The Roses Wilt
Throughout life, one will encounter many ups, downs, highs and lows. It's quite obvious that some will handle the downs and lows better than others. These problems can range anywhere from something serious such as family conflicts, or it may be something foolish like laundry issues. Others find that their lows in life are due to the fact that they face the same daily obstacles, and tend to get annoyed with the repetition behind them. Life all of a sudden seems to have no particular meaning, and a person begins to feel worthless. Life in itself is repetitive, however a person can only take so much until they begin to need a serious modification. The concept stated above is demonstrated in; A Jest of God,by Margaret Laurence and The Book of Eve, by Constance Beresford-Howe. In A Jest of God, Rachel is deprived of a fulfilling lifestyle mainly because of the limits she is placed under by her mother. Day in, and day out, Rachel is living a confined life and feels there is no possibility of changing it. Her sister Stacey has married and moved away and Rachel is the only support her mother has. Rachel feels obliged to provide and care for her. After her affair with Nick Kazlik, Rachel begins to have a different outlook on life and therefore decides to change it drastically. In The Book of Eve, Eve is restricted to some of life's simple things such as going out for walks. Her husband Burt is afraid of fire and resents being left alone even for short intervals. After Eva decides to leave, she experiences a whole new lifestyle. Eve now has enough time to go out for strolls, 'shop', and is still left with too much time in which to contemplate her situation. In each novel it's evident that the protagonists are getting fed up with their lives and are taking matters into their own hands. In A Jest of God the protagonist is Rachel, a thin, tall, lanky teacher in the town Manawaka.