Notes on analyzing literature: THE ENCHANTER

1. Finding patterns - repeating thematic concerns - particularly anything which seems counter-intuitive

2. Find motifs: repeating "things" or ideas

3. Comb through the text, looking at the context of each appearance of the pattern - examine the writing for clues as to the meaning - and the role of writing/style.

4. In a well-wrought novel or poem, every element works together, so by examining one element you shed light on the work as a whole. It's systematic - or like a game.

Thematic concerns for today: 9/12/2013

• the body: appears to be at odds with reason
• reason: character's attempts at rationality seem doomed to failure
• luck and fate: relies on fate to fulfill himself, contrary to strategies and reason; has his share of luck
• the "intrusion of the compulsion": the character loses control of his impulses at times
• memory: there is a suggestion that the 12-year-old girl is a "return of time" - his obsession with her is based on the loss of a sister

Other important motifs and themes:

• enchantment: both the girl and the author are referred to as enchanters
• social roles: the main character takes refuge in a variety of social roles
• colors
• animals
• performance vs. authenticity
• life as verbal or textual
• time (tied up with memory)
• butterflies / entomology