The memory of Martha Hunt, who drowned (herself) in the Concord River (July 9, 1845), still haunts me. She was a 19 year old schoolteacher. The cause seemed to be "for want of sympathy". Her sister did it some time later. And then a third sister drowned, albeit accidentally.
Hawthorne was part of the search party. He used his experience for "The Blithedale Romance". (I can't bear to find the quote right now, it's quite graphic)
Martha died the same year that Margaret Fuller published her "Women in the Nineteenth Century". Fuller herself would drown a mere 5 years later, after a triumphal return voyage from Italy with a courtly husband and baby son (July 19, 1850) 100 yards from the shore of Fire Island, NY.
And to add to the tension tonight, "Leave Her to Heaven" is playing as I'm writing this. There is a drowning scene. A boy, a "cripple", wants to "swim all the way across". He has a cramp and drowns, while Gene Tierney looks on. (Granted, she's a sociopath).
There's no connections I can make. No explanations. No satisfying or philosophical narrative.
My mother grew up on an island in the middle of the Atlantic. The Azores. With all that water, you could never take anything for granted.
Always respect Mother Nature.
Hawthorne was part of the search party. He used his experience for "The Blithedale Romance". (I can't bear to find the quote right now, it's quite graphic)
Martha died the same year that Margaret Fuller published her "Women in the Nineteenth Century". Fuller herself would drown a mere 5 years later, after a triumphal return voyage from Italy with a courtly husband and baby son (July 19, 1850) 100 yards from the shore of Fire Island, NY.
And to add to the tension tonight, "Leave Her to Heaven" is playing as I'm writing this. There is a drowning scene. A boy, a "cripple", wants to "swim all the way across". He has a cramp and drowns, while Gene Tierney looks on. (Granted, she's a sociopath).
There's no connections I can make. No explanations. No satisfying or philosophical narrative.
My mother grew up on an island in the middle of the Atlantic. The Azores. With all that water, you could never take anything for granted.
Always respect Mother Nature.
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