Defining the Northwest through Literature

The Northwest of North America is a region grand in scale that can be both staggeringly beautiful as well as terrifyingly harsh and unforgiving. In an attempt to define Northwest literature as unique and regionally distinct, dozens of novelists, poets, and scholars have met massive resistance and criticism from well established literary culture. In the poem “The Rose,” Theodore Roethke so eloquently states that “There are those to whom place is unimportant, \ But this place , where sea and fresh water meet, \ Is important“ (1-3, emphasis mine). Roethke emphasizes “place” in much of his work, and comparably, so does the rest of the literary contenders for Northwest literature as a regionally and culturally distinct art form. Literary emphasis on the physicality of the geographically unique Northwest environment, Roethke’s “place,” has been a main literary focus since trailblazing pioneers kept journals and documented flora and fauna which eventually lead to more traditional and contemporary literature of poetry and prose—often describing the same geography of the Northwest the early pioneers mapped—plays important and defining roles for a unique regional literary and cultural experience found only in the Northwest.

George Venn states in his essay “Continuity in Northwest Literature” that essentially any well supported argument for Northwest literature as regionally and culturally distinct “coupled with a reading of the writing about exploration and settlement, a study of Northwest poetry, and a cursory examination of Northwest literary history,” (153) forms conglomerates of “continuity” that have been initial catalysts for defining literature of the Northwest. Furthermore, Venn states “It may be that environment and the human response to it will emerge as one source of continuity in the region’s literature that cannot be easily dismissed” (153), but coupled with studies of pioneer journals, developmental history, and Northwest authors, is this really enough to define distinct characteristics of Northwest literature? This leads one to question how any form of regionally distinct literature has been defined, whether the literature is from Wales or New England. I believe I am following up on George Venn’s “Continuity in Northwest Literature” with the argument that regional literature has found its roots and a sense of self through continuity—a distinct repetition of form, setting, or theme in which literature from the region is widely known to exhibit.

Such Northwest archetypes have continually been one of closeness to the environment, the physical “place,” such as H.L. Davis’s “Kettle of Fire” in which Davis attempts to universalize a physical Northwest experience with more established cultural forms such as Greek mythology and a genuine probing of the human condition in a symbolic context. Even Ken Kesey’s “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” in which much of the tale takes place within an insane asylum repeatedly alludes to features of the Northwest, often in a rapid fire manner, such as references to the Puget Sound, Portland, Half Moon Bay, the Columbia River, and Chinook salmon fishing (191). Kesey’s connection to the Northwest is especially emphasized in Part III when Kesey portrays the patients on a fishing trip with two women from Portland. While the characters could technically be housed in any insane asylum and fished any body of water in the world, the regional feel of the work shines through nevertheless with the continual emphasis on the physical “place” of the Northwest.

Theodore Roethke’s physical “place” of the Northwest has continually been used to reflect and discovery parts of himself through the environment. Sometimes celebratory, sometimes self-loathing, Theodore Roethke’s meta-physical themes and almost spiritual connection to the Northwest can arguably define a perfect example of Northwest literature. Through emphasizing the importance of “place,” Roethke internalizes the physical environment in order to represent his own mental environment as if the Northwest is literally a physical manifestation of his consciousness.

This leads to Sherman Alexie’s “Firestorm,” where similar rhetoric and motifs found in much of Roethke’s work shine through to provide the reader with a unique emphasis on the physical “place” of the Northwest, Eastern Washington in particular, intended to creatively convey deep thought and emotion. Alexie witnessed the lifestyle and upbringings of the Spokane Indians firsthand, and in my opinion this sort of authenticity has as much—if not more legitimacy than the Cascade mountain range when it comes to defining a Northwest regional experience.

Lastly, Hazel Hall in her confinement has managed to portray the often lonely and confining living conditions found in much of the Northwest during its initial settlement and development. Through lamenting her confinement and loneliness, Hazel Hall hammers home the Northwestern motifs and archetypes of seasonal depression (mostly due to constant rain and cloud cover) and physical distance from others which many Northwesterners deal with on a daily basis.

Altogether, these novelists, poets, scholars, and artists, as well as many others I’ve failed to mention, have helped to form the beginnings for defining a distinct Northwest literary form. Through continuing the early frontiersman’s journalistic emphasis on the physical region, these Northwest writers have developed prose and poetry deriving a unique experience from their unique environment, thus blossoming a unique literary and cultural art form in the process.