The Double Hook
Encyclopedia
The Double Hook is a novel written by Sheila Watson, which is considered "a seminal work in the development of contemporary Canadian literature
."
Published in 1959
, The Double Hook is written in a style more like prose poetry
than fiction. It is often considered to be Canada's first modernist novel due to how it "departs from traditional plot
, character development
, form and style to tell a poetic tale of human suffering and redemption that is at once fabular, allegorical and symbolic." The Canadian Encyclopedia
declares that: "Publication of Watson's novel The Double Hook (1959) marks the start of contemporary writing in Canada
."
Watson has said that her novel is "about how people are driven, how if they have no art
, how if they have no tradition
, how if they have no ritual
, they are driven in one of 2 ways, either towards violence or towards insensibility – if they have no mediating rituals which manifest themselves in what I suppose we call art forms." She has explained that the "double hook" of her title refers to the idea “that when you fish for the glory you catch the darkness too. That if you hook twice the glory you hook twice the fear.”
. Throughout the 1950s she was unable to find a publisher. "T.S. Eliot at Faber & Faber, C. Day Lewis at Chatto & Windus, and Rupert Hart-Davis
all turned it down."
McClelland & Steward optioned the book in Canada, largely on the strength of a covering letter by Fred Salter of the University of Alberta
calling it "the most brilliant piece of fiction ever written in Canada." To decide on publication, though, the company sought the opinion of its modernist poet
, Earle Birney
. Birney found The Double Hook “monotonous, self-conscious, artificial, and lacking in real fictional interest,” and admitted that “I just don’t know what the damned novel is about.” He did say that the novel's “poetic-cryptic style” made it “certainly a remarkable piece of writing,” but ultimately advised against publication.
McClelland and Stewart were also unable to interest an American publisher in simultaneous publication. "Harcourt-Brace, Knopf, Atheneum, Random House
, and New Directions agreed that although The Double Hook was not without merit, they were not interested in losing money on it." Alfred Knopf Sr. wrote to Jack McClelland
that "“I’m afraid we simply can’t go along with Professor Salter in the matter of Sheila Watson’s The Double Hook. We don’t feel it could conceivably sell, and it doesn’t seem to us to be anything like distinguished enough to justify Salter’s hoop’la.”
In 1959 The Double Hook was published, and instantly recognized as a modern classic. "All 3,000 copies of the initial print run were sold. Supporters such as ... McLuhan, as well as Yale
formalist Cleanth Brooks
, saw it as a literary landmark ushering the Canadian novel out of its regional confines."
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
later approached Watson to option the film rights to The Double Hook. However, because they would not give her veto rights over the script, she turned them down.
The novel has remained in print continuously since 1959, as part of McClelland & Stewart's New Canadian Library. It has also been published in Swedish as Dubbelkroken in 1963 (translated by Artur Lundkvist ), in French as Sous l'oeil de coyote in 1976 (translated by Arlette Francière ), and in Italian as Il doppio amo in 1992.
, set in an isolated BC community.... These themes are presented in a style which itself balances on a 'double hook': it is simultaneously local and universal, realistic
and symbolic." "Watson weaves Christian
myth, native
legend
and natural
symbol
into a profound prose poem."
The Double Hook takes place in a small, rural
, Canadian community called Nineveh. Nineveh used to be thriving, but at the time of the novel has become a ghost town
, a place of general evil
and moral corruption. The main characters are James (who is the central character in the novel), his sister Greta, and his brother William. Their mother is merely called The Old Lady and is the source of evil and corruption within Nineveh. Other characters include Felix and Angel who are married with unnamed children; Ara who is married to James' brother, William; Heinrich (also called The Boy), Lenchen, and their mother, Widow Wagner. There are two other minor characters, Theophil and Kip.
The novel opens with James killing the Old Lady. "When James Potter kills his mother in the opening scene, he sets in motion the Potter family's struggle against fear - symbolized most dramatically by the figure of Coyote
- and with various forms of withdrawal from community into isolation." Within the context of Nineveh, though, his matricide
is considered a good act as it is The Old Lady who creates negative energy in the community.
