Az Eszterházy Károly Tanárképző Főiskola Tudományos Közleményei. 1993. [Vol. 1.] Eger Journal of American Studies. (Acta Academiae Paedagogicae Agriensis : Nova series ; Tom. 21)

STUDIES - Judit Kádár: Hugh MacLennan's Complex Narrative Technique in His Last Novel

future are similar and serve the purpose of being an opposition to all the true, humanistic values in our lives. One can find the strength of the novel rather in MacLennan's method of pointing out the general human ingenuity, and man's dual nature. I consider Conrad and Timothy to be the most powerful characters, since they are described from many angles in a realistic way through their personal reflections. For example, Conrad Dehmel is not the hero perhaps one could expect to act like a hero. After physical tortures he finally gives up his beloved and her father, which is a rather unheroic action at that moment. Also, Conrad's relationship with Hanna is vivid, touching, as far as emotions are concerned. Here sexuality seems to have a different role and description than in any other novels by the same author. He writes about this love affair in a very honest, passionate way. As for his voice in general, MacLennan is rather resigned, desperate, and often tragic or sarcastic probably due to his philosophical views, too. In this paper my point was to show the innovation in MacLennan's book, namely that he tried to merge a traditional and a new method of storytelling within the framework of a book which is about the general problems of human history. He does this by talking about wars, especially within people, and about the writer's belief in the new generations, the ability of the old one to be reborn, and bring new enthusiasm for the new generations. I feel that the achievment lies in MacLennan's thematical innovation in contrast with his previous novels rather than in the form of narration. His style is emotionally touching and suggestive though in the artistic sense it is not so powerful as for exapmle it was in Barometer Rising or The Watch that Ends the Night Nevertheless, the last novel of Hugh MacLennan could deserve more attention among readers and critics of one of Canada's most popular and well-known writers. 72