Death by Landscape

Death by Landscape

Death by Landscape

It is often wondered what an artist was thinking or what message they are trying to convey when they create an unusual or even a masterpieces of art. Now it is also safe to say that such beauty and talent might only be in the eye of the beholder, and many will never appreciate or understand the views that others have towards an artists work.

Why do some people find such depth in the simplest of paintings, such as a landscape? Many people connect to paintings or pictures because it takes them somewhere else while they look at it, and they can live in what they see even if it is only for a moment or two. This feeling alone is one that can inevitably make a piece of art so priceless.

Death by Landscape is a beautiful story. Margaret Atwood tells the story of a young girl named Lois, her childhood and adventures growing up with her dear friend Lucy. These two young girls grow up spending their summers at Camp Manitou. Margaret describes the beautiful detail of where Lois and Lucy spend their summers. The details allow you to paint a picture in your mind of this camp, their adventures and even the people that attend the camp with them each summer.

Lois and Lucy are two great friends; they confide and grow with one another. You grow with them as they come back to this camp each summer, and have matured developed and grown closer each year. You come to know their feelings and how they are different based on their families and where they grow up. You come to feel the sensitive nature that both these girls have and how they are such a support for one another, and how they use each other and the camp as an outlet to escape the troubles and pressures of life.

Lucy’s life was complicated compared to Lois’s. You learn how disappointing Lucy’s life becomes each summer. Lucy’s parents divorce, remarry, mother is cheating on her stepfather, she does not like any of the new members to her family and she hates Chicago.

When Lucy disappears, you have to wonder if she made the attempt to leave her life willingly, a life that had slowed her down and made her languorous. At the camp Lucy was surrounded by the beauty of the wilderness and not back in the city with her rough family life. Here she was free. If there was something that Lucy wanted to run away from, or escape entirely now was her chance. There is no real proof of what actually happened to Lucy that day, she just disappeared. Whether or not Lucy was consciously or subconsciously aware, she wanted to release herself from the weight and trials life had handed her.

It is hard to say how Lucy’s disappearance truly affected Lois while she was younger. The experience was most likely quite traumatic and in life we carry our experiences with us. It is evident that Lois carried this with her.

When Lois is older and her husband passes away, she moved into a condo. Lois explains how the condo detaches her from nature. She does not have a lawn to mow anymore, the only plant life are the ones in pots and for some reason she can be less worrisome in her new environment. She is rejecting elements that play a big part of her youth. Lois is only acceptant to artificial elements of her youth. Lucy played a big part of her youth, for Lucy was her best friend.

I wonder if Margaret wanted us to fill in the blanks for ourselves for this story, for it is easy to do so. Especially when Lucy and Lois are on the cliff and Lucy is “close to the edge”, while she comments that it would be quite the dive off of it. At this point you wonder and feel the nervousness that Lois has inside her, for she admits that she has a sharp pain