Flourishing and Goodness in The School Among the Ruins and Lark & Termite

The teacher as a model of goodness in The School Among the Ruins establishes the idea of giving care to innocent characters when not obligated to do so as a benchmark for goodness and flourishing. Along with this, the teacher put the needs of the students before his own, filtering out his negative thoughts for himself to provide them with only hope while “all night pitiless pilotless things go shrieking... [but] maybe tomorrow the bakers can fix their ovens” (Rich).  He “loves his school students” and upon the crisis he automatically assumes responsibility for them without question as reflected by his use of the subject “we” as he searches for food and water (Rich). While reading this poem, these associations with the meaning of goodness and flourishing struck me as very familiar to the definitions of these ideas in Lark and Termite (as described in my earlier blog post). The language in which the teacher uses specifically to address the students and to encourage the values associated with a typical school experience such as curiosity (“don’t stop asking me why”), nurturing and observation (“let’s pay attention to our cat”) demonstrates his understanding of the students and how to speak to them (Rich).  Lark also demonstrates this deep understanding of Termite and how to interpret his needs such as the bell ringing system on Termite’s chair and the way Lark knows that “things sound more like music in [Termite’s] version. Sounds instead of words” (Phillips 85).

In particular, the relationship between Lark and Termite endures to major catastrophes in which Lark’s behavior closely mirrors that of the teacher and as consequence of the actions of these caretakers the readers in both cases are left with a sense of goodness and hope. In Lark & Termite, the two main characters are nearly separated while boarding the train to Florida and Lark “would have shot [them] both if [she’d] thought they could be separated” (Phillips 246).

In the train incident the fact that Lark tries to shelter Termite from the near separation is similar to the teacher encouraging normal classroom behavior amongst the students despite his own knowledge of the “ruins” surrounding them. This encompasses the self-sacrificing quality of these relationships because the teacher and Lark are willing to take on the burden of knowing what is happening or “almost happened” (in the case of Lark & Termite’s near separation) in order to spare those they care for (Phillips 246).

It is important to note that in The School Among the Ruins and in Lark & Termite, the students and Termite, respectively, have mysteriously lost their biological parents and are left completely helpless creating the need for the care taking role to be assumed by another. The thought of what could become of them without this role assumed is what most appeals to the pathos of the reader. Especially, in The School among the Ruins, Rich’s suggestion of the cat teaching the children intimates the possibility of the children becoming wild, feral children without a caretaker to guide them into their roles in society. Whereas Termite is “so-called disabled” and it is suggested that he may not have a long life (Phillips 94). By the conclusion of the novel, without Lark he would likely be taken in by Social  Services while Nonie under suspicion for Gladdy’s death.

The Human Condition in Jean Valentine's Poems

Throughout her poems Valentine focuses on the human condition through biblical allusions as well as the body, soul, and human suffering making up this condition.

Valentine begins invoking the human condition by focusing equally on the body and soul and their relationship, that is: how the “soul [becomes] flesh” (3). Valentine focuses on specific bodily attributes including the eyes, hands (see I heard my left hand and Do flies remember us), skin (see Occurrence of White), “charcoal skull” and bones (17). With this she continues to distinguish the body and soul, or her “crayon bones” and her “heart shutting down” (11). She also incorporates sexuality with the body “[wanting] breasts, bellies, hair... nipples, foreskin, heart” (5). She uses imagery of the body in a biblical sense as well “the pelvis thinning out to God” (3).

Coming largely from the Catholic tradition, Valentine depicts a human condition that is categorized by suffering, just as Jesus Christ suffered as the human God. This suffering though, following the Bible, has almost a redemptive quality. In the poem The Hawthorn Robin Mends with Thorns, the very title suggests a redemptive quality resulting from human suffering. The fact that this poem is in the form of a conversation with “Mary” invokes biblical imagery of the maternal figure of the Virgin Mary suggesting that Valentine may even be involved in the act of prayer during this poem. Again invoking images of the body, Valentine describes her “older breast” and “thinner rib” as well as imagery of the piercing of a heart (7). This piercing of the body imagery again invoke biblical allusions, in this case to the crucifixion and ultimate human suffering of Jesus Christ.

In line with the human sufferings of Jesus, Valentine also carries a theme of abandonment, betrayal,  “emptiness” and loss throughout many of her poems (19). Her lover and her family are the most common subjects, beginning the section entitled “New Poems”  with Valentine’s accounts of abandonment as a young girl. This appears most vividly in The Girl as “the mother and son are gone happy, the father to work, the sister to marriage, [while] the girl is still spilling” (4). In concurrence with this theme is the idea of the “Visiting Area” in either a hospital or the Avenal prison in which one is forced to be confined and isolated, “dying day by day” in human suffering (32). 

Valentine offers a fully developed portrait of the relationship between the body and the soul as in the aforementioned Annunciation the body and soul are seen as working in unity, the exact opposite is shown in Eighteen. In this poem, Valentine as an adolescent is experiencing the pulls of the desires if her body for sexual pursuits and experiences in contrast with her “soul in the corner” (5). Her spiritual self in this imagery is clearly taking a stance geographically (in its corner) and certainly idealogically different than the physical desires of the author (5).

