Gadol 1

Hayley Gadol

Mrs. Sarich

AP Literature

26 April 2011

The Shipping News Questions

1. Quoyle’s main problem is that he is naïve. He is unintelligent to an extent, but he is definitely

capable of learning with proper feedback as demonstrated throughout the novel. Proulx’s use

of metaphors such as “a great damp loaf of a body” makes the reader feel sorry for Quoyle.

Proulx also uses humor to describe him which makes the Quoyle more likeable to the reader.

For example, at the very beginning of the novel, Quoyle accidentally gets ink stains on his

shirts while at the Laundromat. Quoyle describe’s “a heavy man’s colorless eyes enlarged

with tears” (Quoyle 4), which is a somewhat humorous picture that also makes the reader feel

sorry for Quoyle’s lonliness. While Quoyle may seem unitelligent, it is also seen through the

construction incident with Bunny that Quoyle is a caring man. He is really just

misunderstood. He is capable of learning just as everyone else is, like when he slowly learns

how to properly work at a newspaper publisher, but at the start of the novel he is too afraid

due to the negative feedback of his parents.

2. Quoyle learns how to succeed in general. For example, in saving Bunny from falling and in

writing “The Shipping News,” he does something right for the first time in his life. In

addition, Quoyle learns to face his fears. He initially does this through his newspaper

assignments: car wrecks, which he associates with Petal’s death and “The Shipping News,”

which is related to his fear of water. It is also evident that Quoyle has gained more self-

confidence; he yells at Tert Card for rewriting his newspaper article, rather than accepting the
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fact that his original article may have not been good enough. Symbolism can be found in the

setting of the novel, Newfoundland. Quoyle literally “newly finds” himself there and is a

completely different person at the end of the novel from the person he is at the beginning of

the novel.

3. It is very possible that Quoyle avoids Nolan because he is the result of the worst of Quoyle’s

problems. Nolan is lonely and even resembles Quoyle. Quoyle is afraid of becoming insane

like Nolan is due to lack of love. As seen earlier with the water, Quoyle tends to avoid his

fears unless it is absolutely necessary to face them.

4. Proulx’s matter-of-fact method of dealing with the aunt’s sexual orientation reveals a lot

about her views of unconventional sexuality. She does make an issue of it to convey the idea

that love is love regardless of the genders of the lovers. In addition, she also criticizes society

as a whole when the aunt does not reveal her sexuality to Quoyle and just states that she had

a “significant other.” She shows that many people think it is easier to empathize with

heterosexual love as it is for Quoyle than with homosexual love.

5. Quoyle and Petal Bear have a relationship similar to that of Quoyle and his parents. Petal

constantly criticizes him as his parents did. In addition, Petal is clearly just using Quoyle for

his occasional love-making and child-rearing. She cheats on him with many, many other

men. Quoyle still loves Petal because she was the first woman to love (or make love with)

him. Additionally, Quoyle does not know any better relationships because every relationship

in his life has involved another partner who feels superior to him. Because Quoyle and

Wavey have both experience abusive relationships, they treat each other with care and do not

feel sexually attracted to each other. However, they are definitely protective as Quoyle

allows Wavey to fall into his arms at the beach.

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6. The dreary and cold weather does not necessarily add to the reader’s enjoyment of the book

overall, but it does make the reader appreciate the points in the novel when the weather is not

snowy. For example, the reader empathizes with Quoyle when he is forced to live in the run-

down motel when it is snowy outside and the reader feels a sense of relief when the snow

storm finally ends and Quoyle is able to continue his journey. In addition, the setting allows

for the many shipwrecks and deaths throughout the novel that are of central importance, such

as the death of Quoyle’s own grandfather while sealing and Jack Buggit’s son, Jesson’s,

death.

7. Each chapter heading serves a different purpose, but all are meant to make the reader think

about how they could possibly relate to the chapter. For example, the second chapter is called

“Love Knot.” It is meant to be ironic because Petal Bear does not actually love Quoyle. It is

likely that if Quoyle had sent a love knot to Petal Bear, it would have been capsized. The

fourth chapter is ironically called “Castaway,” which means to flee from a boat due to

disaster. Quoyle is indeed fleeing his troubles, but doing so involves being near boats and the

water more often than he had previously been.