FREE ESSAY ON RATTLEBONE

RATTLEBONE

"A novel or a collection of short stories?" may be a question that a critic asks about
Rattlebone. Maxine Clair portrays both arguments with her energetic writing style. A
blend of random comments and many unique phrases intermix with the intense plot. Writing
like this gives the reader a more relaxed state and the book seems more alive and real.
In answer to the critique question, Maxine Clair is writing a novel because of an
abundant supply of foreshadowing, a collection of narrators, a recurrence of characters,
and a process commonly known to man as aging.
Suggesting that Rattlebone is in fact a novel, foreshadowing occurred in several places
during the book. Clair uses this writing method by mentioning the name October Brown,
partly because Brown is involved at the beginning and towards the end of the book. Ms.
Brown became an important part of Irene's life, not only by being one of the main reasons
for her parents' divorce, but also by helping Irene accomplish one of her goals. The time
that occurred between these two events in the book connects Rattlebone and is a very good
use of foreshadowing. Another example of Clair's use of this writing method is the
experience of the divorce between Irene's parents. This long-term process displayed
Irene's parents as being unforgiving. At first his wife forgives James Wilson for the
affair that he enjoyed with October Brown, but after a period of time, Pearl also had her
share of the fall in their relationship. At this time, neither one of Irene's parents
would forgive the other nor make up with the other. This example again shows the use of
foreshadowing by Clair by evolving the event over several chapters with different
narrators.
Irene, the narrator in several different stages of the divorce between her parents,
speaks her feelings of disgust and always tries to keep her parents' relationship
together. Another side of the story comes from October Brown's landlord, Mrs. Pemberton.
Mrs. Pemberton wants nothing to do with the affair and therefor tries to separate the two
lovers. Irene takes the stage again and reveals to the reader subconsciously, that her
father is the man having the affair. The use of two narrators, each having a different
look at the situation, may seem confusing to the reader at first, but once the chapters
are all read and the whole story gets across, it becomes apparent why the change in
narration was necessary.
Having different characters narrate is uncommon in a novel, but by having the characters
reoccur in a book is not. There is a set limit of characters in Rattlebone; Clair just
reveals some at key points throughout the story. An example of this is during October
Brown's stay with the Pemberton's, in which Irene is not even mentioned; yet in the next
chapter she is narrating. October Brown then returns to the book during the end when
Irene is applying for scholarship. Wanda is another character that comes and goes, and
yet still has a strong impact on the story. She is first a good friend of Irene's, and
later she returns to the pages in the book as the neighbor to Mr. Pemberton, who
eventually has a relationship with him. 
Perhaps the most outstanding reason to claim that Rattlebone is a novel instead of a
collection of short stories is the fact of aging amongst the characters. By the
characters aging, Clair's writing takes one form and one time frame. The recurrence of
these characters displays a sense of a time gap. Another instance in which a time change
is shown is with the relationships of Irene. In her early days of relationships with
boys, Irene was afraid to try any sexual acts of any kind. But, oddly enough, after
witnessing a sexual scene of her mother and a man different from her father, Irene tended
to want to rebel more. Over time, Irene taught herself to waste her time and she soon
found a boyfriend, which lead to sexual acts. This boyfriend of Irene's is also a good
way to show the aging process involved in Rattlebone. These two characters experience
many things in their relationship and over time the people of the town, including Irene's
mother, heard of the relationship and all disapproved. The point to notice here is that a
town would not find out about a high school relationship that quickly, especially since
Irene was hiding the relationship as a whole. Another great way to notice the time
difference is to watch Irene's attendance at various schools. At first, October Brown is
her schoolteacher and towards the end of the book, Irene is applying to receive a
scholarship to attend college and become a member of a sorority. Finally another example
of this occurs as Wanda and Mr. Pemberton begin a relationship. Wanda, an old friend of
Irene's has grown up, and now her neighbor takes quite a liking to her. Growing up takes
more than a minute or two, so this example acknowledges the aging process in this book.
As all of these collections are compiled, one story stands tall. The life of the citizens
of Rattlebone as a whole became eminent. The foreshadowing is apart of any novel, and
does not escape from Clair's writing. It enables the novel to be one story, not a
collection of several stories. Sure, there is definitely a collection of short stories in
Rattlebone, but they all connect together like a jigsaw puzzle to be completed. Without
all of the pieces, this novel would not be complete. The change in narration is a unique
quality to Maxine Clair's work. This writing method gives a different perspective than
just Irene's account. Recurring characters play a strong part in Rattlebone being a novel
as well. If different characters are in use in every chapter, than there is not a strong
enough link between all of them and they do not fit into the puzzle. Since the characters
appear in more than one chapter, the chapters fit together nicely. Finally, Rattlebone is
a novel because of how the characters aged throughout the novel. If the characters do not
age throughout a book, then it is safe to assume that the book is a compilation of short
stories. But this is not the case in Rattlebone. The characters do experience age,
experience change, and experience life together. Maxine Clair wrote this novel,
Rattlebone to let a reader enjoy the life of this small town without knowing the future.
She reveals just a piece of it at a time, and until that last piece makes it into the
puzzle, no one can decipher it. Rattlebone is definitely a novel, exhibiting all the
qualities, not of a compilation of short stories, but of a novel.