Quarter 3 Post 3

In the last 50 pages, Cliff has only made it through Oregon and is now taking a break in California. Continuing the character development I mentioned in my last post, the philosophical side of Cliff is becoming more and more apparent. Personally, I think it's because he's spent so much time alone. After he dropped Marybelle off a while ago, he's been on his own and even declines to answer his cell phone. (About not answering his cell phone Cliff said, "Let them drift in the electronic void with their unspoken thoughts" (108-109). I'm not going to analyze this quote, I just really like the sentence and thought I'd share it.) Anyways, it's interesting when you're isolated like that because although you don't have anyone to bounce ideas and random thoughts off of, your thoughts become louder and clearer to take the place of company. At one point, Cliff is driving through Oregon and comes to a realization about himself. He says, "Here I was in very empty north-central Oregon where my own unforced errors played big from my brain's movie projector against the immense screen of landscape. I had been to damned wishy washy. I had let my disgust with teaching ruin my love of literature" (108). Mixed in with tales from his college years and his previous passion for good writing, it is easy to see that Cliff has just achieved something great. It's a great achievement when you realize something not so great about yourself, because although it might really suck to notice, it means you can see yourself from outside your little box. All his alone time has inspired great self-contemplation.

I've noticed that the motif I talked about in the first post has continued. For one thing, the Oregon puzzle piece was purple, which reminded Cliff of a friend's funeral (because the cloth in the casket had been the same color). Thinking about this friend inspired thoughts about death and control one has over their life. I do think this is significant because Oregon was quite the melancholy state, and the puzzle piece really set the tone for the chapter. Cliff forgets to toss away the puzzle piece at the end of the Oregon chapter, and finally remembers once he's spent a day or two in California. This passage reads, "Once more I had forgotten to throw away a puzzle piece and stopped near Little Cow Creek northwest of Redding, dropping Oregon in the water without emotion" (119). This makes quite a contrast with his emotional discovery of the purple piece. I think that all the reflection that occured in Oregon has sort of worn him out, emotionally, and so the careless way he gets rid of the piece shows how Cliff has become a little numb. In other news, Cliff has now stopped at his son Robert's condo in California for a little while. This is interesting because it's a break from the complete isolation he had been experiencing for the past week or so, and I'm interested to see what happens.

Harrison, Jim. The English Major. New York: Grove Press, 2008.

Quarter 3 Post 2

Since I last posted, Cliff has made his way through Nebraska, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, and Washington (state). He has also rid himself of Marybelle, dropping her off with her family. As he travels through these states, Cliff has shown different sides of his personality. My first impression was that he was pretty straightforward - used to be a teacher, then a farmer, is now retired, doesn't think too much about things. But as the road trip progresses, the more contemplative side of Cliff has come out. For example, while sitting on the balcony of his hotel room in Washington, Cliff reflects for a while about how much good this trip is actually doing him. He says, "I felt like a missile or rocket without ground control... Reality seemed to be crumbling and I was wise enough to understand that reality stayed the same so it was my mind that was crumbling" (101). Harrison uses a simile to show that although Cliff has simply been cruising through states one at a time, he hadn't really thought about what he was doing until this moment. I think this could be a major turning point for both the trip and Cliff himself, but I can't be sure because then the chapter ended and I stopped reading. I predict that he will make some changes to his plan, or we'll begin to see changes in his character.

I'm starting to like Harrison's writing style more and more. At first, I couldn't figure out why he's such a highly praised author. The thing is, you really have to pay attention to details or you'll completely miss essential points that could tell you something about a theme or a character. One example of this is how Harrison often disperses Cliff's memories from childhood or marriage throughout random moments. I used to read these but not acknowledge them or what they told me about Cliff, dismissing them as useless anecdotes. But more and more I've noticed their importance. During the trip through Montana, Cliff becomes slightly sick, and recalls how his mother used to care for him during illness as a kid. He reminisces, "the only time my mother was soft and kind and gentle to me was when I was sick. When I got measles she was a Sister of Eternal Mercy and Love. When I was well she saved it all for my little brother with Down's" (81). While at first this story is cute at best, it really tells you more than you think. For one, it reminds you that Cliff grew up with a disabled brother. Also, you can infer that most of the time his mother wasn't overly affectionate and didn't give Cliff mounds of attention. This explains why Cliff doesn't require extensive company - he's happiest when Marybelle is gone, and often reminisces about how he enjoyed his dog's comany more than his wife's. One theme I can kind of see developing so far is that attempting to escape from problems in your life won't get rid of them, and may just make them all the more apparent. This is strong in the story because Cliff has run away from his old life and his ex-wife, but continues to come to conclusions about his problems that he wouldn't have seen had he stayed home.


Harrison, Jim. The English Major. New York: Grove Press, 2008.

Quarter 3 Post 1

My book for this quarter is titled The English Major by Jim Harrison. It is the story of a man who, after being left by his wife, takes off across the country on a state-by-state road trip. As he leaves each state, Cliff (the main character) tosses a puzzle piece of that state out the window, or leaves it behind in one way or another. Even though it's early on, I'm getting the feeling that these puzzle pieces, which are from a puzzle from Cliff's childhood, are a type of motif. As if the description of each one being tossed away is representative of Cliff's experiences in that state, or of what is yet to come. For example, when Cliff enters North Dakota he throws the Minnesota piece into a river (by the way, the Minnesota chapter was really not all that interesting and I was quite disappointed). This passage reads, "We stood on the bridge and waved good-bye to the Minnesota piece bobbing south on the roiling current" (25). The description of the agitated water signifies troubles that will soon come, presumably between the 'we,' which is Cliff and Marybelle. Marybelle is an old student of Cliff's (who used to be a teacher) that he has kept in touch with, and is now in a semi-relationship with. All troubles aside, the image of Cliff and Marybelle waving away the puzzle piece could show that they are letting go of their pasts in favor of a fresh future.

As I've only read about one fifth of the book, I can't quite pick out themes yet. However, some apparent topics are human loyalty, escapism and satisfaction with one's life. Human loyalty comes in through most of the characters. Cliff was left by his wife (Vivian) for another man, who she had already been seeing for a while. In a sort of rebound, Cliff sets off on his journey only to pick up Marybelle along they way. Marybelle has a husband, but enters a relationship with Cliff anyhow. Cliff, meanwhile, likes Marybelle's company most of the time, but still thinks about his ex-wife pretty often. It's like a slow-paced adult soap opera. Another thing I've noticed about this book is the writing style. Jim Harrison has a dry sense of humor, if you can even call it humor. It's more like the kind of thing where you acknowledge it's funniness (if that's a word...) but you don't really laugh at it. Also, he's very blunt and doesn't tiptoe around topics like sex and attraction or drinking. Instead, he'll discuss them easily, even in a train of thought that includes farming and his car. A quote that embodies basically everything in this paragraph can be found in the South Dakota chapter, when Cliff is reflecting on his relationship with Marybelle. He says, "I had been hardly paying attention to the varying landscape that I had counted on lifting my spirits after losing Vivian. Instead I had become "pussy blind" as young men call it" (36). Cliff acknowledges that he still thinks of Vivian although he is using Marybelle to distract himself, mostly through sex. In his straightforward and sometimes vulgar way, Harrison kind of reminds me of Charles Bukowski, although there isn't nearly as much swearing and harsh language as there is in Bukowski's work.

Harrison, Jim. The English Major. New York: Grove Press, 2008.