Canadian Identity in David French's "Mercer Plays"

?The culture of a nation is said to be the thoughtfulness of the character of that nation. Canadian culture is held to be the mirror that reflects the lasts, histories, and identities of Canadians.? (Statistics Canada)Over the incline of our country?s existence thither has been an ongoing line of reasoning of whether or not Canada has its own national identity element element. Some would make do that it doesn?t, and that its lack of identity is what helps the country to be much welcome and cultur alto originatehery vast, while separates would argue that it is take only this type of modification to other cultures that is understandably Canadian and t herefore a attri thoe of our national identity.?When the word ?culture? is combine with the adjective ?Canadian,? the difficulty is compounded. It is made even more difficult when ?culture? is combined with ?identity? in such phrases as ?the cultural identity of Canadians.? (Mathews, 7) So what is our identity? What well-nigh us makes us distinctly Canadian? We care our beer and our hockey, is that it? According to sensation playwright from New putland, in that location?s much more than that. David french was born in Coley?s Point, Newfoundland in 1939, and moved to Toronto with his family when he was ripe 6 years grizzly. Even though he moved extraneous at such a young historic period, the province, town, and the people sport a signifi pott impact on his works, e surplusly in the ?Mercer? plays. ?I remember the first six years of my brio vividly? said David French in an article for the Halifax clap in 1999. He has experienced ii different cultures in his carriage beat, that of the Newfoundlander, and that of the Torontonian, and those six years smashingly influenced French?s work, specifically leave Home, Of the Fields, Lately, Salt-Water Moon, 1949 and Soldier?s Heart. At first glitter one might think that the plays revolve around Newfoundland?s nationalism during its pre-Confederation period, but on closer inspection you?ll front that they atomic number 18n?t on the dot about Newfoundland, but about Canada?s hi bosh, and much of what actually makes up the Canadian identity. Each of these plays debuted at the Tarragon theatre in Toronto, under the direction of regorgez Glassco. Leaving Home practically saved the Tarragon from fiscal ruin in its first years of business. Torontonians were drawn to the Tarragon, because everyone who jackpot call themselves Canadian befuddle something to relate to in the Mercer plays. Toronto and Newfoundland may be worlds away from each other, but family is family, war is war, bithoodia is love...wherever we are in Canada. David French not only exhibits what it is to be Canadian in all of his Mercer plays, but he in addition makes his Canadian readers appreciate existence from this wonderful country.

Canada is a comparatively young country, and has been overwhelmed with the neighbouring, and older, join States, whose national identity is said to occult us and prevent us from having our own. ?Canadian identity lives in a process of tension and argument, a conflict of opposites which oft clippings stalemate, oft are forced to submit to compromise (mostly to the United States? standards), but which ? so distant in our history ? have not ended in final resolution.? (Mathews, 1) However, our identity becomes a little clearer as French addresses several things which, although not alone specific to Canadians, can be easily identified with: geography, religion, European heritage, political issues and procedureicipation in the wars, as well as cultural traditions and determine. In Leaving Home and Of the Fields, Lately, we see both sides of Canadian identity: Jacob, the strong, surly carpenter from Newfoundland, who tacit has his accent, is old fashioned, ignorant but sensitive, stubborn and arrogant, and Ben, who is distinctly more urbanise than Jacob, more modern, and less traditional, but still stubborn and arrogant. With these two characters we are introduced to several themes of Canadian identity; changing family values, and the dichotomy between rural and urban, i.e. the differences between Newfoundland and Toronto. In the beginning of Leaving Home, it becomes quite clear that the values which Jacob grew up with are far different from the values which Ben is accustomed to. Jacob grew up in Newfoundland with his aim, Esau, whom he both feared and admired: ?When I did see him, at last, he looked so small lying there in jockey that I wondered to myself how I could?ve been so frightened of him...? (Fields, 65). Ben, however, acts quite other than towards Jacob, whom he resents for trying to force Esau?s old values onto him: ?Dad, you don?t want me to be a man, you just want to impress me with how much less of a man I am than you....I still haven?t got whisker on my chest, and I?m still not a threat to you.? (Home, 30) What must be remembered about every family in the Mercer plays is that they are working-class families, which this country was more-or-less built on, especially the fishing industry families. French shows us that the working-class family values in Canada changed immensely in 20 years, from World War II to the late 1950?s, that men were no longer adults at age such a young age (?I?m 16 now. A grown man you called me? (Jacob, Soldier, 45), and that somewhere on the line either fathers stopped putting the fear of paragon into their children, or the children became more rebellious. But despite the differences between father and son we understand that family is a strong value in Canada, both in rural and urban settings, which we?re come up to as the Mercer family moves from Newfoundland to Toronto (even though they are a rather dysfunctional): ?We?m still a family. All we got in this world is family...? (Jacob in Home, 101). ?I?ve already lost a crony Jacob, I don?t want to lose a son...I didn?t come here tonight just for your mother...? (Esau, Soldier, 65) ?We?ve never had anyt?ing to be sheepish of, my sons. We?ve been poor...but we?ve always stuck together? (Mary, Home, 20)Another important factor in French?s take on Canadian identity is the influence which Britain had on Canadians. Canada is a land built on immigration. Much of the population comes from a different country, and around the era of the Mercers, most had roots in Europe, specifically Britain. It wasn?t until later on the First World War that Canada started to acquire greater self-direction from massive Britain, and started to make its mark on the map. It is before this time that French writes about in Soldier?s Heart, when Esau discusses how his crony get out hated to be called a ?Canadian?: ?Will set him straight. ?I?m no bloody Canadian kamerad,? shows Will, ?I?m one hundred-percent British.? (Soldier, 34) This isn?t the only time that one of the characters claims to be loyal to Britain, as Jerome Mackenzie says almost those exact words decades later, when he talks about being called a Canadian by an English lover: ?I?m as British as you!? (1949, 81) Although this kind of talk can be seen as anti-Canadian, I reiterate that this is what makes up Canadian history, specifically Canada?s (and Britain?s) impact on the Great War. ?As irony would have it, Newfoundland was not a part of Canada in 1916, so therefore they were British, however one must still value the sacrifice of ancestors of present-day Canadians.? (Forbes 374) The Battles of the Somme is mentioned in almost all of the Mercer plays, both being the day that the Newfoundland Regiment was wiped out, and when Esau?s brother died in No Man?s Land: ?The Great Fuck-Up, the soldiers called it. Those that lived, that is.? (Esau, Soldier, 77) Britain also had an effect on the characters? religions, having Esau and Mary being church service of England, Jacob being Anglican, and any mention of Catholics causes quite the stir, presumably because of Britain?s Protestant dominant standing.

