Lessons Learned in Kate O’Brien’s Land of Spices Essay -- Land Spices

Lessons Learned in Kate O’Brien’s Land of Spices Kate O’Brien’s Land of Spices is a good read especially if the bookworm is from a catholic school upbringing. The story’s contents complete with the antics of the girls and the lack of patience in the sisters is recognizable from memories drawn on similar events. The nuns’ softer emotions were hidden away from the students and only their hard-heartedness evident in the school’s classrooms. In sixth grade during the fall of 1963 after President Kennedy was shot and killed in Dallas, Texas, a Dominican sister was seen at school with tears in her eyes. At this moment the realization descended upon the enrolled that there was flesh and blood under that habit and not an alien being. O’Brien addresses Catholicism, homosexuality and love in her novel with creativity and realism for the times. On a negative note, the liberal use of the French language is a reminder that this book was written with the rich and cultured person in mind and become s aggravating to this unenlightened one. In reading the excerpt from The Land of Spices by Kate O’Brien contained in â€Å"The Penguin Book of Irish Literature†, this reader is at once aware of the descriptive words with which Helen (the eventual Reverend Mother of the novel) depicts her father, Henry Archer. She presents him in the passage as a man who is â€Å"very beautiful†¦different from other men†¦with curly, silky hair and eyes that shone like stars† and goes on further to say that â€Å"his face grew more beautiful as one drew nearer to it†. 1[1] Perhaps, this feminine portrayal is a less than subtle hint into Henry Archer’s being for in revealing him as a man with a feminine countenance and inevitably finding him locked in a loving embrace... ...ontrol to temperance to love. Despite the rocky relationship between Helen and her father she inadvertently learned patience from him as he continues to love her despite her attitude and she in turn awaits Anna’s realization of her interest and love. Helen and Anna learn temperance in their everyday dealings with Mother Mary Andrew. The greatest lessons are those of dedication and commitment as Helen in the role of Reverend Mother becomes the best nun she can be despite a decision made under duress. Notes: [1] From The Penguin Book of Irish Fiction p. 475. [2] From The Penguin Book of Irish Fiction p. 475. [3] From The Penguin Book of Irish Literature p.485. [4] O’Brien, Kate. The Land of Spices, p.20. [5] O’Brien, Kate. The Land of Spices, p.252. [6] O’Brien, Kate. The Land of Spices, p104. [7] O’Brien, Kate. The Land of Spices, p. 110.