Toni Jordan's Nine Days is one of the more enjoyable texts on the VCE English text list. Told from the perspective of a cast of nine characters, one's lack of control and their helplessness against fate is examined as they face tragedy and hardships that mould them and their outlook on the world. This piece, an excerpt from The English Lab's Nine Days Study Companion (available on the resources page), looks at what Jordan is saying in relation to this idea and how she conveys this message.
By providing readers with an intimate view of one day in each character’s life, Jordan allows us to sympathise and understand each existence and the manner in which they all look to find their way in the world. When we consider the days as a collection, we are given a different perspective – a world where people’s lives are interconnected and individuals only have so much control of how their lives pan out.
Whilst there are examples of characters taking control of their destinies, there is also a sense of a lack of control and how different characters must deal with this. Kip begins his day by considering that “maybe [it] will turn out alright” (p6), before understanding in the afternoon that “…the day has finally declared itself” (p21) as he encounters the local bullies Mac and Cray. Kip’s day can be seen as a metaphor for the experience of the character’s lives, where one has hopes for the future and optimism about things turning out, before being witness to the eventual resulting consequences. This is highlighted further through Connie’s experience as she expresses her lack of control over her life by stating “lord only knows what will happen”, before tragically deciding that “I can hardly believe my good fortune. Everything will be all right.” (p294) Knowing already of Connie’s fate, and the role of her mother and society’s limitations in this fate, readers are able to empathise with the lack of control that she has over life and the hopelessness against fate that we as people experience.
Time and consequence makes a fool of many characters including Kip, who confidently states that “the last thing” he’d do “is let her (Annabel) walk in lanes and talk to the likes of me.” (p20) Through this ironic claim, Jordan not only exposes the lack of control over our future, but also how attitudes and understanding, of both the individual and a society, change over time.
Kip’s daughters experience this same lack of control, but in different ways. Charlotte through her anger and inability to help the bird caught in fishing line and Stanzi through her observation that “there’s a roundness in my cheeks and throat that marks my future” (p62) as she looks upon a photograph from the past. These examples bring out a question as to the level of control that one may have over the world around them or how they are able to take control of their destiny in life. The experience of Stanzi throughout time adds further scope to this idea as she makes a significant change in the way she leads her life.
Bringing a sense of pessimism and resignation to the struggle against fate and circumstance, Jean’s experience is one of loss and despair. Following Tom’s death, Jean’s view of the world becomes deeply pessimistic and hopeless. Her anxiety about further trouble for her family is outlined as she admits that “some days I feel disaster lurking around this family the way soot floats down from the factories over all of Richmond, respectable or not.” (p228) This speaks of her struggle against the tides of fate she desperately aims to swim against by ensuring that her family is “respectable”. Jean cannot concede that others would want to help her in the wake of Tom’s death, believing that the offers of employment for Connie are merely things said by people at funerals as “it makes them feel alive, like they can still do things.” (p36) Through this, Jordan outlines the depth of Jean’s hopelessness and gives the reader further understanding towards why Jean clings to ‘respectability’ as an ideal that her family must live up to.
Further to the hopelessness against fate, Jordan also outlines how it is the major events of one’s life that shapes their existence. The consequences of these events are felt by characters as they learn to cope with the changed world in which they live. Kip’s anger and frustration over not saying goodbye to his father on the last day of his life is vivid, with Kip unable to forgive himself for being so engaged in reading. This anger is an element of his disengagement with school and his decision to support the family through working. As it is bluntly described, Kip moves “straight from a cushy scholarship at St Mick’s, suit and tie and pious expression, to his current position at the rear end of a horse” (p22) as a result of his reaction to Tom’s death. Seen also through Annabel’s father’s alcoholism, Jordan posits that the consequences of major events are something that people must find a way to accept and cope with, with different characters having varying levels of success in their ability to do so.
If we consider Jordan’s ideas around a lack of control against fate, it is also worth considering what or whom does have control. Connie and Jack’s experiences outline how one can be limited and controlled by tangible forces such as their parents and family, but also intangible forces such as class and gender expectations.
Friction between Connie and Jean is present throughout the novel, which leads to Connie’s chapter being largely focused on her finding a sense of control in her desire to be with Jack and the empowerment she feels as she realises “I’m the one kissing him.” (p292) Interestingly, Connie’s ability to take control over her own decisions comes as a result of her giving in to her sexual desire to be with Jack as she admits “I cannot help it. There is simply nothing else that can be done.” (p286) Jack is also described as being “helpless” before Connie in their encounter and Jordan places the two of them hidden in the stables in the middle of the night – the only place in which they can act without the overbearing presence of either of their mothers.
Perhaps a part of what attracts the two of them to each other is their understanding of their respective powerlessness within society. They are both depicted as being unable to sleep at night – a time where they can be truly be alone and beholden to nobody else. As Connie jokingly remarks “enlisted of your own free will, did you?” (p282), Jordan outlines the larger forces (social/gender expectations) that have led to Jack heading off to fight in the war. Tragically, Connie also falls victim to these forces as she is pressured into aborting her baby. Jordan also leads readers to consider how these social expectations are enforced as Jean notes how Connie looks up with “those big eyes trusting me to do right by her “ (p231). Both Connie and Jack are victims of the expectations of the society they inhabit. That they both pay with their lives outlines the strength of such forces and adds further scope to the question as to how much control one really has over their life.
The English Lab has produced many videos (including sample paragraphs and chapter analysis) for this text on its YouTube Channel.
For further assistance with this text, our Nine Days Study Companion (from which this post is an excerpt) contains pages of in-depth analysis, sample paragraphs and curated evidence to help you improve your ability to know and analyse this text in greater depth and detail!
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