Susan McCaslin's 'The Call'

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that, in her poem 'The Call', Canadian poet Susan McCaslin relates the experience of mental illness to the Cathars, a religious group concentrated in France in the eleventh century. The paper points out that the inquisition and oppressive pursuit of the open-minded Cathars is used by McCaslin as a metaphor to describe mental illness. The paper stresses that, although the poem and the book are not entirely an autobiography, McCaslin is the daughter of a mentally ill woman whose tumultuous driving mental voices impact on everyone around her.

From the Paper:

"McCaslin's historical references continue in the third stanza, where the schizophrenic voices that pursue the mother "blazon" her face, an old-fashioned word associated with heraldry, of officers of arms. A blazon is a description of a coat of arms or flag used to depict an image, typically involving banners or seals. Such formal, historical imagery is conveyed by McCaslin to represent the mother's mental state, which the woman carries around as a logo - a logo which automatically exempts her from deserving love from Canadian society as a whole."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Cathars and Cathar Beliefs in the Languedoc. (date unknown). Retrieved May 20, 2007 from http://www.languedoc-france.info/12_cathars.htm
• Flying Wounded by Susan McCaslin. (2000). University Press of Florida. Retrieved May 20, 2007 from http://www.upf.com/Fall2000/mccaslin.html
• Martin, J. (2007). The Best of Cathar Castles In France's Languedoc Region. Retrieved May 20, 2007 from http://goeurope.about.com/od/france/a/catharcountry.htm
• McCaslin, S. (date unknown). Poet Susan McCaslin. Retrieved May 20, 2007 from http://www.members.shaw.ca/smccaslin/
• Mercy Seat. (2007). Wikipedia. Retrieved May 20, 2007 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercy_seat

More papers on Susan McCaslin's 'The Call':

• Poem Review # 133718 : "Susan McCaslin's "The Call"
• Analytical Essay # 104255 : "Susan McCaslin's "Just an Ordinary Woman"

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