The Old Lady fishes on everyone's property, yet this act of fishing is negative and symbolic of death. The Old Lady has no use for the fish, she simply continually kills them without using them for nourishment. This act can be seen as a Christian parable: as The Old Lady kills fish she can be viewed as the Anti-Christ, since Jesus used one fish to feed a whole town. The idea of the fisher in the damaged land also unavoidably recalls the Arthurian legends of the Fisher King
.
Despite the fact that The Old Lady is dead, she is seen throughout the novel on the properties of Felix and the Wagner's which perpetuates her inhuman qualities.
James Potter's "return to his isolated community in the Rockies after first fleeing to town represents the rebirth of hope and the confrontation with fear which might knit the Potters into a human community."
Canadian literature
Canadian literature is literature originating from Canada. Collectively it is often called CanLit. Some criticism of Canadian literature has focused on nationalistic and regional themes, although this is only a small portion of Canadian Literary criticism...
."
Published in 1959
1959 in literature
The year 1959 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*April 30 - Theatrical première of Bertolt Brecht's Saint Joan of the Stockyards, originally performed on radio in 1932....
, The Double Hook is written in a style more like prose poetry
Prose poetry
Prose poetry is poetry written in prose instead of using verse but preserving poetic qualities such as heightened imagery and emotional effects.-Characteristics:Prose poetry can be considered either primarily poetry or prose, or a separate genre altogether...
than fiction. It is often considered to be Canada's first modernist novel due to how it "departs from traditional plot
Plot
Plot is a literary term defined as the events that make up a story, particularly as they relate to one another in a pattern, in a sequence, through cause and effect, or by coincidence. One is generally interested in how well this pattern of events accomplishes some artistic or emotional effect...
, character development
Character development
Character development may refer to:* The change in characterization of a dynamic character, who changes over the course of a narrative.* Character creation, especially for games...
, form and style to tell a poetic tale of human suffering and redemption that is at once fabular, allegorical and symbolic." The Canadian Encyclopedia
The Canadian Encyclopedia
The Canadian Encyclopedia is a source of information on Canada. It is available online, at no cost. The Canadian Encyclopedia is available in both English and French and includes some 14,000 articles in each language on a wide variety of subjects including history, popular culture, events, people,...
declares that: "Publication of Watson's novel The Double Hook (1959) marks the start of contemporary writing in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
."
Watson has said that her novel is "about how people are driven, how if they have no art
Art
Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect....
, how if they have no tradition
Tradition
A tradition is a ritual, belief or object passed down within a society, still maintained in the present, with origins in the past. Common examples include holidays or impractical but socially meaningful clothes , but the idea has also been applied to social norms such as greetings...
, how if they have no ritual
Ritual
A ritual is a set of actions, performed mainly for their symbolic value. It may be prescribed by a religion or by the traditions of a community. The term usually excludes actions which are arbitrarily chosen by the performers....
, they are driven in one of 2 ways, either towards violence or towards insensibility – if they have no mediating rituals which manifest themselves in what I suppose we call art forms." She has explained that the "double hook" of her title refers to the idea “that when you fish for the glory you catch the darkness too. That if you hook twice the glory you hook twice the fear.”
History
Watson wrote The Double Hook between 1952 and 1954 in Calgary, Alberta and revised it during a year spent in ParisParis
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. Throughout the 1950s she was unable to find a publisher. "T.S. Eliot at Faber & Faber, C. Day Lewis at Chatto & Windus, and Rupert Hart-Davis
Rupert Hart-Davis
Sir Rupert Charles Hart-Davis was an English publisher, editor and man of letters. He founded the publishing company Rupert Hart-Davis Ltd...
all turned it down."
McClelland & Steward optioned the book in Canada, largely on the strength of a covering letter by Fred Salter of the University of Alberta
University of Alberta
The University of Alberta is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford, the first premier of Alberta and Henry Marshall Tory, its first president, it is widely recognized as one of the best universities in Canada...
calling it "the most brilliant piece of fiction ever written in Canada." To decide on publication, though, the company sought the opinion of its modernist poet
Modernist poetry in English
Modernist poetry in English is generally considered to have emerged in the early years of the 20th century with the appearance of the Imagists. In common with many other modernists, these poets wrote in reaction to the perceived excesses of Victorian poetry, with its emphasis on traditional...
