Victory Gardens
Structure
The structure of the text Victory Gardens is labyrinthine,
with many direct references to labyrinths
and texts which are labyrinths.
To read it is to traverse a labyrinth.
The reader is at first enticed forward and then drawn into a blind alley.
It is possible to retrace one's path backwards but not to repeat it.
Three writing spaces
(bold = link taken)
| Firm Opinions: |
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In the labyrinth of time there are no |
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Real : fictive (10) |
Leads to:
| From Any: |
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In the labyrinth of time there are no fictive |
|
Choices : victories (10) |
Leads to:
| Who Offer. |
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In the labyrinth of time there are no fictive voices. |
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(10) |
'There are no fictive voices' implies that those voices which make up the text are in some sense 'real' although partial, fleeting and fragmentary.
One of the central themes, the first Gulf War, is obviously a historic reality.
The fragmented view is a postmodern condition.
Fragmentation, explosions, fires and destruction are present
in both the text and the structure of the text.
This represents the binary opposition
of male / female,
destruction / creation,
aggression / passivity,
division / integration.
It is not clear to what extent this is a male perspective (of the author) or an indication of gender stereotyping. Wasp Factory also discusses labyrinth, violence and male stereotyping.
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