Writing style in "The Stone Diaries"

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Recently, the Globe and Mail ran a television advertisement that depicted a woman who was reading a copy of the Globe and Mail in an airport. As she passed through the security section, the inside of her head was shown to be bursting with bright lights whereas the seemingly narcissistic dope who passed through the metal detector in front of her was shown to have only a pea inside his head. The advertisement was obviously meant to show that the Globe and Mail is an effective medium to learn information from. This newspaper is just one of many media that human beings can be educated by. The vantage point that people views a story from will affect their opinions of that story. For example, a picture of an event can imply something completely different from a written or oral report of that event. Similarly, a person who watches a movie will probably interpret that movie’s story completely differently than a person who reads the source material for that movie. However, if one comes to understand a story through as many media as possible, he or she will have the best understanding of that story.


Discrepancies resulting from telling a tale from different points of view can also be found in fiction. The Stone Diaries is a book about a woman’s life. The book’s author, Carol Shields, uses many writing styles within the novel. In chapter six, she uses letters written to the protagonist, Daisy Goodwill-Flett, as the medium to communicate the story. In another chapter, different characters offer their opinions as to why Daisy is depressed. At different times throughout the book, Daisy narrates in the first person. Also, Carol Shields writes a significant portion of the book in the third person. By telling the story from these four viewpoints, Carol Shields gives the book authenticity because a person who wants to learn about someone’s life should not only research from one medium but rather several. The usage of these four styles keeps the reader interested in the story, as it adds a variety that is usually not present in novels. Through her use of the different writing methods, Carol Shields gives the novel a sense of realism that would not be present if she wrote the story in only one style. The author is also able to comment on the limitations of autobiography through her use of these different techniques. Although the book is called The Stone Diaries, most of it is not told by the protagonist. By this, Shields shows that it is impossible for a person to truly write his or her life on paper. By writing The Stone Diaries in different styles, Carol Shields is able to realistically tell the story of a woman’s life and keep the reader interested.


As The Stone Diaries is a story of a woman’s life, it is appropriate that the story is told from several viewpoints because to view a life from one viewpoint would not be an accurate look at that life. The author is able to show that there are often differences between what a person believes and what he or she is willing to tell someone. After her wedding, Daisy Goodwill tells the reader that “the telegram from [my father and stepmother] said, ‘Congratulations and good wishes as you set out on the happy highway of life’” (Shields, 156). This leads Daisy to believe that her father is very happy with her marriage. However, “to himself, Cuyler Goodwill said, ‘[my new son-in-law Barker’s] almost as old as I am…my poor Daisy’” (156). By writing from the vantage point of both Daisy and Cuyler, Shields ameliorates the reader’s understanding of Daisy’s world. Also, the use of different writing styles highlights the fact that people who are very close to each other can have radically different opinions of the same issue. At the age of 40, Daisy’s father, Cuyler, is a shy man who did not like speaking one-on-one with strangers, let alone in front of hundreds of strangers. However, at the age of 50, he has “a silver tongue” (8). The reader is later told, through the author’s third person narrative, that “Cuyler Goodwill himself believes…that speech came to him during his brief two-year marriage to Mercy Goodwill” (84). Yet, Daisy later narrates that it is “my personal belief that my father found his voice…in the rhetorical music of the King James Scriptures” (84). If Shields were to use only one voice, the reader would not have known that these two characters, who are so close to each other, have completely different opinions about a matter that so affected both of their lives.


In addition, the different narrative methods show that two people who know a person very well can have extremely different opinions as to what is important to that person. In 165, Daisy enters a deep depression. Several characters state why they believe Daisy is depressed. Daisy’s daughter, Alice, blames her mother’s depression on the loss of her job, citing “we are our work” (4). Daisy’s best friend, Fraidy Hoyt, responds by saying Alice’s idea of work is “sitting in the shadowy corners of libraries and producing beautiful little monographs every couple of years” (4). Fraidy believes Alice is being unrealistic. Several others characters offer their opinions. This is interesting and possible only because of Shields’ unique writing style. Because of Shields’ fashion of storytelling, the reader learns about the life of Daisy Goodwill from many angles. This gives the story authenticity because one should study a person’s life from as many angles as possible in order to form the best opinion about that life.


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The change in writing styles throughout the book is unique and, as a result, keeps the reader interested. Because of this differing narration, an interesting change in perspective can take place. The opening line of the book is “my mother’s name was Mercy Stone Goodwill” (1). Such a line would automatically make one assume that Mercy’s Goodwill’s daughter, Daisy, is to be the narrator for the duration of the novel. Before long, however, Barker Flett and his mother, Clarentine, are narrating the story through letters to Magnus Flett and Cuyler Goodwill, respectively. These letters to “my dear father” (50) and “my dear Mr. Goodwill” (51) allow an out of the ordinary shift in point of view. As well, the shifts in manner of narration assist in reinforcement of the theme. After Daisy and Barker marry, “things people had to say about the Flett-Goodwill liaison” (155) are listed. In this short but interesting section of the book, “the Prime Minister of the Dominion, himself a bachelor, said on hearing of the marriage between Barker Flett and Daisy Goodwill marriage is the highest calling, after that parenthood and after that the management of the nation” (155). This allusion to the prime ministry of Mackenzie King, who made similar statements concerning marriage, is appropriate as it is accordance with Shields’ theme of a journey through the twentieth century. The only reason it is in the book is because Shields has taken the liberty of not writing the book in a single style.


