A Jest of God by Margaret Laurence
Before the novel even begins we are shown a glimpse of how Rachel approaches her spiritual life and how death is an integral part of the way she thinks: "I was swallowed one time deep in the dark" (5). This quote from Carl Sandburg's Losers foreshadows the struggle which haunts Rachel from a child to the point in her life when she finally gets a grasp on death. Her life through her eyes seems boring almost unbearable at times and her fantasy of escape comes in the form of dieing: "Rachel Cameron says she'll die" (7). Her thoughts turn reality into a dream world seeing the children in the playground growing old "finally die[ing], the last dried shell of them painted and prettified for decent burial by mortal men like Niall Cameron, my father. Stupid thought. Morbid. I mustn't give houseroom in my skull to that sort of thing" (8). Rachel knows "[i]t's dangerous" (8) to let herself think these immature thoughts; She is a grown woman not a child. Her thoughts at the beginning seem to get the best of her; Conforming to be someone she is not happy with. Death started with her father and his business at the local funeral home. It was a business for her father and Rachel was never part of it: "This is no place for you, Rachel. Run along now, there's a good girl. This is no place for you" (124). Rachel was sheltered as "[t]he sign on the door says Private" (124), shutting out a child not really understanding death and reality. To Rachel death is not...
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