Basic Themes
Certain Women by Madeleine L’Engle looks at the life of the Wheaton family through the lens of King David’s life. David Wheaton, the family patriarch is dying. Wheaton was a serial monogamist who married nine wives in his lifetime—a thread that ties him closely to the great King of Israel and ancestor of Jesus, King David. As his family gathers round him, we travel through his life and that of King David via the narration of his daughter Emma.
Emma’s own life provides a thread that holds the complex tapestry of this story together. Her husband whom she has separated from had attempted for many years to write the script David Wheaton’s greatest theatrical role, that of King David. However, Nik was unable to bring the much-desired script to fruition. David Wheaton holds a draft of the play in his hands, reviews it as he considers his life, and says his final goodbyes.
King David’s life and marriages, weave through the life and marriages of Wheaton. David’s failures and the failures of his children are echoed by Wheaton’s failures and troubled children. The difficult marriage of Nik and Emma who manage to stay together through years of difficulty and who refuse to make their separation final plays a counterpoint to the repeated attempts of King David and Wheaton to find marital bliss.
A Testament of Grace and Forgiveness
Like many of the books that L’Engle wrote during the later years of her career, Certain Women is a book about a reviewal and renewal of life. Memories weave through the present pulling the protagonist back and forth. L’Engle’s ultimate concern in these novels is that the narrator be at peace with his or her life by the end of the story. However, L’Engle knows that peace is not easily achieved.
Forgiveness is necessary for peace. Before her separation from Nik, Emma learns an important lesson about forgiveness. After the death of two of her half-brothers, Emma meets with a half-sister. They talk about forgiveness and are reminded that we must forgive not only those we love but those who injure us deeply and whom we are unable to love.
“What is forgiveness?”
Chantal’s long fingers gripped the steering wheel. ‘It’s not forgetting. That’s repression, not forgiveness.’
Emma looked over at her sister.
‘Remembering,’ Chantal said, ‘but not hurting anymore.’
The ability to receive and give mercy and grace, the ability to live in compassion is essential in both accepting the past and moving forward in peace. Shortly before Emma and Nik agree to reunite, they discuss how we move on.
“It’s time to stop thinking about blame and guilt. Actions have consequences, and they have to be played out.”
“And then we have to let them go,” Emma said.
“Can we?” Nick demanded. “Are we both damaged goods? So damaged that we can’t make it in an ordinary human way?”
Emma turned on the flame under the coffeepot. “I was in a show once with an actor who’d had TB, and when I was concerned about his going out in a horrible rainstorm, he told me not to worry, that his TB was cured, and that scar tissue is the strongest tissue in the human body. I suspect that spiritual scar tissue is strong, too, and that it should make us more able to be human, rather than less.”
“It’s made you stronger,” Nik said. “I am not sure about me. Am I still using my background as an excuse for all my horrible behavior?”
“No, Nik, I agree with you that we have more free will than that. We can hang on to our scars, forgetting that they are healed, or we can get on with life.”
A few minutes later, they ask for and receive forgiveness past injuries, the things that wedged them apart.
In Conclusion
The themes that made L’Engle’s early work so popular are still in her adult novels written late in her life. The themes of seeking, forgiveness, love, grace, mercy, and the ability to ask tough questions and leave them unanswered if necessary run strong and deep in Certain Women.
While the threads of Certain Women are far flung and sometimes tangle more than weave together, the book still teaches important lessons about life. It is well worth reading.
Read more about Madeleine L'Engle at Suite101.
L’Engle, Madeleine. Certain Women. Farrar Strauss Giroux, 1992.
 |
