Hi Everyone! This week I am going to be reflecting on part one –Combray– of Marcel Proust’s novel Swann’s Way….
Marcel Proust’s “Combray” was a bit of a challenge to read. At first, there was a lot of jumping around from topic to topic, which was difficult to follow. Near the end, however, the writing seems to clear up, and focuses on a memory from childhood. The text concludes with the narrator remembering a taste … Continue reading Week 2: Proust’s “Combray” →
After reading part 1 of “Combray” I felt sympathy for the narrator and also worried about the way he processes his emotions. In the initial pages of the story, the narrator speaks in much detail of how in his sleep he becomes transported into different memories. It seems like he is being haunted by his past as he cannot escape these dreams. He would often go back to his childhood to relive bad memories.
Although it was only the one memory of his summers in “Combray”, the detail put into it made it so the reader could be shown the different family dynamics as well as the narrator’s distinct personality. When his father sends him to bed without a kiss from his mother, dismissing it as absurd, the boy becomes filled with sorrow. His mother’s kiss was described as “the concession she was making to [his] sadness and agitation,” (13) and without it he let those emotions consume him. He first sends a note down to his mother asking her to come up and say goodnight and after his request was denied, he made a second plan to wait for her to come to bed and catch her in the hall. He knew this would result in severe consequences but he did it anyway because he was dependent on these rituals. When his father came up and saw what was happening, the narrator braced himself for punishment but was surprised when his father showed him sympathy and let his mother stay the night in his room. This surprised me as well because of the father’s initial descriptions of being strict and against this ritual. His change of heart when seeing his son in distress gave me a new perspective on the father. At first, I thought he was cruel but then realized that he was just trying to better his son by setting boundaries and trying to teach independence.
I noticed the narrator is a very sensitive child who experiences life differently from those around him. He is often nervous and has an introverted personality. I’m wondering what connections this can be made to his family dynamics and if it had anything to do with his upbringing or if it was just the way he was wired.
Going back to the scene of the narrator refusing to go to sleep without a kiss from his mother. My question to the class is: Were the narrator’s parents in the right to set these boundaries for their child? Or is it more important to tend to the child’s emotional wellbeing?
His insomnia was heavily highlighted throughout part one. I view the narrator as a person with severe anxiety. His thoughts are constantly jumping from one to another. His anxiety comes to light mostly at the thought of his mom not being able to give him a goodnight kiss. I wonder if his anxiety is brought from childhood trauma because his dreams always escape to his childhood. The narrator expressed his “childish terror” (4) with the memory of his great uncle pulling him by his curls. He also seems afraid of his father. This is shown when the father does not allow his mother to give him a kiss goodnight. In the scene where the narrator waits for his mom above the staircase to say goodnight, his mother seems afraid of what his father might say to their son as she tells him in a panic to go back to his room. His mom seems to be aware of his fathers resentment to his son’s actions.
His childhood experiences seem to be the cause of what his personality is today. His mind always wanders back to his childhood. His father’s negative opinions of his son’s night time ritual could have impacted the narrator’s pressure to grow up and cause an unhealthy attachment to his mother. His mother is the only one who accepts his needs.This makes me question how much does childhood trauma and the pressure of maturity affect an individual?
Overall, “Combray” part one was a confusing read for me. I was left with so many unanswered questions. I wish the author had given us more insight into the narrator’s past before these events.
After reading part 1 of “Combray” I felt sympathy for the narrator and also worried about the way he processes his emotions. In the initial pages of the story, the narrator speaks in much detail of how in his sleep he becomes transported into different memories. It seems like he is being haunted by his past as he cannot escape these dreams. He would often go back to his childhood to relive bad memories.
Although it was only the one memory of his summers in “Combray”, the detail put into it made it so the reader could be shown the different family dynamics as well as the narrator’s distinct personality. When his father sends him to bed without a kiss from his mother, dismissing it as absurd, the boy becomes filled with sorrow. His mother’s kiss was described as “the concession she was making to [his] sadness and agitation,” (13) and without it he let those emotions consume him. He first sends a note down to his mother asking her to come up and say goodnight and after his request was denied, he made a second plan to wait for her to come to bed and catch her in the hall. He knew this would result in severe consequences but he did it anyway because he was dependent on these rituals. When his father came up and saw what was happening, the narrator braced himself for punishment but was surprised when his father showed him sympathy and let his mother stay the night in his room. This surprised me as well because of the father’s initial descriptions of being strict and against this ritual. His change of heart when seeing his son in distress gave me a new perspective on the father. At first, I thought he was cruel but then realized that he was just trying to better his son by setting boundaries and trying to teach independence.
I noticed the narrator is a very sensitive child who experiences life differently from those around him. He is often nervous and has an introverted personality. I’m wondering what connections this can be made to his family dynamics and if it had anything to do with his upbringing or if it was just the way he was wired.
Going back to the scene of the narrator refusing to go to sleep without a kiss from his mother. My question to the class is: Were the narrator’s parents in the right to set these boundaries for their child? Or is it more important to tend to the child’s emotional wellbeing?
His insomnia was heavily highlighted throughout part one. I view the narrator as a person with severe anxiety. His thoughts are constantly jumping from one to another. His anxiety comes to light mostly at the thought of his mom not being able to give him a goodnight kiss. I wonder if his anxiety is brought from childhood trauma because his dreams always escape to his childhood. The narrator expressed his “childish terror” (4) with the memory of his great uncle pulling him by his curls. He also seems afraid of his father. This is shown when the father does not allow his mother to give him a kiss goodnight. In the scene where the narrator waits for his mom above the staircase to say goodnight, his mother seems afraid of what his father might say to their son as she tells him in a panic to go back to his room. His mom seems to be aware of his fathers resentment to his son’s actions.
His childhood experiences seem to be the cause of what his personality is today. His mind always wanders back to his childhood. His father’s negative opinions of his son’s night time ritual could have impacted the narrator’s pressure to grow up and cause an unhealthy attachment to his mother. His mother is the only one who accepts his needs.This makes me question how much does childhood trauma and the pressure of maturity affect an individual?
Overall, “Combray” part one was a confusing read for me. I was left with so many unanswered questions. I wish the author had given us more insight into the narrator’s past before these events.
Reading Proust’s stories from Swann’s Way gave me a lot of feelings. I’m not sure that I understood either story completely – or that I ever could – but I certainly felt connected to them on a deeper level than I would have expected. Of the two stories, I would like to discuss aspects of “Overture” […]
This was my first time reading any of Proust’s works and I started reading feeling a little uncertain about how much I would understand and enjoy the reading. However, I was pleasantly surprised at how well the book flowed and … Continue reading →
Posted in Blogs, Proust | Tagged with dream vs reality, memory, time
Posted in Blogs | Tagged with
Posted in Blogs | Tagged with
