Shadows on the Rock
Encyclopedia
Shadows on the Rock is a novel by the American
writer Willa Cather
, published in 1931. The novel covers one year of the lives of Cecile Auclair and her father Euclide, French colonists in Quebec
. Like many of Cather's books, the story is driven by detailed portraits of the characters, rather than a narrative plot.
The story opens in 1697 in Quebec
. Euclide Auclair stands on Cap Diamant
overlooking the river, watching as the last ship of the season returns to France
. He comes down to dinner with his daughter, Cécile. After dinner, Cécile feeds Blinker, a partially disabled hired man who does some of the heavy chores.
Euclide Auclair came to the Quebec colony eight years prior, in the service of Count de Frontenac
, as physician and apothecary
. His wife has died after an illness, and the duties of housekeeping have devolved upon his daughter Cécile.
The following day, Cécile and Euclide attend to Reverend Mother Juschereau, who has sprained her ankle. Her father replenishes the hospital supplies while Mother Juschereau tells Cécile a story.
Book II: Cécile and Jacques
On market day, in late October, Euclide goes to buy vegetables to store in his root cellar. A description is given of citizens growing lettuce and root vegetables in cold frames in their cellars during the long winter. He goes to the church to say a prayer and notices Jacques, the son of a dissolute woman, also saying his prayers.
Cécile goes to Governor Frontenac to ask for a pair of shoes for Jacques. He praises her for her charity and industry, and asks if she would like anything for herself. She asks to look at his bowl of glass fruit, and he reminisces about his experiences in Turkey
, where the glass was made.
Euclide sends Cécile with medicine to the convent
. Cécile runs into Jacques and sitting in the chapel, she tells him a story. They light a candle. As they leave, they meet Bishop Laval
. We learn, in a flashback, that Bishop Laval saved Jacques from freezing in a snowstorm, though Jacques does not entirely remember this.
Cécile takes Jacques to the cobbler
to be measured for shoes. She reviews the collection of wooden feet that the cobbler has made to represent the measure of the feet of his wealthy customers.
On Christmas Eve day, Cécile opens a gift that has been sent by her Aunt Clotilde in France – a crèche (nativity scene)
. Cécile and Jacques assemble the figures in a stable of pine branches. Jacques contributes a figure of a beaver to the scene.
Book III: The Long Winter
The young Bishop Saint-Vallier
calls at Auclair's shop for sugared fruit. We learn that Bishop Saint-Vallier has undone the system of education and parish management instituted over twenty years by Bishop Laval
. Euclide does not like the young bishop because of his extravagant way of life, his snubbing of the older bishop, and because he believes Saint-Vallier makes poor decisions. Euclide derides him a “less like a churchman than a courtier”.
We learn that Blinker was a torturer in the king's service in France, and that he did not wish this trade – it was forced upon him. He had come to Quebec to get away from this employment, but is haunted by the deaths of his victims.
Book IV: Pierre Charron
In June, a fur-trader named Pierre Charron calls on Euclide. He tells many stories to Euclide and Cécile, and accompanies Cécile on a visit to friends on the Île d'Orléans
.
Book V: The ships from France
With many of their fellow townsfolk, Cécile and Jacques go down to the harbor to watch as five ships arrive from France. There is a general celebration. Cécile receives packages from her two French aunts containing clothing and jewelry.
Cécile is scheduled to return to France when the ships leave at the end of summer, but is having reservations. She tells her father that she is concerned about who will look after her friend Jacques. Her father takes no notice, and she is quite upset. She goes to the church to pray, and runs into Bishop Laval, to whom she relates her troubles.
Book VI: The Dying Count
The Count learns that, despite his expectations, he is not being recalled to France. He tells Euclide that he is released from his service and may return to France, but Euclide chooses to remain. The Count tells Euclide that he is dying, and directs him to take the bowl of glass fruit to Cécile as a gift. Some time later, the Count passes away.
The two bishops resolve their differences.
Cécile does not go to France.
