Environmental Factors in As For Me and My House

As For Me and My House, written by Sinclair Ross is a novel written in diary form by a married woman, Mrs. Bentley. It is about her unhappy life and marriage to her husband, Philip, and takes place in a quiet prairie town in Saskatchewan, which is one of the key elements in the novel. The environment in As For Me and My House has a strong role within the novel. It is so similar to a character in that the environment could basically be portrayed as a character because it has such a strong influence on the characters within the novel and their thoughts and actions. The environment within AsFor Me and My House is often a mirror of what is taking place within the novel. It portrays what the characters are thinking and doing, or how they're acting. Therefore, it is the environments major role within As For Me and My House, which not only portrays a vastly depressing landscape, but also the lives of the characters who live within that environment and landscape.

Mrs. Bentley, who is the main character within the novel, and whose diary entries are what make As For Me and My House, is the strongest link to the environment within the novel. Her very first diary entry involves a description of the wind and rain, which to her mind are overpowering their small town of Horizon;

It's an immense night out there, wheeling and windy. The lights on the street and in the houses are helpless against the black wetness, little unilluminating glints that might be painted on it. The town seems huddled together, cowering on a high, tiny perch, afraid to move lest it topple into the wind. Close to the parsonage is the church, black even against the darkness, towering ominously up through the night and merging with it. There's a soft steady swish of rain on the roof, and a gurgle of eaves troughs running over. Above, in the high cold night, the wind goes swinging past, indifferent, liplesssly mournful. (Pg.8)

It is the wind especially, which makes Mrs. Bentley feel afraid and very alone. However, it is the loneliness especially, which really affects her and causes her unhappiness;

There's rain again, and I've set a pail out in the middle of the floor to catch the drip. Between the clinks I hear a fretful swish against the windows, and a crushed, steady murmur on the roof. (Pg.36)

It is the solitude of the pail, all by itself in the middle of the room, as well as the solitary dripping of the rain that really signifies Mrs. Bentley's loneliness. She is all alone, and feels she has no one, especially when Philip spends the majority of his time locked up in his study. Mrs. Bentley feels the wind as a presence that won't let up, and won't give her any peace. Especially at the beginning of As For Me and My House when Mrs. Bentley and Phillip have just moved to Horizon and are still adjusting to the change. Mrs. Bentley feels the wind as a relentless force, and it is the wind as that force that makes Mrs. Bentley feel so uncomfortable and ill at ease in a house that she is now suppose to call home. Mrs. Bentley's uneasiness concerning the wind continues throughout the entire novel. It is a burden to her and her continued struggle towards happiness;

It's the most nerve-wracking wind I've ever listened to. Sometimes it sinks a little, as if spent and out of breath, then comes high, shrill and importunate again. Sometimes it's blustering and rough, sometimes silent and sustained. Sometimes it's wind, sometimes frightened hands that shake the doors and windows. Sometimes it makes the little room and its smug, familiar furniture a dramatic inconsistency, sometimes a relief. (Pg.52)

This is Mrs. Bentley's life in Horizon. Her life is an inconsistent one. One that is filled with unease, fear, unhappiness, and a constant struggle for satisfaction. Therefore, it is the wind, which fuels these feelings within Mrs. Bentley even more. It puts feelings of trouble within Mrs.Bentley, she is always fearing something, or worrying about something, and that is caused by the wind, which is such a constant factor of life in Horizon. The wind as an environmental factor also places a desperation in Mrs. Bentley, which she just can't get rid of. As the years progress and the wind continues, the desperation grows. It is desperation to leave Horizon, to start a new life somewhere else, "The wind and the way it creaks the house is making us both nearly desperate." (Pg.83) Mrs. Bentley even begins to save money so that one day they will be able to leave Horizon and start a new life somewhere else. Therefore, it is the wind as a strong environmental factor within As For Me and My House that is not only a element in Mrs. Bentley's unhappiness, but also a leading cause in her desperation and loneliness.

