Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Response to A Mown Lawn

Lydia Davis' A Mown Lawn is a thought provoking, compact, short story. Her main character hates a "mown lawn." Everything represented by the way the word is spelled to the way it sounds congers up a picture of dissatisfaction. Perhaps because a mowed lawn needs continual upkeep, is a tedious, laborious task and is symbol of suburban, constantly growing America she needs to show us the dangers of a mown lawn.The words spelled out from mown lawn are a "long moan", "man", "raw war" - all negative and combative images. There is something raw in the word "raw war." A moan lawn might symbolize the repression she feels in a male dominated society or the repression she feels of not having a voice in a mown lawn society or a society obsessed with appearances. She tries to point out which I felt interesting "Did more lawn in America make more lawmen in America? Did more lawn make more Nam?" Does a mown lawn embody our pursuit for the American dream or own American ideals that we are blind to other more important matters?

3 comments:

  1. I agree. The Mown Lawn made me a bit dizzy to read, because every single transaction of the word is so deep in meaning and symbolism!

    "Does a mown lawn embody our pursuit for the American dream or own American ideals that we are blind to other more important matters?" Interesting question! Makes me wonder what the narrator's political convictions are, since it seems to go against the normal American view.

    It's great that Davis was able to ask fundamental questions about society in such a creative and different way. Thought about trying to imitate it, but got stuck really early on. I wonder what came first for Davis, "Mown Lawn" or the concept.

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  2. I was happy to see someone wrote about this piece, and I think you did a great job summing up Davis' feat.

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  3. VERY INTERESTING and INSIGHTFUL response! I agree & believe you're on the right track, with parallels to The American Dream- imagery of a perfectly mown, green lawn- and how that image transitions into the "man" & "raw war" All of these connections sprouting from the image and specifics of the "mown lawn." What a layered approach this author took, quite challenging and satisfying in the end.

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