Scan barcode
A review by kimberlyf
Hangsaman by Shirley Jackson
5.0
A quite peculiar novel and rather experimental on Jackson’s part.
Hangsaman follows 17-year-old Natalie Waite as she prepares to go off to college. At home, readers witness Natalie’s interactions with her parents: her prideful, domineering father and her self-pitying, lonely mother who drinks too much. At school, Natalie becomes enthralled with the life of her English professor, Arthur Langdon, and his wife, Elizabeth. At first, she is taken by them but soon realizes that they resemble her own parents far too much. Through Natalie's eyes, readers are exposed to the pompous nature of both men, contrasted with the underlying sadness and regret felt by their wives. “I keep telling you to watch out who you marry. Don’t ever go near a man like your father.”
When Natalie gets to school she is initially filled with optimism; she sees an escape from a life of domesticity and from the weighted expectations of her father but she is soon confronted with the harsh reality that even the seemingly liberated women around her are trapped in similar roles as her mother. On the day she arrives, she sits in the house—dormitory—living room observing the other girls and feels “smothered by the room and by her companions”, asking herself questions: “Is this meaningful? Is this important? Is this part of what I am to go home knowing?”. Right from the start, we see Natalie begin to spiral. In addition to her own expectations of the college experience falling short, Natalie is coping with her own recent trauma and this combination of events results in her descent into isolation and mania, as witnessed by the fact that she spends half of her time in a fantasy world that her own mind has created.
I dare say that it is slightly reminiscent of The Bell Jar in that it follows a young woman coming of age and explores the roles of women in society, painting a poignant portrait of the suffocating expectations placed upon women and the subsequent madness that it can lead to. However, the similarities end there as Hangsaman is a novel uniquely its own. It invites readers to ponder the complexities of freedom and fulfillment in a world dictated by tradition and expectation and it is truly brilliant. The more I think about the book, the more I want to go back and read it again because it feels so dense with hidden clues that require a bit of deciphering and imagination on the readers part.
Fun fact: when Hangsaman sold in 1950, Jackson received a $3,000 advance (she was hoping for $5,000) which is equivalent to around $38,000 today.
Hangsaman follows 17-year-old Natalie Waite as she prepares to go off to college. At home, readers witness Natalie’s interactions with her parents: her prideful, domineering father and her self-pitying, lonely mother who drinks too much. At school, Natalie becomes enthralled with the life of her English professor, Arthur Langdon, and his wife, Elizabeth. At first, she is taken by them but soon realizes that they resemble her own parents far too much. Through Natalie's eyes, readers are exposed to the pompous nature of both men, contrasted with the underlying sadness and regret felt by their wives. “I keep telling you to watch out who you marry. Don’t ever go near a man like your father.”
When Natalie gets to school she is initially filled with optimism; she sees an escape from a life of domesticity and from the weighted expectations of her father but she is soon confronted with the harsh reality that even the seemingly liberated women around her are trapped in similar roles as her mother. On the day she arrives, she sits in the house—dormitory—living room observing the other girls and feels “smothered by the room and by her companions”, asking herself questions: “Is this meaningful? Is this important? Is this part of what I am to go home knowing?”. Right from the start, we see Natalie begin to spiral. In addition to her own expectations of the college experience falling short, Natalie is coping with her own recent trauma and this combination of events results in her descent into isolation and mania, as witnessed by the fact that she spends half of her time in a fantasy world that her own mind has created.
I dare say that it is slightly reminiscent of The Bell Jar in that it follows a young woman coming of age and explores the roles of women in society, painting a poignant portrait of the suffocating expectations placed upon women and the subsequent madness that it can lead to. However, the similarities end there as Hangsaman is a novel uniquely its own. It invites readers to ponder the complexities of freedom and fulfillment in a world dictated by tradition and expectation and it is truly brilliant. The more I think about the book, the more I want to go back and read it again because it feels so dense with hidden clues that require a bit of deciphering and imagination on the readers part.
Fun fact: when Hangsaman sold in 1950, Jackson received a $3,000 advance (she was hoping for $5,000) which is equivalent to around $38,000 today.