One book in the middle of nowhere.
My mother was born and grew up in a small town in Saskatchewan, surrounded by barren hills. There was only one book in the house, The Mill on the Floss, so she read it seven times. I hope there was also a Bible, since I recently saw an article on Eliot called "Good without God". I finally got around to reading the novel because I wanted to understand my mother better. What I most appreciated in the book was the fairness the author displays when examining the conscience of Maggy. The protagonist's decisions are fully open-minded. I liked especially the way she held up under the negative opinion of others. This reminded me of what Plato says in the second book of The Republic. Plato says that because the just man does not follow the opinion of other people but pursues justice for its own sake, the truly just man will be misunderstood and persecuted in this world. One thing about the novels of the 19th century: they hold up moral models for us. We fool ourselves if we think we do not need such models in the post-modern world. If such were true, why would we be overjoyed about a pilot saving so many lives by landing a commercial airplane in the Hudson River?
A man's righteousness is only complete and guaranteed when he takes on the appearance of unrighteousness --Plato's Republic.