, Earle Birney
Earle Birney
Earle Alfred Birney, OC, FRSC was a distinguished Canadian poet and novelist, who twice won the Governor General's Award, Canada's top literary honor, for his poetry.-Life:...
. Birney found The Double Hook “monotonous, self-conscious, artificial, and lacking in real fictional interest,” and admitted that “I just don’t know what the damned novel is about.” He did say that the novel's “poetic-cryptic style” made it “certainly a remarkable piece of writing,” but ultimately advised against publication.
McClelland and Stewart were also unable to interest an American publisher in simultaneous publication. "Harcourt-Brace, Knopf, Atheneum, Random House
Random House
Random House, Inc. is the largest general-interest trade book publisher in the world. It has been owned since 1998 by the German private media corporation Bertelsmann and has become the umbrella brand for Bertelsmann book publishing. Random House also has a movie production arm, Random House Films,...
, and New Directions agreed that although The Double Hook was not without merit, they were not interested in losing money on it." Alfred Knopf Sr. wrote to Jack McClelland
Jack McClelland
John Gordon "Jack" McClelland, CC was a Canadian publisher.Born and raised in Toronto, Ontario, he attended the University of Toronto Schools, St. Andrew's College , and then the University of Toronto, interrupting his studies to serve in the Royal Canadian Navy in the Battle of the Atlantic...
that "“I’m afraid we simply can’t go along with Professor Salter in the matter of Sheila Watson’s The Double Hook. We don’t feel it could conceivably sell, and it doesn’t seem to us to be anything like distinguished enough to justify Salter’s hoop’la.”
In 1959 The Double Hook was published, and instantly recognized as a modern classic. "All 3,000 copies of the initial print run were sold. Supporters such as ... McLuhan, as well as Yale
YALE
RapidMiner, formerly YALE , is an environment for machine learning, data mining, text mining, predictive analytics, and business analytics. It is used for research, education, training, rapid prototyping, application development, and industrial applications...
formalist Cleanth Brooks
Cleanth Brooks
Cleanth Brooks was an influential American literary critic and professor. He is best known for his contributions to New Criticism in the mid-twentieth century and for revolutionizing the teaching of poetry in American higher education...
, saw it as a literary landmark ushering the Canadian novel out of its regional confines."
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...
later approached Watson to option the film rights to The Double Hook. However, because they would not give her veto rights over the script, she turned them down.
The novel has remained in print continuously since 1959, as part of McClelland & Stewart's New Canadian Library. It has also been published in Swedish as Dubbelkroken in 1963 (translated by Artur Lundkvist ), in French as Sous l'oeil de coyote in 1976 (translated by Arlette Francière ), and in Italian as Il doppio amo in 1992.
Deep Hollow Creek
In 1992 the New Canadian Library published another novel, Deep Hollow Creek, which Watson had written in the 1930s. "Deep Hollow Creek treats many of the same themes" as The Double Hook "in a manner which is more direct and conventional, but no less elliptical and challenging."Plot and Characters
"The Double Hook presents in concise, symbolic terms a drama of social disintegration and redemptionRedemption
- Religion :* Redemption , an element of salvation to express deliverance from sin* Redemption, absolution for the past sins and/or protection from damnation* Pidyon haben, redemption of the firstborn son in Judaism...
, set in an isolated BC community.... These themes are presented in a style which itself balances on a 'double hook': it is simultaneously local and universal, realistic
Realistic
Realistic may refer to:*Realism *Realistic , a former RadioShack brand used to market audio electronics...
and symbolic." "Watson weaves Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
myth, native
Native
The term "native" can have many different social and political connotations in different contexts. In some cases it is a neutral, descriptive term, for example, when stating that one is a native of a particular city or that a certain language is one's native language...
legend
Legend
A legend is a narrative of human actions that are perceived both by teller and listeners to take place within human history and to possess certain qualities that give the tale verisimilitude...
and natural
Natural
Natural is an adjective that refers to Nature.Natural may refer too:In science and mathematics:* Natural transformation, category theory in mathematics* Natural foods...
symbol
Symbol
A symbol is something which represents an idea, a physical entity or a process but is distinct from it. The purpose of a symbol is to communicate meaning. For example, a red octagon may be a symbol for "STOP". On a map, a picture of a tent might represent a campsite. Numerals are symbols for...
into a profound prose poem."
