Year Of Wonders By John Gordon Quotes

Year of Wonders reveals “how little we know…of the people we live amongst.” Discuss.
Year of Wonders, a novel written by Geraldine Brooks provides the reader with a true insight into the fabric of human nature and demonstrates how crisis can expose many new characteristics about the people we think we have formed close bonds with. After discovering Elinor’s past sins in the ‘Poppies of Lethe’, Anna comments on how oblivious of people’s true attributes and past experiences we can be, which reveals ‘how little we know… of the people we live amongst’. This revelation suggests that throughout times of crisis the way people respond and react will differ between individuals and possibly reveal an incident from their past which has resulted in a person’s personality and characteristics. This is evident in the narrative as Elinor’s ‘gentlewomen’ façade is revealed to be exactly that. It is also illustrated by John Gordon who turned into a self-harming, flagellant in an attempt to cope with the catastrophic effects of the plague. In the case of the Bont clan, their already horrid nature is amplified even more so, to an
John Gordon’s response to the plague is both unexpected and extreme, in order to ‘allay God’s wrath’ he stops eating and subjects his body to horrible punishment with ‘plaited leather and nails’. As a strict religious society, the people of Eyam assume that all members of the society will maintain their belief in religion throughout any number of troubles, however when the plague hits, John Gordon, ‘a lettered man’ resorts to ‘grievous self-punishment’ as a coping mechanism. This response was unanticipated by even John’s wife Urith who also is ‘aggrieved’ and ‘clemmed’ in accordance with John’s new belief in flagellation. John Gordon’s response to the plague is proof of how little we truly know about those we live