Embodiment vs. Vivid Detail

Hamlin Garland and Left Handed: Embodiment vs. Vivid Detail

In Left Handed’s excerpt, I use the term embodiment to describe the way he crafts setting. There is an assumption, from the story-telling style, that assumes the reader has familiarity. I use the word embody because the style is effortless, as speech is—it reads very conversationally, as a result of having been dictated. No lengthy vivid details are given; the reader must accept the terms of the setting. The embodiment of the setting, comes through in the authentic voice and style. There is really an absence of description in the quote below, as well as through the entire section:

“I went down toward the northeast in this big flat, going along with my herd and my horses, and around about that time, the sun was near down. And I got to a place that was good for my herd to be that night. We were on a big hill, and I got my sheep in this hill, and my horses too.” (316)

In a way, by not using vivid details, he both normalizes the mountain/herder experience and diverts the interest of the reader to him and his actions: the journey and the people he encounters. For me, this created greater character investment than in Garland’s piece. I was intrigued by the women in this excerpt and their voices, and I think that is because 1) that is where he draws the most attention, and 2) we entered the piece with a conflict and were thus curious about what this lone man would do after leaving his wife. The mountain setting and vague details, to me, created mystery. Garland didn’t devote much space to character interactions; it was more of an homage to an idyllic, country life. His excerpt lacked tension and conflict, but included tons of vivid details.

While Left handed is more interested in his thoughts, his journey, and the people around him that in describing setting, Garland is devoted to setting. He gives vivid, paragraph-long descriptions on every page that finely craft a picture of the farm. One example of many:

“Along the streams and in the ‘sloos’ cat-tails and tiger-lilies nodded above thick mats of wide-bladed marsh grass. –Almost without realizing it, I came to know the character of every weed, every flower, every living thing big enough to be seen from the back of a horse.” (126) The land was made visible from descriptions like these.

Left Handed, the narrator, was very natural and casual. He utilized a lot of repetition, which I found enjoyable. It didn’t sound crafted, that is, it sounded the way he would speak, which of course, as a technique, is no less crafty than Garland’s piece. I don’t think it’s fair to say that because something is spoken it is any less crafted. When speaking, all elements of craft are present: tone, voice, style, and character are all built. As one example of style, Left Handed uses repetition quite a bit:

“ I started out with my herd again, down toward a place called Dry Spring. …Down I went to this place called Dry Spring.” (317) And later on the same page: “ All at once I came upon this lake, and I started toward that lake. I just kept going to this lake. “

“That’s what she said to me.” (318)

“That’s the way she spoke to me” (318)

“I wanted him to go ahead, I told him to go home. He didn’t go. …but the boy didn’t go.” (318)

Another aspect of craft that is worth noting was the inclusion of animals. In both excerpts, I noticed that the animals came alive, almost as characters. They had personality and purpose. Both writers showed just how part of life, not just nature was, but animals were.

Garland describes the bandit “free commoner” cows and colts: “Sometimes their movements arose from the stinging of gadflies, sometimes from a battle between two jealous leaders, sometimes from the passing of a wolf—often from no cause at all other than that of abounding vitality.” (124) Also: "Their boastful, defiant cries were as intelligible to us as those of men." (125)

In Left Handed’s piece, the animals play a big role as well. He is very concerned with their whereabouts and actions: “ After the sheep had drunk they stopped there at the lake. They lay around there in the shadows; it was pretty hot. When they were still there I rode up to this Hogan.” (317) His herder character is made very authentic; he always has an eye on the animals.