The Eighth Day
Thornton Wilder
New York: Harper and Row, Publishers, 1967.
On one level, The Eighth Day is a murder mystery. John Ashley appears to have shot his best friend, but in fact, he was killed by Breckinridge Lansing's own son, who felt that his father routinely mistreated his mother. Sentenced to death for Lansing's murder, Ashley escapes his sentence with the aid of a band of Indians with whom he had previously worked and who respected him.
In everything he does, Ashley is creative and productive. His wife and his children are also creative and productive.
On another level, The Eighth Day is a meditation on the future of evolution. Evolution is only the beginning of creative change in human beings. God's Creation ended with the Seventh Day. Man's creation continues with the eighth day. And the key to that creation is the many Messiahs who build within families to a high point of humanity. Christ is only one Messiah from only one family. There are many more to come.
In spite of his family's troubles, a murderer on the run, and the poverty of his family, John Ashley and his family continue to create. In contrast, Breckenridge Lansing and his family are destructive.
Two characters of note: The Russian emigre who preaches throughout the novel that the Russian people will be the saviors of the world. Of course, the first person whom I heard express that idea was Bishop Fulton Sheen on his TV show. I think Bishop Sheen based his belief in the Russian people on the Russian authors--Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Gorky, etc. They wrote about the deep sympathy of the Russian people.
The second character of note was that of the misanthrope who clearly stated that people, life, nature, the world, and God stink.
Throughout the novel, the author suggests that there is a creative meaning to life, but it concludes with a question about whether there is a meaning to history, which is like a tapestry: does the tapestry of history have a design or not? Some say yes, some say no, some say they may have seen it once, but forgotten it. Some....
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5 comments:
This is one of the best books in the world. It's too bad, as you say, no one's ever read it...
just finishing the book... Wilder strikes me as a cross between Wallace Stegner, Ayn Rand, and John Steinbeck in this tale. Too many wildly successes and over-achievement in my opinion. Eighth Day is quite different than Bridge Over San Luis Ray and Heaven's My Destination. My biggest questions about Wilder concern his treatment of female characters. He seems sympathetic to women... any thoughts?
Thank you for both your comments. In my opinion, everything Wilder wrote was different. He is one of the most imaginative writers I have ever read. As for his treatment of women, I guess I never thought about it. I've always thought of him as a lover of humanity. RayS.
Ray... I agree that Wilder loves humanity. It is just noticable to see a male writer from his time (or our time!) developing such interesting, complex female characters. I can think of few other American male writers who do this other than Styron and maybe Irving. Upon finishing 8th Day I think he really captures how people live... how they make decisions... how things happen so slowly. Do you like all of his other novels? I have read Bridge, Heaven, and 8th.
Wilder wasn't afraid to ask the big questions. Some found him pedantic, but he was, after all, a teacher. He was too much of a "universalist" for those social critics of the time who couldn't see past the end of their own noses. They're gone...Wilder remains.
If you haven't read "Theophilus North," you're in for a treat.
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