Miss Brodie, although exceptionally different, are quite similar. The parallels begin at their very roots. Though they do not originate from the same country, both
Miss Brodie and Pnin are foreign to the land in which they end up settling in. Miss Brodie travels from her home in Switzerland to teach at the prodigious Marcia Blaine School for
Girls, located in Scotland while Pnin must travel from Russia to America. This, being a much farther distance than Switzerland to Scotland, culturally and distancewise, causes
Pnin to be the the oddmanout the moment that he takes his first steps in America; he spends the rest of his life struggling with English, complicated train schedules, and many other cultural differences. Whether it be by sheer luck, her prime, or a more kindly author, things happen to be much easier for Miss Brodie.
All good novels must provide the reader with a conflict and neither Nabokov or
Spark disappoint. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie and Pnin admirably satisfy a reader’s desire to experience someone else’s pain, despair, and betrayal. Miss Brodie struggles with her romantic life and the harrowing fact that someone that she felt dear to ended up betraying her and ending her seemingly perpetual prime. Pnin, too, is faced with betrayal and unrequited love. Both come from his exwife, Liza, when she leaves him for another man and disallows him to move on by snaking in and out of his life.
All things alike must also have differences. Miss Brodie and Pnin are analogous characters, but they are antithesis in many aspects. Both characters exist on the fringes of their society; Miss Brodie is intentionally choosing to ostracize herself, but poor, émigré
Pnin wants nothing more than to fit in with his American peers. Some people use others
while others allow themselves to be used by some people. Miss Brodie’s membership to the former set and Pnin’s belonging