The Concept of Space in A Jest of God

Or perhaps that is too simple a description. Borders, limitations, boundaries (both internal and external), the list could continue. Regardless of how you or I might like to refer to it, I noticed that a persistent theme throughout Margaret Laurence's novel--and an obstacle that Rachel Cameron must overcome in order to complete her transition--is the concept of space, and particularly its ability to restrict. We notice this not only in terms of physical space, but in Rachel's own mental arena as well.

Rachel is a woman continually bumping into walls, some of her own creation. On a larger scale, she lives in a town that has become far too familiar and which she seems incapable of escaping from. Manawaka becomes her box, and her own home a smaller version of that box. That as a fully grown woman Rachel occupies a small space with her mother is unusual, but more importantly we notice that Rachel's home environment influences her actions and quite often regulates them. We see this in her mother, whose frequent questions about Rachel's comings and goings serves as a deterrent to Rachel's behavior as she often opts to stay in, rather than leave. Furthermore, Rachel is questioned about her own actions within the home space (where are you going dear? what are you doing dear? etc) and lives a highly monitored life. In order to reach a state of full independence, Rachel cannot be controlled or trapped by the space she exists in.

Yet another example of the idea of physical space and its influence on Rachel's transition can be seen in the transformation of her father's funeral parlor into Hector's "Japonica Chapel". Previously, Rachel received discouragement from her father when entering his workspace--it became in a way associated with the very idea of her father, but also with the notion of limitation--it became, in a way, not simply a door to a room, but a way of making Rachel's space even smaller. By transforming the chapel Hector acts as an aid to Rachel's own transformation; he destroys the barrier she had previously encountered, opening up new space for her to occupy. The statement Rachel makes ("It's evolution") is very appropriate in this sense. Not only is it an evolution of a previously off-limit space, but also an evolution of Rachel Cameron herself.

Finally we see the idea of space and its regulatory effects in Rachel Cameron herself. I refer here to Rachel's mental boundaries that she has created for herself. She does not allow herself to think certain thoughts or act in certain ways, living a painfully self-aware lifestyle that results in self-admonishment if she happens to think something crass or taboo. She limits her pleasures, her imagination, and her mind in this line of though becomes yet another box which she grudgingly inhabits. By the end of the novel, we see that she has--if not broken free of her mental space--at least extended its walls. As she states: "I do not need to know how many bones need to be broken before I can walk."

-J. Britton