This variance in narration can also help show that what a person is willing to say about an issue at can change over time. The story of Daisy’s life from the period of 155-164 is told through letters to her. Fraidy writes that she is “so glad that [she] could make it for the christening” (4) of Alice’s son. In 165, however, when discussing her thoughts on Daisy’s depression, Fraidy criticizes Alice for being “an agnostic who nevertheless christens her children” (4). After Daisy dies, Shields uses an assortment of death notices, lists conversations and brief comments as the means to tell the story. This shows how quickly a life seems to go by. Through her unique writing style, Shields keeps the reader interested and is able to develop the theme and plot.


Through her use of a number of narrative voices, Shields is able to tell a great deal of information that cannot be realistically told if the story is told in only one writing style. When Daisy is depressed, “surely no one expects [her] to come up with a theory about her own suffering” (61). In this situation, Shields takes the liberty to not write from Daisy’s point of view; rather, several characters tell their theories as to why Daisy is depressed. The result is a unique chapter in which the reader not only learns about the characters but also learns about Daisy. For example, through the letters written to Daisy (in the preceding chapter), the reader understands that she is romantically involved with a newspaper editor, Jay Dudley, during the late 150s and early 160s as he signs his letters to her “affectionately” (17) and she “invites[s him] for Easter dinner” (1). Fraidy writes to Daisy, “it [is] nice meeting Jay at last” (4). However, in 164, their friendship falls apart as he writes to her that she is “taking this far to personally” (7). Shields changes the writing style to allow him to further explain his thoughts. He states that “one marriage [is]…enough for [him]” (5) although she “had a more permanent arrangement in mind” (54). This opinion of Jay is very personal and he probably would not want to write in on paper. This use of the different writing styles allows her to tell information that the other writing styles cannot. Also, Daisy narrates a great deal of the novel in the first person, present tense. When Daisy dies, it is obviously not possible, or at the very least not realistic, for her to continue to tell the story in this manner. It would be awkward for the author to change the writing style only for the last chapter of a novel. Shields’ change of the mode of narration at several points in the novel allows for her to make a smooth change in style when it is needed. Carol Shields’ use of several narrative voices in The Stone Diaries results in the story being a realistic telling of a woman’s life.


Through her use of several writing styles in The Stone Diaries, Carol Shields illustrates the fact that writing an autobiography that is truly telling of one’s life is nearly impossible. It is inevitable that people will stretch aspects of their life because they remember certain events or people with bias. At one point in the novel, the narrator tells the reader that “you have already realized that no person could be so insensitive, so cruel as [Daisy’s] mother-in-law, Mrs. Arthur Hoad, is made out to be” (148). In addition, Daisy’s life, like everyone’s life, is influenced by events that take place when she is not present. She cannot tell the reader what happens when she is not there. As a result, Shields has to write these events from a point of view that is not Daisy’s. Also, people forget events in their life and, as a result, they cannot be told in their autobiography. When he is old, Cuyler Goodwill cannot even remember his first wife’s name. “There is something careless about this kind of forgetting, something unpardonable” (75). Yet, Cuyler forgets this seemingly unforgettable piece of information. Obviously, this man cannot write an autobiography that would be an accurate story of his life. When she is old, Daisy also loses sense of the world around her as “she’s lost track of what’s real and what’s not” (). Because people are biased and forgetful, an autobiography can never be used alone as a study of a person’s life. Carol Shields’ decision to write The Stone Diaries from many points of view not only results in a more accurate study of its protagonist’s life but also exposes the limitations of autobiography.


By writing her novel The Stone Diaries in several different styles, Carol Shields creates a realistic and interesting story of a woman’s life. Her use of many different voices is demonstrative of the fact that an autobiography can never be truly telling of its author’s life. The different writing styles result in Daisy Goodwill’s story having a sense of realism that cannot exist if the story is told using only one narrative voice. The reader’s interest in the story is increased by the fact that the author does not write the book in only one style. It is appropriate that the story is told from several points of view because one should study a person’s life from several points of view. The Stone Diaries is an excellent example of a fictitious work told using several styles of narration. The result is a balanced view of a woman’s life.





Bibliography


Shields, Carol. The Stone Diaries. Toronto, ON Random House of Canada Ltd., 1


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