Loss of innocence
Loss of innocenceThe setting for Montana 1948 is a small rural community where the pioneer family about which the tale evolves controls the law and the medicine. The plot for Montana 1948 is mixed with racial tension, sexual abuse and murder. The Hayden family is torn between justice and loyalty in this novel. The setting for Sons and Lovers is near a coal and iron field of Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire in a small community where everyone keeps to themselves.
In DH Lawrence's novel, Sons and Lovers and Larry Watson's Montana 1948, many of the characters are affected by temptation and devastation. The result of this disillusionment and giving into temptation is a loss of innocence for many of the characters in these two novels. Loss of innocence is a loss of trust in a person or the loss of one's view that "life is fair." For example, David Hayden from Montana 1948 grew up thinking life was fair till he lost his innocence. Uncle Frank lost his trust in the world and as a consequence, lashed out at everyone around him. Paul Morel from Sons and Lovers lost his innocence at a very young age. He was confronted with disappointments which changed his life throughout the novel. Both of these novels demonstrate that a loss of innocence is inevitable and is caused by a lack of care in a society to prevent the youth in that society from growing up not trusting the world. This is done through a child seeing his father beating his mother, a child who finds out Santa Claus is not real, a worker whose coworker takes credit for his ideas or even a child who is abused by someone.
The novel Montana 1948, revolves around David Hayden's life and his loss of innocence while growing up. David's loss of innocence continues until the end of the novel when he is in his late forties. David grows up being faced with many difficult situations. An example of this would be the racial tension that exists in Montana between the Indians and the Americans. He witnesses fights between the Indians and the Americans in a bar. People in the town always discriminate against the Indians and David has to decide what he thinks is right or wrong. In addition, an uncle who doesn't obey the law and has bad behavior lives in his family's house. David was abused by his uncle when his uncle would come back from the bar. Frank would try to beat someone in the house but Wesley, David's father, would stop him most of the time if he was home. The abuse affected David's view of the world and he developed a sullen attitude towards his family. He would also ask himself many questions such as "I wonder what might happen if I killed my uncle. Would everyone's problems be solved? Would my father be relieved? Could I get away with...
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