Burning Bright—Tracy Chevalier

A Novel About William Blake's Opposites of Innocence and Experience

Sep 20, 2007

Burning Bright by Tracy Chevalier is a novel about a country family that moves to London and finds themselves neighbors to William Blake.

Style

Tracy Chevalier’s writing style is straightforward and fast-paced. Yet, the first two chapters of the book seem a bit sluggish. Whether it is the reader’s slowness to enter the story or whether Chevalier herself needed to enter the book at a slower pace is hard to determine.

Her characters are strong. They are distinct individuals. Some are necessarily complex but all are easy to relate to, with the exception of William Blake himself who is necessarily eccentric and for some, possibly, incomprehensible.

Plot/Characters

The Kellaway’s move to London shortly after their oldest son, Tommy, is killed in an accident. Upon arriving in London, they find that their next door neighbor is the eccentric, William Blake London opens the entire family changing them and teaching them about what is important in their life. The family learns to hold onto the solid country values that matter to them while dropping their prejudices and learning more about the world they live in.

Pivotal in the Kellaway’s move and growth is Phillip Astley the charismatic circus man whose invitation to the Kellaways to come to London prompted their move. His performers provide a world of escape for Anne and Maisie who are still coming to terms over their grief about Tommy’s death.

Maggie Butterfield flings open the doors of the Kellaway’s house both figuratively and literally by insisting on their friendship and by dragging Jem all over London. Her street-wise ways both repel and attract Jem.

William Blake is the fulcrum on which the Kellaway’s stay in London swings. He doesn’t act on their lives in a traditional sense. His impact is found in the brief but intense conversations he has with Jem and Maggie and in the controversy that surrounds him. When Nationalist’s surround his home and insist that he sign a form pledging loyalty to the King, the Kellaway’s make some important decisions of their own, including the decision to leave London.

Fulcrum

Chevalier built this story on the idea of opposites as explored in William Blake’s famous poems Songs of Innocence and of Experience. When she discusses her inspiration for the story she says “to me the acquiring of experience contains more of a story than being in a state of innocence. The story of Adam and Eve is interesting because they tasted the apple, after all; otherwise there is no story.”

Clearly, the acquisition of experience is important in this story. Country-folk are often considered naive and innocent. We see the entire Kellaway family grow and become more experienced in the ways of the world. But even street-hardened Maggie becomes more experienced through the story. Ironically, the experience that grows Maggie the most is personal exposure to the vulnerability of the Kellaways. The presence of Jem and his acceptance of both sides of her opens Maggie up to the possibility of vulnerability and the potential of reclaiming some small part of her lost innocence.

However, more important than the growth from innocence to experience in this story is a conversation about the nature of opposites that goes on between the children and Blake. The end of their conversation results in the realization that the world is of a coin. Both sides need each other to exist and what holds the middle is “‘The world,’ he said. ‘What lies between two opposites is us.’ Mr. Blake smiled. ‘Yes, my boy; yes, my girl. The tension between contraries is what makes us ourselves. We have not just one but the other too, mixing and clashing and sparking inside us. Not just light, but dark. Not just peace, but war. Not just innocent, but experienced.’” (127)

We stand in this world between light and dark, between depravity and holiness. Without one, the other does not exist because it cannot be defined. Chevalier gives us the story of people who grow from innocence to experience but who also learn that they need both to find the place where they can live in contentment and peace.

Conclusion

Burning Bright is a fast-paced enjoyable read, especially if you already have a fascination with William Blake and his poetry. Chevalier fills out her story with a fascinating study of opposites, which weaves through nearly all the sub-plots, and characters of the story.

Chevalier, Tracy. Burning Bright. Penguin Group, USA, 2007. ISBN-13: 978-0-525-94978-7

The copyright of the article Burning Bright—Tracy Chevalier in Modern American Fiction is owned by Melissa Howard. Permission to republish Burning Bright—Tracy Chevalier in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.