Grave
Expectations
Jules
Renard’s Nature Stories is an
artistic examination of the perceptions of our world. In Renard’s short story Autumn Leaves, Renard presents a scene of various aspects of Nature
preparing for what appears to be some kind of slumber. The leaves change colour; nests are abandoned. From a tiny plant to the direction of the
wind, the author shows us how Nature reacts to the arrival of winter, death. Renard artfully paints a picture that, I
believe, ultimately shows us our own awareness of death. In order to provide a holistic analysis of Autumn Leaves and its relationship to
death, I will look into three prominent aspects of Renard’s text: impatience,
metamorphosis, and acceptance.
To
begin, Renard’s artistic endeavor in Autumn Leaves is dependent upon
impatience, the anxious anticipation of things to come. For example, in the opening line of this
story, Renard states, “What a surprise!
This evening there’s not enough natural light, it won’t last as long as
yesterday. We’ll need a lamp.” Here, Renard shows us the inadequacies of
nature and our hasty solution to its shortcomings. The need to extend daylight hours to yield
more productivity shows the spirit of man placed against the cosmic order. However, the focus on work is clearly
contrasted in Renard’s opening story Lying
in Wait, in which a hunter sets aside his responsibilities in order to
enjoy the beauty and bounty of nature.
Interestingly, the story about patience takes place at the beginning of
the collection while its closing is about impatience, or highlights impatience
rather than fulfillment. This idea is
highlighted when Renard writes,
“Everything has
come to a halt: the last leaves are still hanging on, just as people at the
bedside of a man who’s taking a long time to die think they’ve given up hope
too soon. You’re still sad but you start
thinking, a bit, about other things…and you keep on waiting.
Is everything
going to be wiped out?” (163)
The anxious impatience
of a man on his deathbed leads the narrator to contemplate the annihilation of
all things and ultimately, the next stages of existence.
Indeed, Renard continues his narrative, invoking the
“mysterious metamorphosis” of nature.
(163) The metamorphosis that
Renard refers to is not only the actual metamorphosis of life’s biological
processes but also the metaphorical anthropomorphic treatment of plants and
animals. For example, Renard writes, “A
last rose is getting undressed, in order to die.” (164)
Clearly, roses do not undress and Renard’s prose engages the reader with
the transient nature of all things. Even
the title of this story Autumn Leaves
is a clear descriptor of the tone of the story and the collection. Autumn is a time of change. The grass no longer grows, the leaves turn
red, and winter is at the doorstep. When
pondering death, once we get past the feelings of futility, we no longer
experience the fear of death.
The acceptance of death as part of the natural progression
allows an individual to experience the world as organically as possible. “Who’d be selfish enough to pick an autumn
strawberry for himself? You only dare
pick it to put it into the mouth of a beloved innocent little girl.” (164)
Here, Renard shows us that the last sweet moments of life should not be
tainted by the pessimistic cynicism which envelops our world. Rather, these delicate and innocent moments
should be shared with others. Similarly,
the man with the gun in Lying in Wait
may be the agent of death, but he, too, in a moment of acceptance, steps aside
to appreciate the world that is presented to him. “He’s smiling at the moon and the moon is
smiling back. Soon, he puts down his gun
beside him and, drumming with his fingers and gently nodding his head as if
beating time to their movements, this friendly hunter has no regrets as he sits
watching the rabbits dance their minuet.” (3)
Acceptance of death can also be seen in other author’s works. In Hayden Carruth’s anthology The Voice That Is Great Within Us – a
collection of poetry throughout history – a poem by Robert Frost quite clearly
states this acceptance of the natural order of things in his poem Nothing Gold Can Stay. “Then leaf subsides to leaf, so Eden sank to
grief, so dawn goes down to day, nothing gold can stay.” Clearly, the theme of death and its
acceptance of it are present in the last line, succinctly stated, “Nothing gold
can stay.” (16)
In conclusion, Renard portrays the relationship between
nature and death in three separate aspects.
The subject, whether human, animal, or plant, experiences the impatience
of existence. These feeling on their own
seem selfish and powerless but when viewed in context with the overall life
cycle, they can be mitigated. Renard’s
narration in Autumn Leaves avoids the
first person narrative, allowing the objective viewpoint of change and
metamorphosis to be revealed. Finally,
when the realization occurs that everything is interconnected, an acceptance
and wonder is introduced. Renards
viewpoints are succinctly phrased by Douglas Parmée in his introduction,
“…there is a message for the reader of today: ‘A poor life this, if, full of
care, we have no time to stand and stare.’” (xiii)
Works Cited
Carruth, Hayden, ed. The Voice That Is Great within Us:
American Poetry of the Twentieth Century. New York: Bantam, 1970. Print.
Renard, Jules. Nature Stories. Trans. Douglas
Parmée. New York, NY: New York Review of, 2011. Print.
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