Jean Rivard - University of British Columbia

Heroines
upon Freud's theories on dreams and wish fulfillment, terms "egoistic and
ambitious wishes" (346). In master narratives, the hero knows that he will
be exposed to danger, undergo perilous adventure, but eventually emerge
triumphant. Because history and literature are written by winners, and war
narratives are "heroic," not "enemic" tales (Huston 273), he feels invincible:
"'Nothing can happen to me'" (Miller 346). Should the young man not survive
the conflict, he dies a hero "in action," making a sacrifice in the service
of his country, making history. In answering the call to arms, he cannot
lose; he faces what might be termed a positive Catch-22. But war absents
women, renders them unimportant in the face of mighty concepts and the
male anguish of battles. And at the time of the Great War, love and marriage
are women's prime destinies, so adolescents like Rilla can have only
"erotic wishes" (Miller 364). When her sweetheart vanishes, the message to
Rilla is clear: "'Nothing can happen to me'" (Miller 346). Rilla suffers from
what Sharon O'Brien terms "combat envy" (192), but not for long.
Anything can, and does, happen to Canadian women in the wartime climate,
for the absence of men brings about positive results. While none of
the texts expresses the kind of "invigorating sense of revolution, release,
reunion, and re-vision" which Sandra Gilbert identifies in her study of
British and American Great War women writers (2οι), 4 it could be argued
that Canadians writers are war profiteers, seizing the chaos occasioned by
war to vanquish women's subordinate status. In their texts, they insist upon
bringing an end to the image of women as care-givers and nurturers, and
forcefully reiterate that women deserve a place in society alongside men,
not as their subalterns. Writers express their anger that women have been
denied access to public and political realms, caution that they can no longer
afford to be onlookers in a man's world, and beseech their characters to make
their presence felt during the war. With women's voices and values part of a
"new world order," they argue, Canada will be a better place for all. 5
Although it sounds callous, in The Next of Kin and other texts, there is a
feeling of jubilation in the air, a sensation akin to the cliché, "While the cat's
away, the mice will play." One of McClung's characters captures this statement,
stating,
"I was like the mouse who timidly tiptoed out to the saucer of brandy, and, taking
a sip, went more boldly back, then came again with considerable swagger; and at
last took a good drink and then strutted up and down saying, 'Bring on your old
black cat!'" (191)
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