Some of our
conversation and thoughts:
Is it Tom Outland who is responsible for so many broken relationships within the St. Peter family, or is it the money that flowed from his discovery? And if he represents “good” and the money represents “bad,” then isn’t he flawed since the money came from his discovery? Also, since he had the intellectual relationship with St. Peter, didn’t he cause that marriage to fail since it took away Lillian’s role? Then again, everyone should have more than one person that is their “everything,” so Lillian should not have expected to be an intellectual equal in the marriage. But what if she did, and that was how she saw herself and their relationship? Then he did break up the marriage. But marriages do change over time!
Is it Tom Outland who is responsible for so many broken relationships within the St. Peter family, or is it the money that flowed from his discovery? And if he represents “good” and the money represents “bad,” then isn’t he flawed since the money came from his discovery? Also, since he had the intellectual relationship with St. Peter, didn’t he cause that marriage to fail since it took away Lillian’s role? Then again, everyone should have more than one person that is their “everything,” so Lillian should not have expected to be an intellectual equal in the marriage. But what if she did, and that was how she saw herself and their relationship? Then he did break up the marriage. But marriages do change over time!
Cather is known for
romanticizing nature, art and intellectualism, and seeing them as more
important (inherently superior) than science, technology, money and
materialism. In some ways, she is a
female version of Henry David Thoreau. Art,
religion, and history are treated as part of nature and science and technology master
nature. There is a need to be authentic
and “go with it,” which is more spiritual, than continuing an education.
“Cather’s take on nature in
the novel is that nature definitely has the power to uplift the human spirit,
but that it needs the artistic hand of man to reach its full potential. St.
Peter demonstrates this when he observes an artistic display of autumn flora in
his drawing room; the plants are beautiful, but they reach their full glory
when picked from nature and displayed in contrast to the deeply-colored
furniture in the room; it is man that has given nature full scope to inspire
awe. Also, Cather makes clear that the cliff-dwellers, who lived in harmony
with their natural surroundings, namely the caves and shelves of rock in the
Blue Mesa, reached a high level of cultural achievement, and that their
accommodation and appreciation of nature made this achievement possible.”
We talked about how the
novel seems to focus on the ritual and tradition of religion and not the belief
system – that traditional societies are organized through spiritual beliefs which
teach how to treat one another and explain the “unexplainable.” One on line
commenter says, “Professor St. Peter’s take on religion, which is widely
assumed to be Cather’s as well, posits that religion is one of the higher
preoccupations of modern human society. Religion has the capacity to encourage
people to focus on the great, unsolvable mysteries of life rather than mundane
details like money or creature comfort. Religion’s power to elevate human
intellectual activity is why it should be revered in modern civilization.
Closely related to this point of view is Cather’s embrace of Episcopalianism
and Catholicism; though she was not religious in terms of belief, she respected
the “pomp and circumstance” that filled Catholic and Episcopal services as a
natural outgrowth of other positive societal influences, namely art and
history.”
Original Discussion Questions:
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Original Discussion Questions:
1. Cather, and Cather scholars, have described The Professor’s House as a
tale of the ravages the onward march of science and technology make on the
delicate forms of art and history. Where does true cultural achievement lie?
2. Cather makes much of the affinity of minds between the Professor and Tom Outland. Is this affinity based mainly on their academic interests, namely their shared love of the Southwest and its history and culture, on their similar cast of mind, that is, their simultaneous single-minded devotion to their work and unwillingness to interrupt that devotion for the sake of their families, or on their ultimate rejection of the material rewards of their intellectual labor?
3. Does desire truly foretell achievement, as Cather says? Could one foretell Outland’s achievement by his desires? Could one foretell the Professor’s?
4. Is it Tom Outland who is responsible for so many broken relationships within the St. Peter family, or is it the money that flowed from his discovery?
5. Is the Professor’s relationship with Lillian salvageable at the end of the novel?
6. Outland’s offhand remark in Chapter 4 of his story to the effect that an archaeologist would have been able to tell a lot from the remains he found but that the remains never reached an archaeologist brings up a question: why does Outland think he is entitled to excavate these ruins? He, after all, doesn’t even have a high school education.
7. Cather is known for romanticizing nature, art and intellectualism. Is she perhaps a bit too scornful of how most people live: keeping up appearances, getting ahead at work, climbing the social ladder? Or is her critique, through Outland’s eyes, fair, given Outland’s background, temperament and inclinations? Using the example of the Bixbys, answer this question.
2. Cather makes much of the affinity of minds between the Professor and Tom Outland. Is this affinity based mainly on their academic interests, namely their shared love of the Southwest and its history and culture, on their similar cast of mind, that is, their simultaneous single-minded devotion to their work and unwillingness to interrupt that devotion for the sake of their families, or on their ultimate rejection of the material rewards of their intellectual labor?
3. Does desire truly foretell achievement, as Cather says? Could one foretell Outland’s achievement by his desires? Could one foretell the Professor’s?
4. Is it Tom Outland who is responsible for so many broken relationships within the St. Peter family, or is it the money that flowed from his discovery?
5. Is the Professor’s relationship with Lillian salvageable at the end of the novel?
6. Outland’s offhand remark in Chapter 4 of his story to the effect that an archaeologist would have been able to tell a lot from the remains he found but that the remains never reached an archaeologist brings up a question: why does Outland think he is entitled to excavate these ruins? He, after all, doesn’t even have a high school education.
7. Cather is known for romanticizing nature, art and intellectualism. Is she perhaps a bit too scornful of how most people live: keeping up appearances, getting ahead at work, climbing the social ladder? Or is her critique, through Outland’s eyes, fair, given Outland’s background, temperament and inclinations? Using the example of the Bixbys, answer this question.