Of all the Mercer plays, 1949 is the most controversial when it comes to Newfoundland being British, and its resistance to joining Canada as the 10th province, but it is also the most heartwarming, with the moral that loving one?s motherland is nothing to be ashamed of. ?Just promise me one t?ing, my son. Don?t ever let people...make you ashamed of where you comes from.? (Jacob, 1949, 62) In the play, Jerome Mackenzie is the head of an anti-Confederation newspaper, and Jacob is all for Confederation.



There is a wealth of debate over whether or not it is proper to ? lament? Newfoundland by wearing black bands and hanging black flags on the houses, and Jacob finally does so when he hears that Ben was beaten up at school for being a ?Newfie.? A very jot phrase said by Jerome Mackenzie could touch the hearts of any person who loves their country: ?A country isn?t just contained within its borders...it?s contained within its people. It?s what makes us special in our own eyes, and in the eyes of the world. Losing that sense of who we are is a high price to pay...? (1949, 167) But it is Jacob who constantly reassures Jerome that Canada would be a fine browse to be a part of: ?My two never saw fresh milk or fresh fruit til they come here. Most Newfoundlanders live in the outports...[they] have the lowest standard of living of any military post in the English-speaking world...why did I bring my own family here if it wasn?t to find work and a better life for my kids?? (1949, 78)There?s something even more important about Canadian identity: our land. Throughout all of the Mercer plays, there is a superfluity of resource regarding Newfoundland and Toronto. Jacob and Mary talk a lot about Coley?s Point (or P?int, as Jacob would put it) in Salt-Water Moon, and how you have to cross the Klondike to Bay Roberts, filling their words with imagery of the beautiful scenery one might see there. as well as Jacob mentions Toronto quite often, talking about getting into a urge on Yonge Street, or going to Timothy Eaton?s blood to get her some silk stockings. Sometimes it would seem that French is attain dropping so more Canadians can relate to the story and make them feel good about where they live; Lake Ontario, Niagara Falls, tabby Street, St. John?s, Signal Hill, Conception Bay ? every place a reminder of what an interesting and beautiful country we live in. And with each of these landmarks comes something else, almost equally as important to the Canadian identity as the aforementioned: alcohol. As I?ve already mentioned, we Canadians love our alcohol, specifically our beer, and French surely knew that when he was composition the Mercer plays. Jacob and Wiff are constantly in the ?Oakwood,? their local pub in Toronto, and ?screech? plays a fairly massive part in the beginning of Leaving Home, when Jacob forces it upon Ben to prove that he isn?t man enough drink it: ?He needs more in his veins than mother?s milk, goddamn it!? (Home, 28) Even at home, there is constantly a bottle of something being passed around, and more often than not it?s whiskey (another thing Canadians are known for). I?m sure French didn?t put this into his plays to show that Canadians are all a bunch of alcoholics, but more to show that we enjoy taking part in life?s little splendours, especially ones which our land has to offer, like maple syrup, or Canadian Club.

We have strong family values in both urban and rural settings, we fought great wars alongside great allies, and, above all else, and what I?m sure French was trying to get through to his audiences, we accept a numerosity of different identities. Cultural acceptance is paramount in the mirth of a country, especially in Canada. He wrote a fin play story about the lives of a working-class Newfoundland family, who found happiness in moving to Toronto, who love each other despite their differences, who love their land, and it touches our hearts. Whatever people may say about Canadian identity, there?s no denying that David French made me feel just a bit more Canadian, and I doubt I?m alone on that one.

BibliographyConrad, Margaret R. Atlantic Canada: A Region in the Making Oxford University Press. 2001Forbes, E.R. The Atlantic Provinces in Confederation. University of Toronto Press Inc. 1993French, David. Leaving Home, Of the Fields, Lately, Salt-Water Moon, 1949, Soldier?s HeartGwyn, Richard. patriotism Without Walls: The Unbearable Lightness of Being Canadian. McClelland and Stewart publishing. 1995Mathews, Robin. Canadian Identity: major forces shaping the life of a people. Steel Rail Publishing, Ottawa. 1988.

Resnick, Philip. The European Roots of Canadian Identity. Broadview Press Ltd.. 2005Statistics Canada. http://www.statcan.gc.ca. 1995

If you want to get a full essay, order it on our website: Orderessay



If you want to get a full information about our service, visit our page: How it works.