Epilogue
The epilogue takes place fifteen years later, in 1713. Bishop Saint-Vallier returns to New France after thirteen years of absence, including several years of captivity in England
, which has left him humbled and changed. Cécile has married Pierre Charron, and they are raising four boys.
American literature
American literature is the written or literary work produced in the area of the United States and its preceding colonies. For more specific discussions of poetry and theater, see Poetry of the United States and Theater in the United States. During its early history, America was a series of British...
writer Willa Cather
Willa Cather
Willa Seibert Cather was an American author who achieved recognition for her novels of frontier life on the Great Plains, in works such as O Pioneers!, My Ántonia, and The Song of the Lark. In 1923 she was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for One of Ours , a novel set during World War I...
, published in 1931. The novel covers one year of the lives of Cecile Auclair and her father Euclide, French colonists in Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
. Like many of Cather's books, the story is driven by detailed portraits of the characters, rather than a narrative plot.
Plot
Book I: The ApothecaryThe story opens in 1697 in Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
. Euclide Auclair stands on Cap Diamant
Cap Diamant
Cap Diamant is the official name of the cape and promontory on which Quebec City is located, formed by the confluence of a bend in the St. Lawrence River to the south and east, and the much smaller St. Charles River to the north....
overlooking the river, watching as the last ship of the season returns to France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. He comes down to dinner with his daughter, Cécile. After dinner, Cécile feeds Blinker, a partially disabled hired man who does some of the heavy chores.
Euclide Auclair came to the Quebec colony eight years prior, in the service of Count de Frontenac
Louis de Buade de Frontenac
Louis de Buade, Comte de Frontenac et de Palluau was a French soldier, courtier, and Governor General of New France from 1672 to 1682 and from 1689 to his death in 1698...
, as physician and apothecary
Apothecary
Apothecary is a historical name for a medical professional who formulates and dispenses materia medica to physicians, surgeons and patients — a role now served by a pharmacist and some caregivers....
. His wife has died after an illness, and the duties of housekeeping have devolved upon his daughter Cécile.
The following day, Cécile and Euclide attend to Reverend Mother Juschereau, who has sprained her ankle. Her father replenishes the hospital supplies while Mother Juschereau tells Cécile a story.
Book II: Cécile and Jacques
On market day, in late October, Euclide goes to buy vegetables to store in his root cellar. A description is given of citizens growing lettuce and root vegetables in cold frames in their cellars during the long winter. He goes to the church to say a prayer and notices Jacques, the son of a dissolute woman, also saying his prayers.
Cécile goes to Governor Frontenac to ask for a pair of shoes for Jacques. He praises her for her charity and industry, and asks if she would like anything for herself. She asks to look at his bowl of glass fruit, and he reminisces about his experiences in Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
, where the glass was made.
Euclide sends Cécile with medicine to the convent
Ursulines of Quebec
The Ursuline Convent of Quebec City, , founded in 1639, is the oldest institution of learning for women in North America...
. Cécile runs into Jacques and sitting in the chapel, she tells him a story. They light a candle. As they leave, they meet Bishop Laval
François de Laval
This article is in part a sermon and generally comes close to hagiography.Blessed François-Xavier de Montmorency-Laval was the first Roman Catholic bishop of Quebec and was one of the most influential men of his day. He was appointed when he was 36 years old by Pope Alexander VII. He was a member...
. We learn, in a flashback, that Bishop Laval saved Jacques from freezing in a snowstorm, though Jacques does not entirely remember this.
Cécile takes Jacques to the cobbler
Shoemaking
Shoemaking is the process of making footwear. Originally, shoes were made one at a time by hand. Traditional handicraft shoemaking has now been largely superseded in volume of shoes produced by industrial mass production of footwear, but not necessarily in quality, attention to detail, or...
to be measured for shoes. She reviews the collection of wooden feet that the cobbler has made to represent the measure of the feet of his wealthy customers.
On Christmas Eve day, Cécile opens a gift that has been sent by her Aunt Clotilde in France – a crèche (nativity scene)
Nativity scene
A nativity scene, manger scene, krippe, crèche, or crib, is a depiction of the birth of Jesus as described in the gospels of Matthew and Luke...