The Key to Happiness in Lark & Termite: Understanding Relationships

In Lark & Termite, happiness rests in the hands of others. That is characters with fulfilling relationships with others in the novel are able to flourish, be happy, and live well. A relationship, to provide for this happiness, must have the characteristic of complete understanding between the characters.

Lark & Termite are the most fitting example of a relationship with this understanding. Lark know that “Termite does things another way... He remembers the cadences of songs and rhymes, he recognizes sounds, not words” (39). Lark also knows what Termite wants and needs, “the bell on his chai was [her] idea... he presses it twice if he has to go to the bathroom, or a lot if something is wrong” (35). Additionally, Termite spends his days observing Lark he knows her routines and the most secret parts of her life, including her relationship with Solly. Termite knows that Lark “knows he can see if she’s very close but he doesn’t look [if] he doesn’t want her to stay” (60). Termite’s chapters includes anaphora, or the repetition of beginning sentence structures, in that many of his sentences start with what Lark does (59). This relationship, giving the novel its name is certainly the most obvious and the most complex understanding relationship of the novel but it is far from the only relationship of this category in the novel. Lola shares a similar understanding of Termite knowing that he was constantly thinking and “moves his fingers... when he is agitated” (251). She also understands Lark enough to give her something that could be hers, even though many people would view Termite as a burden, Lola rightfully knew that to Lark he would be a gift.

Lola and Leavitt satisfy this quality as well, they have almost a clairvoyant connection as Robert continually senses her presence in Korea and “feels [Termite] turn in the salt and blood” as he falls prey to death (220). “Lola knew, almost by instinct, who he was” (218). Finally by the conclusion of the novel before Lola ends her own life she still senses Robert’s presence and feels that he “would forgive her” (252).

Nonie and Charlie have one of the most peculiar relationships in a novel filled with peculiar relationships. Although the reader rarely sees them in a romantic context, they do in essence share a child (Lark) that Lola intended for them and we know that they are comfortable together and Nonie “loves him still after thirty years” (56). One of the main sources of their mutual understanding lies in the years that they have been together since “when the grass was high enough to hide [them] in Polish Town” (102). Only Charlie and Nonie (and Lola, deceased) can understand the secrets of the past, which serve as an additional bond of shared secrets only they understand. They also seem to be united through Lola who understood them both. Nonie, even comes to understand and forgive Lola by the conclusion of the novel, “surely that’s why [she still cries,] quietly, the way Lola cried” (208).

In an unforeseen romantic relationship, Solly and Lark have one of the strangest understandings that is likened to that between a brother and a sister. “[Solly] is like [her] brother...except he can talk to [her]. [He] can touch [her] back” (182). This, combined with their ongoing sexual understanding, “like [Lark] owns his body, like he would own [hers] if he ever got inside” (185). The same pattern, “the old game,” in which these sexual encounters usual occur allows them to have a rather off kilter and unforeseen romance (184). Nevertheless, they both understand Termite, Solly telling Termite “you’re my boy” (215).  “Termite lost Solly too” (180). This shared understanding of Termite, relates Solly and Lark them to the primary understanding relationship of the book: that of Lark & Termite.

Transcendentalism in Lark & Termite

          Transcendentalism is a new way of acquiring knowledge and wisdom arriving at such knowledge “not just through the senses, but through intuition and contemplation of the internal spirit” (http://www.online-literature.com/periods/transcendentalism.php). Similar to the Janie’s childhood tree in Their Eyes Were Watching God and the meticulous way she watched the tree and pondered its tiniest details, ultimately bringing her to her womanhood and sexual awakening. Lark and Termite show an inclination towards this form of enlightenment. Lark remarks “in the quiet, I can hear” reflecting these values of of arriving at knowledge through intuition and self-reflection jut like Termite. Termite doesn’t need to talk to know what is happening. In fact, by remaining in his own little world he is almost an all-knowing figure, portrayed in his narrative as wise beyond his age as he often gives away secrets and has an innate knowing of certain things such as his reveal of Lark & Solly’s relationship and his automatic connection with Stamble. The majority of the narrative doesn’t occur in dialogue form illustrating this focus on knowledge coming from self-reflection. It is later revealed in Leavitt’s account that this inward focus away from words is passed down from father to son instead of stemming from transcendentalism, although this idealogy can certainly still be argued. Stamble willed his son to “look inside... where you really are [and] stay still [and] listen” (Phillips 220). 

Lark & Termite: “Coral Gables was a reunification fantasy”

“Coral Gables was a reunification fantasy” (Phillips 25).

Throughout the novel, Florida is a symbol of flourishing. It is how Lola and Leavitt would have flourished if Leavitt had survived the war. They would have lived with Termite and brought Lark and Termite down to visit. Although this is not the reality with which Phillips presents us, she manages to reestablish Florida as this place of not only Lark and Termite reuniting with their roots but also to start a new utopian life in their own family unit with Solly providing a way for the readers to be satisfied in seeing Lark being able to have her own womanly life, yet with Termite still a part of it. Finally by the end of the novel the reader is freed from Florida as Gladdy’s “retirement home” and gets the ideal family he/she wished for in Florida at last, just in a roundabout and unexpected way nine years later (231).

