who has seen the wind notes

Mr. Maveneka
Grade 11
English

ISP First Novel Notes

Characters

Brian easily jealous pg 4 “He hated his mother and his father and his grandmother for spending so much time with the baby’’
Angry pg 6 “he hit the bump and wished that it was his grandmother” pg 25 “ God better kill her “ selfish pg 28 “ I wish God would only answer my prayers, that way he would understand why I hate gramma”
-Curiuos pg 96 “ -birth - death - towns - prairies and tumble weeds ... everything? Mr. Hislop nodded yes that’s all Gods doing ”

Grandmother
Harsh pg 5 “ If ye stay inside ye’ll disturb the baby. Ye must go out! Get outside now!” doesn’t like taking criticism pg 76 (directed to uncle sean) “ Don’t use that language whilst describing my sewing. It belongs to the Bar room Perhaps
Bossy pg 24 “ get down from that chair! I knew from the look in her eyes that she was going to be bossy while father was gone”

Uncle sean
Jealous of his brother pg 38“ There was fifteen years’ difference in their ages, a difference which gave to the rough sean a feeling of protectiveness for his younger brother; at the same time he stood in envy of Gerald with his university education, his fine business and his fine home.
-Bad Temper pg20 “ Whereas Sean was the possessor of volatile temper, which had never truly subsided during the dry years of the late twenties and his heart breaking one of the thirties when his crops were a failure.”

Gerald MacMurray O’Connal9 (Brains Father)
-Quiet/Shy pg 20 “ Gerald was quiet, slow smiling, and almost shy individual.”
-Caring pg 52 “ I’d better get Dr. Svarich this baby his to live I cant part with it’’

Forbsie (Brians best friend)
Curious pg 51 “they came out of the eggs?”
Kind pg 51 “ we can’t leave them they’re helpless against the rain!” Settings/ Imagery

This novel is set in the Saskatchewan prairies in the 1940’s. The story describes many prairies around the MacMurray O’Connal families house. The beauty of the prairies is brought up in every chapter for example in chapter two when brian in the prairie by his home staying away while the baby is ill he describes he beauty of the prairie “ Here was the least common denominator of nature, the skeleton requirements simply, of land and sky”pg 1. Brian describes the town he grew up in and lists the name of the various lined avenues with prairie names around him such as Bison, Riel, Qu’appelle, blackfoot,and fort pg 4. The prairies symbolize Brian’s peace of mind, it brings brian a sense of tranquility to visit the prairie as it helps him come to terms the theme of birth and death that comes up frequently throughout the novel. Themes Birth and death in this novel W.O. Mitchell tries to describe the meaning of life to young readers. The protagonist Brian MacMurray O’Connal develops an understanding of Birth and Death from a very young age. He learns about these aspects of life through life experience and observing various animals. He first encounters lifes begginings when Forbsie’s pets such as the Pigeons and the Rabbit are born. This allows Brian to understand birth. Whereas the passing of Brian’s dog and father help him understand death and the meaning of life. Brian first encounters birth when he discovers baby pigeons hatching in the park while walking with Forbsie “ They come out of the eggs.” pg 51 forbsie had said. Brian had trouble understanding the concept of hatching so his father reluctantly describes this matter to him without many details. Brian then understands somewhat how reproduction happens among animals although, this conversation leaves Brian a little confused, but he seems at this point able to differentiate reproduction between animals and humans. Brian’s continues to see birth take place when he and Forbsie witness baby rabbits being born although he is not sure about the rabbits at first “ they look funny--- they haven’t got any hair’’ pg 160. Brian and Forbsie then speculate that one day the rabbits will grow up and have rabbits of their own Brian then goes to his father for help “ how do rabbits get started?” pg 161. Gerald then explains to Brian that rabbits don’t reproduce like the pigeons. "That---oh---that's what the baby rabbit grows from inside the mother rabbit.'’Gerald MacMurry O’Connal said pg 162. Brian being a little older than he was during the last conversation now understands the difference between the birth of rabbits and pigeons. Along with learning about birth Brian begins to understand death. He first encounters death while taking a baby pigeon home in the rain. The baby pigeon was not able to withstand the weather and by the time Brian got home the Pigieon was dead.'It's dead, Brian's father said gently."(56). At this time Brian isn’t shaken by death because he didn’t understand its significance. His father then tells him that everything that is living will die at some point. Brian continues to understand death when his dog Jappy dies. Brian feels depressed for a long while after Jappy passes because he longs to hear his bark and he cant come to terms with his death. Finally Brian’s father becomes ill and dies leaving brian out of sorts."It was like getting a licking and trying to make yourself cry so you wouldn't get it so hard."(238) Brian feels empty because his dad was his mentor and he slowly realized that he wouldn’t be able to get advice from his father anymore. It is through this experience that Brian learns that the greatest lesson in life is to let go of fear and accept the truth. Brian matures throughout the novel and his knowledge of Birth and Death develop through each event that takes place. Although Brian hasn’t grasped the whole concept of Birth and death he learned a quite a bit about discovering the true meaning of life.

Symbols Wind
The wind symbolizes life's many obstacles and the mystery of life. W.O. mitchell was inspired by a poem written by Christina Rossetti;
Who has seen the wind nethier you nor I: but when the trees bow down their heads, the wind is passing by.
I believe that the wind is a metaphor for the uncertainty that goes along with living your life.