. Cécile and Jacques assemble the figures in a stable of pine branches. Jacques contributes a figure of a beaver to the scene.
Book III: The Long Winter
The young Bishop Saint-Vallier
Jean-Baptiste de la Croix de Chevrières de Saint-Vallier
Jean-Baptiste de la Croix de Chevrière de St. Vallier was appointed to the see of Quebec as bishop in 1685 by Louis XIV. But, Blessed Pope Innocent XI was not granting any more bulls of investiture....
calls at Auclair's shop for sugared fruit. We learn that Bishop Saint-Vallier has undone the system of education and parish management instituted over twenty years by Bishop Laval
François de Laval
This article is in part a sermon and generally comes close to hagiography.Blessed François-Xavier de Montmorency-Laval was the first Roman Catholic bishop of Quebec and was one of the most influential men of his day. He was appointed when he was 36 years old by Pope Alexander VII. He was a member...
. Euclide does not like the young bishop because of his extravagant way of life, his snubbing of the older bishop, and because he believes Saint-Vallier makes poor decisions. Euclide derides him a “less like a churchman than a courtier”.
We learn that Blinker was a torturer in the king's service in France, and that he did not wish this trade – it was forced upon him. He had come to Quebec to get away from this employment, but is haunted by the deaths of his victims.
Book IV: Pierre Charron
In June, a fur-trader named Pierre Charron calls on Euclide. He tells many stories to Euclide and Cécile, and accompanies Cécile on a visit to friends on the Île d'Orléans
Île d'Orléans
Île d'Orléans is located in the Saint Lawrence River about east of downtown Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. The island was one of the first parts of the province to be colonized by the French, and a large percentage of French Canadians can trace ancestry to early residents of the island...
.
Book V: The ships from France
With many of their fellow townsfolk, Cécile and Jacques go down to the harbor to watch as five ships arrive from France. There is a general celebration. Cécile receives packages from her two French aunts containing clothing and jewelry.
Cécile is scheduled to return to France when the ships leave at the end of summer, but is having reservations. She tells her father that she is concerned about who will look after her friend Jacques. Her father takes no notice, and she is quite upset. She goes to the church to pray, and runs into Bishop Laval, to whom she relates her troubles.
Book VI: The Dying Count
The Count learns that, despite his expectations, he is not being recalled to France. He tells Euclide that he is released from his service and may return to France, but Euclide chooses to remain. The Count tells Euclide that he is dying, and directs him to take the bowl of glass fruit to Cécile as a gift. Some time later, the Count passes away.
The two bishops resolve their differences.
Cécile does not go to France.
Epilogue
The epilogue takes place fifteen years later, in 1713. Bishop Saint-Vallier returns to New France after thirteen years of absence, including several years of captivity in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, which has left him humbled and changed. Cécile has married Pierre Charron, and they are raising four boys.
Characters
- Euclide Auclair, an apothecary
- Cécile Auclair, his daughter
- Count de FrontenacLouis de Buade de FrontenacLouis de Buade, Comte de Frontenac et de Palluau was a French soldier, courtier, and Governor General of New France from 1672 to 1682 and from 1689 to his death in 1698...
, a military officer and the governor of the Quebec colony - Blinker, a poor disabled man whom Cecile charitably feeds
- Jacques Gaux, the son of a prostitute and friend of Cecile
- Bishop LavalFrançois de LavalThis article is in part a sermon and generally comes close to hagiography.Blessed François-Xavier de Montmorency-Laval was the first Roman Catholic bishop of Quebec and was one of the most influential men of his day. He was appointed when he was 36 years old by Pope Alexander VII. He was a member...
, the elder churchman - Bishop Saint-VallierJean-Baptiste de la Croix de Chevrières de Saint-VallierJean-Baptiste de la Croix de Chevrière de St. Vallier was appointed to the see of Quebec as bishop in 1685 by Louis XIV. But, Blessed Pope Innocent XI was not granting any more bulls of investiture....
, a younger churchman with rather poor judgment - Pierre Charron, a hunter and fur trader