Taking responsibility for your own life
Developing self-esteem
Blame and Guilt
Alienation/Loneliness
Survival
Crabbe by William Bell plays on various themes but amongst these one may find taking responsibility for your own life, the development of self esteem, blame and guilt as well as alienation and loneliness. Intrinsically Crabbe is placed at the center of things and develops accordingly especially where responsibility is concerned. He develops considerable self esteem in the proceedings of the novel and also moves forward accordingly through to his final confrontations with Mary in what some may deem as a world of his own.
Self esteem is an important part of Crabbe’s development as a person although one can also state that he remains deeply rooted in his past which is also an intrinsic part of his future hopes which appear quite bleak to say the least. He continually blames himself for what goes on in the household and ends up severely disturbed and without much hope. Thus Crabbe ends up rather alienated and very lonely without any real hopes and dreams for the future. The author reflects on this imponderable problem in the conclusion to the novel where everything sort of comes together in one fell swoop.
Crabbe’s escape from civilization is an important part of his final goals and although he does not initially appear to have achieved them, the novel does end on a positive note.
Mary is slightly different in her attitude towards life but her union with Franklin Crabbe can appear to be much more complex in every stage. First of all she is a girl who is accustomed to the bush, something which Crabbe definitely isn’t and she moves forward on this point quite stoically. Obviously she has problems of her own but she is fiercely independent and in a sense her self esteem is quite high so she can go in life without too much problems. Mary is mystical about her past so we do not seem to have much information how she got to the bush but her union with Crabbe sees further development in this regard as everything appears brighter and much clearer in this respect.
The way Crabbe’s journal develops is also very original and at the start of the book we find him without two fingers which is a somewhat reprehensible experience although we are left guessing how he arrived at this situation.
As for minor characters there do not appear to be that many in the book except perhaps Crabbe’s parents and teachers and the staff at the hospital. The novel focuses quite intrinsically on the two characters accordingly and we are left to observe their foibles and situations accordingly without much focus on the other bit players. Crabbe is truly a novel which one may hesitate to read at first but which has its own way of growing upon you and creating situations which may very well be our own.
Finally Crabbe is all about learning how to deal with difficult situations in life and how these may develop into more positive ones accordingly. This is surely one of the finest novels I have ever read recently and I will definitely recommend it to those who need to find something to read which is enjoyable and full of strikingly original ideas.
Sources:
Bell William: Crabbe; Fitzhenry and Whiteside 2006
