Martha Quest
6 April 2007
Book One of Children of Violence
by Doris Lessing
As Doris Lessing herself writes, “There are two ways of reading: one of them deepens and intensifies what one already knows; the other, one takes new facts, new views to weave into ones life.” Reading Martha Quest, is a smooth flowing reiteration; I am able to buoy on the surface of the words, take their sound and their African images and meld with them. The prose of Doris Lessing combined with the story of the end of adolescence has no need to touch or impact me: it is already there.
Martha Quest grows up in the veld of Southern Rhodesia. She grows up with a dissatisfied mother and a hard-working father whose struggle was that of getting-by. She grows up with open space, the open bowl of brilliant blue sky always far above her head, the endless plain of space stretched until the earth rounds itself off. She is given vision in days spent in the bush, in exploration both physical and mental. She walks with her sensations peaked in broad inquisition. These scenes, before Martha leaves for the city, remind me of my own open youth and the greater transparency of youth. I walked the forest for hours, listening and observing, feeling the ground below me, until the silence became too much and I would pull out a book and sit aside the passing creek.
Our adolescent similarities end with Martha’s testiness, she is always on edge with her mother about a choice in clothes, about the books she reads, that I can’t help, but to lament, give up, either one of you. Finally, Martha does and moves the the nameless district town, where the majority of the Children of Violence series resides. Martha rents an apartment and soon does as most do during the first move away from home, she parties; but these were the years before World War II and they partied under the decisive agreement of enjoyment. There was desperation in their actions. The world as they knew it was on the brink of crumbling, what better time to drink and smoke to ones exhaustion? So Martha does, to her exhaustion.
My point in writing these reading notes is not to give a concise account of the book, but rather, to infuse my reader with enough of an impression so that you can judge for yourself; pick up the book or let it lie. To tell Martha’s story is to tell that of generations. If you so desire, you can follow Martha into her forties, she becomes a time piece surfacing on decisive moments, moments we all share. I can not read one book in this series without wanting to read the next. There is something so soothing about Doris Lessing’s writing that causes me to feel that all doubts whether experienced in my adolescence or now are all part and necessary to the experience of life. She makes me believe in my own ability to follow where I am led.
Martha Quest, so staunchly destroying the sacrament of marriage, is married at the closing of the book, to a civil servant, of all people. All those disapproving vows seem only spits into the dry dirt, covered and absorbed in mere seconds. Why then did she repudiate so adamantly? if she was only to turn towards that same matrimonial situation. She is telling us that there is nothing that we can prepare ourselves for; one day you may find yourself to be the last one on earth and all those vows and disavowals become meaningless. Even as the marriage is taking place, as she stands along-side her husband-to-be, Martha almost refuses to see what is happening around her and to her. That’s just the thing, the marriage is happening to her, she had nothing to do with its coming about, why should she get involved? Perhaps that is the great transparency of youth? The ability to accumulate experience with few hang-ups and doubts, for as we get older, the effect seems to be of a more direct result of the cause.
There is a child perched high on the monkey bars. Between him and the concrete is six feet of air, quite a distance for a child. But he swings upside down without fear, consequences do not come rushing in at the onset of action. There is only the action, pure and untainted. In comparison, Martha’s own actions are not as pristine, as her youth convinces. She reads books, has an emotional and knowledgeable political vein, she looks into her consciousness and analyzes what she finds. Martha is hungry for experience, there is the fire of the passionate soul burning within her.
It is not only the impressions of a kindred spirit that I draws me to Martha Quest, the heroine, to the Children of Violence series as a whole. There are layers to Doris Lessing’s writing, layers like those of the seasons, pervasive in all good writing. The personal meld at once with the deeply critical, nature contrasts with the enclosed city, politics infuse her words and her adolescent ideals, ‘the color bar’ always evident and screaming to be noticed. I believe Doris Lessing to be in communion among the masters. She sits, the woman on high. Her words and images, satiated with the juices of timelessness. Amen!
Everyone should own Martha Quest, follow this link to Amazon