March by Geraldine Brooks, filled in the gaps from
Little Women. Here the author presents the 1st person narrative of John March. In
Little Women, which I read so long ago, I only remember the father March by way of his letters and references in conversation. His letters belie the severity of the brutality he witnessed and his own personal strife in dealing with moral dilemmas. We never really get to know him and I don't recall even conjouring up an image of him in my mind's eye. I took my daughter to the Broadway play a couple of years ago and again he is represented as an incidental figure.
In
March, however, he becomes flesh
; we found out about his life before
Little Women, his involvement with abolitionists, John Brown and others, his time as a chaplain in the Union Army, his time spent in a Washington hospital, and a different marriage than I had imagined. Brooks also includes personal narratives by Marmee that provide her perspective and further illustrate the couple's strained marriage.
March is a conflicted and flawed character. He is weak and egotistical. His biggest flaw is that he is not able to redirect himself when he has made mistakes. Once he commits to something, he cannot turn back; he cannot admit that he doesn't have it all figured out. March is presented as an idealist but he struggles with many moral tests - his relationship with a slave, Grace, the atrocities of war, the treatment of slaves and his marriage. We come to know a man, who while an idealist, is far from perfect. He missteps time and time agian but still holds steadfast to his convictions. His pride (and perhaps even his naivety) becomes his undoing/bane.
Marmee is fiery and passionate in contrast to the mother in
Little Women. She is a strong woman that can make lemonade out of lemons. They once had a passionate relationship but miscues and miscommunications between them take their toll. By the end of the book, the bloom is off the rose and she accepts her lot in life.
Throughout the book, March is plagued by survivor's guilt. While despising the evils of slavery, he takes a liking to the lifestyle slavery affords and avails himself to the pleasures a hospitable plantation offers him. When Grace is severely beaten because he (and she) are caught teaching young slaves to read, he blames himself. He wanted to be a good man and he wanted to impress Grace but his plans always seem to go awry. He volunteers in the Army because he thinks it's the right thing to do and will make Marmee proud, but he is not highly regarded by army personnel. It is questionable whether he tried to save a fellow soldier in a bloody river crossing. He blames himself for him slipping from his grasp. He continually puts himself into imposssible situations where he should have been killed, yet he survives. His guilt becomes all consuming, almost suicidal.
March is also not a good judge of character. He gives an enormous amount of money to John Brown. Even after it seems he has been swindled, he keeps throwing bad money after good. He does it because he thinks it's what Marmee wants and fears she is smitten by him. While his intentions always seem good, his decisions are often clouded by his own human weaknesses.
Marmee is angered that he would volunteer for the Army at his age. She feels he should be at home with their four children. She thinks him a fool. She resents that the family's living conditions have changed because he has given his money away and plunged them into poverty. When she is convinced of a relationship between her husband and Grace, the wedge between them grows larger.
This book begs the reader to question his/her own morals and ideals, however misguided, and the motives behind them. March reminded me of many of the Coles characters, wanting to be descent and noble but many times falling short.