During the time of As For Me and My House, there is a drought. This drought is significant to Philip for many reasons. For one, it is a metaphor for Philips own drought. He is an artist, yet he isn't. He draws, but doesn't let himself. He won't permit others to see his work, and half the time he won't accept his own work as good. He is in a drought as an artist;

Alone in there, hunched over his table, groping and struggling to fulfill himself-intent upon something that can only remind him of his failure, of the man he tried to be. I wish I could reach him, but it's like the wilderness outside of night and sky and prairie, with this one little spot of Horizon hung up lost in its immensity. He's as lost, and alone. (Pg.34)

The land's drought has caused the land to suffer immensely. Philip's drought has caused him to suffer immensely. Both are suffering hand-in-hand because both are losing something that is necessary to them. The land has lost its water, which is necessary for it to thrive and live. Philip has lost his confidence as an artist and as a man, which is necessary for him to survive. When someone looses their confidence, it is difficult to get it back and you are so much harder on yourself than others are on you. Philip doesn't feel that any of his drawings are good anymore, so he works that much harder, but it still seems that he can't accomplish what he ultimately wants;

It's Judith tonight he's drawing. Or rather, trying to draw, for the strange swift whiteness of her face eludes him. The floor is littered with torn-up, crumpled sketches. He's out of himself, wrestling. There's a formidable wrinkle across his forehead, and in his eyes tense moment of immobile glare. (Pg.33)

Philip feels he is a failure because of his lack of self-confidence not only as an artist concerning his drawings, but also as a man in general. He isn't handy with fixing things or building things, and in some aspect he feels that this makes him a failure as a man, "Sometimes Philip goes out to tinker round the garage a while, but his hands are so useless that changing a tire or fixing anything is harder on his nerves than staying in here and putting up with me." (Pg.82) Therefore, it is Philips lack of self-confidence as an artist, a man, and a husband, which cause him to recede further and further into himself, and away from his wife, and the person he once was.

The wind is also a huge metaphor concerning the character of Judith within AsFor Me and My House. Judith as a singer for the church services is portrayed as strong and powerful concerning the wind. She doesn't let it overtake her, as the rest of the town does;

The wind was too strong for Philip or the choir, but Judith scaled it when she sang alone again before the closing hymn. The rest of us, I think, were vaguely and secretly a little afraid. The strum and whimper were wearing on our nerves. But Judith seemed to respond to it, ride up with it, feel it the way a singer feels an orchestra. (Pg.51)

Maybe it is because Judith allows the wind to blow freely, and uses it as a way to strengthen herself. It seems that Judith uses the wind, especially during her singing, to build herself up, and to prove that she is strong enough and powerful enough, and confident enough to succeed. However, perhaps the wind is also a metaphor concerning Judith and the Bentley's. It could be a metaphor for blowing apart the Bentley's marriage, when Judith and Philip began sleeping together and Judith became pregnant. It could have easily meant the end of the Bentley's marriage. However, the wind could also be a metaphor for blowing away the Bentley's problems. When Judith dies during childbirth, and Mrs. Bentley decides to raise the child as her own, she is fulfilling a desire of Philips that has been there for a long time. Therefore, the wind concerning Judith could mean a variety of metaphors including love, relationships, and happiness.

As For Me and My House is a novel that not only describes the environment as a significant part of the novel, but it also makes it a character, which drives the other characters to desperation, loneliness, and unhappiness. The wind is so heavily involved within the novel that it causes the main character, Mrs. Bentley, to an obsession with leaving the town of Horizon. The drought then causes Philip to loose faith in himself not only as an artist, but also as a man. The wind is a metaphor for many different elements within As For Me and My House, including strength, love, solitude, unhappiness and happiness. It is depending on the character involved to which metaphor is being used concerning the wind. Therefore, the environmental factors within As For Me and MyHouse are not only important aspects, but necessary ones that drive the novel to its climax and successful ending.