Parental Figures and their Effect on Flourishing in Lark & Termite

The role of parental figures, present or absent, in this novel is central to its theme and the relationships of the novel. Most parental relationships in the novel are very atypical--from Lark’s concealed paternity, the absence of both parents in Termite’s case, Nick’s role as a single father, and even Leavitt’s lack of parental figures leads to many interesting events and makes for new replacement relationships. From the beginning of Lark’s life, Lola establishes parenthood as a gift and intended Lark because it was “the only way [Nonie and Charlie] will ever have a child” (149). She also wills Termite to “Lark’s baby… for Lark’s sake” (210). Nonie eventually takes on this view as well, when Gladdy dies Nonie cries at Gladdy’s loss because “she never enjoyed [Lark], never cared,” and never got to reap the joy of parenthood (208).

Readers characterize characters including Gladdy, Nonie, Charlie, Lola, and even Lark by their parental qualities, both positive and negative. Gladdy is one of the only present biological figures in the novel and she is portrayed as overbearing and cruel, illustrating that parenthood does not have to be based on genetics. The constant conflict between Nonie and Gladdy establishes them as foil characters and highlights the positive maternal characteristics of Nonie which are only magnified in Lark and her eternal patience, love, and understanding for Termite. Even Lola is shown as a good mother despite her absence as she goes through many logical and detailed steps to ensure the baby’s well-being before she takes her own life. The fact that she could have taken the baby with her and didn't because “she knew better” allows the reader to feel more favorably about her (233). She had a great understanding of Termite, like Lark does, knowing “how to sense him” and seeing him “move his fingers every moment he’s awake” (254).

Finally, even more emphasis is placed on the role of parents by Phillips use of the orange cat and Robert Stamble to embody phantoms of Termite’s parents, Lola and Bobby. This perpetuates the theme that the parental experiences that shape a person remain with them and continue to affect their happiness and ability to flourish whether their parents do or not. Character’s most central life decisions are often time based on their parental upbringings. Leavitt, for example, is drawn to Lola because she is older and reminds him of the mother figure which he lost-“” Furthermore, in  giving her his mother’s derringer, a symbol of his mother, with which Lola ends her own life and makes her ultimate choice to domino effect of parenthood continues affecting Termite and Lark now as well as they have mortally lost their mother.

The novel even concludes with the motif of parenthood: in returning to Lark and Termite to their mother’s house, Phillips concludes the novel with a sense of equilibrium as the protagonists return to their roots, in the form of their own little parental model (Solly and Lark in the parental roles over Termite).

Breaking Ground: Lark and Termite

          Instead of providing some sort of introduction or preface to her novel, Jayne Anne Phillips chooses to open Lark and Termite by shipping the readers out just as Corporal Robert Leavitt had been in December ’49. Phillips immediately associates Leavitt with his loved ones (no doubt central to his happiness and ability to flourish) by introducing that Leavitt’s baby is growing “inside Lola’s sex” (Phillips 3). Phillips also vaguely introduces Leavitt’s early loss of his mother, illustrating the loss of one of his former sources of happiness as well as why he so desperately needs the baby and Lola and why “he wasn’t leaving her, [why] he never would, not really” because he had already experienced loss in his life (3). Leavitt even “tells himself that he won’t need any telegram” when the baby arrives because he feels such a strong connection and need for his wife and unborn child that it is like Lola “is standing there in the war next to him” (4). Leavitt “uses her words that were sex and song a year ago to keep his feet moving” (19). 

          This refusal to separate from Lola and the unborn child is illustrated in this opening passage as Leavitt “imagines his baby moving in a fluid, muscular nest he couldn’t touch or feel” but he could keep connected to in his thoughts and dreams (3). Phillips continues to illustrate the devotion of Leavitt’s mindset to his loved ones through the diction used by the narrator, posing a subtle yet striking comparison of the baby to the American military and “its own small fist” (3). By opening the novel with the account of Leavitt, who will be revealed as Termite’s father, the reader’s form a strong connection with Leavitt in response to his strong connection with his loved ones as well as his desire to return to them. His optimism is infectious and allows the reader to empathize with him as a character especially as it becomes obvious that their “plans and schemes” of reunification were “laughable” because “no one is getting out of Korea, not for years” (22). 

This revelation combined with the suggested death of Corporal Leavitt upon the arrival of the planes at the conclusion of the first chapter allows the reader’s to transfer their empathy to Lola and Leavitt’s son. In portraying Leavitt helping the village girl despite his orders to “monitor [and] not assist” leading up to his implied demise upon the approach of the enemy planes, Phillips establishes Leavitt as a heroic character, allowing the reader to form a solid relationship with him, caring for his loved ones as greatly as he does. For this reason, when Termite is introduced and suggested to be Leavitt’s son, the reader quickly rejoices that he is alive and happy. An immediate relationship which may not have been as easily formed without the presence of Leavitt’s preceding chapter because Termite could easily be perceived as merely a handicapped hinderance on the success and flourishing of his hardworking and kind half-sister, Lark.