The Double Hook takes place in a small, rural
Rural
Rural areas or the country or countryside are areas that are not urbanized, though when large areas are described, country towns and smaller cities will be included. They have a low population density, and typically much of the land is devoted to agriculture...
, Canadian community called Nineveh. Nineveh used to be thriving, but at the time of the novel has become a ghost town
Ghost town
A ghost town is an abandoned town or city. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economic activity that supported it has failed, or due to natural or human-caused disasters such as floods, government actions, uncontrolled lawlessness, war, or nuclear disasters...
, a place of general evil
Evil
Evil is the violation of, or intent to violate, some moral code. Evil is usually seen as the dualistic opposite of good. Definitions of evil vary along with analysis of its root motive causes, however general actions commonly considered evil include: conscious and deliberate wrongdoing,...
and moral corruption. The main characters are James (who is the central character in the novel), his sister Greta, and his brother William. Their mother is merely called The Old Lady and is the source of evil and corruption within Nineveh. Other characters include Felix and Angel who are married with unnamed children; Ara who is married to James' brother, William; Heinrich (also called The Boy), Lenchen, and their mother, Widow Wagner. There are two other minor characters, Theophil and Kip.
The novel opens with James killing the Old Lady. "When James Potter kills his mother in the opening scene, he sets in motion the Potter family's struggle against fear - symbolized most dramatically by the figure of Coyote
Coyote
The coyote , also known as the American jackal or the prairie wolf, is a species of canine found throughout North and Central America, ranging from Panama in the south, north through Mexico, the United States and Canada...
- and with various forms of withdrawal from community into isolation." Within the context of Nineveh, though, his matricide
Matricide
Matricide is the act of killing one's mother. As for any type of killing, motives can vary significantly.- Known or suspected matricides :* Amastris, queen of Heraclea, was drowned by her two sons in 284 BC....
is considered a good act as it is The Old Lady who creates negative energy in the community.
The Old Lady fishes on everyone's property, yet this act of fishing is negative and symbolic of death. The Old Lady has no use for the fish, she simply continually kills them without using them for nourishment. This act can be seen as a Christian parable: as The Old Lady kills fish she can be viewed as the Anti-Christ, since Jesus used one fish to feed a whole town. The idea of the fisher in the damaged land also unavoidably recalls the Arthurian legends of the Fisher King
Fisher King
The Fisher King, or the Wounded King, figures in Arthurian legend as the latest in a line charged with keeping the Holy Grail. Versions of his story vary widely, but he is always wounded in the legs or groin, and incapable of moving on his own...
.
Despite the fact that The Old Lady is dead, she is seen throughout the novel on the properties of Felix and the Wagner's which perpetuates her inhuman qualities.
James Potter's "return to his isolated community in the Rockies after first fleeing to town represents the rebirth of hope and the confrontation with fear which might knit the Potters into a human community."
Criticism
- Diane Bessai and David Jackel, eds. Figures in a Ground: Canadian Essays on Modern Literature Collected in Honor of Sheila Watson. Saskatoon: Western Producer Prairie Books, 1978.
- Scobie, Stephen. Sheila Watson. Toronto: ECW Press, 1985.
- Bowering, George. Ed. Sheila Watson and the Double Hook. Kempville, Ontario: Golden Dog Press, 1985.
- Lovesey, Oliver. "The Place of the Journey in Randolph Stow’s To The Islands and Sheila Watson’s The Double Hook." Ariel 27.3 (July 1996).
External links
- "How Sheila Watson’s The Double Hook Caught On", by Jordan Rendell Smith, Queen's University. Historical Perspectives on Canadian Publishing, McMaster University.
- "Symbolic Grotesque: The Double Hook", by Margot Northey, Queen’s University. English-Canadian Writers, Athabasca University.