When Suzanne sits for Guillaume, the painting he creates is not of her body but of a cottage in the forest with a door set high on the façade. What did you make of his painting? What resonance does it have throughout the novel?
Created: 05/19/20
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Join Date: 10/15/10
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When Suzanne sits for Guillaume, the painting he creates is not of her body but of a cottage in the forest with a door set high on the façade. What did you make of his painting? What resonance does it have throughout the novel?
Join Date: 07/28/11
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Join Date: 09/03/19
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I felt the painting spoke to all the stories. Often in the book when someone sees the painting at first they don’t see the door, in fact, when the painting is first described to us on pg 77-78 it is described as “ no windows, no door” then amended. If people do see the door it is either viewed as unattainable, difficult to get to or in the wrong place. To get in the house, to even see inside the house, or in other words to get what they want, they must find the door then figure out how to access it. They must accept that the doorway or entrance or solution to their problem or desire is not the conventional route they had planned on and that they are going to have to work and think to get inside. Isn’t that what all the characters had to do to get what they thought they wanted? Some with more success than others, they had to accept that the doorway to their desire wasn’t exactly as they may have pictured it to be and that they may not be able to get inside - to achieve what they wanted and that what they think they want may not even be inside or where or what they think it is. So that painting, to me was a perfect metaphor for the struggles of the characters . I did want to really see the painting.
Join Date: 04/25/12
Posts: 51
We're told that the painting has saved Guillaume's life, over and over again. It continues to haunt him after Gertrude Stein buys it. It's a picture of a cottage in the middle of darkness with a door that's not within reach. There's a sense that it represents hope, a light in the darkness (reminiscent of the epigraph!). When Jean-Paul looks at it, Sylvia Beach has just said, "Everyone is so busy singing their sorrowful songs that it can be difficult to hear yourself think". Jean-Paul, looking at the painting says "This song seems a little quieter". Later, Souren is overwhelmed by the painting, thinking that behind the door is everything he has ever wanted....but forever out of reach. He sees the light, so to speak, but not the hope. To me, the painting tells a story and how that story is received by each of the characters who see it gives us insight into their inner life.
Join Date: 12/27/18
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