Criticism+and+Interpretation

//Goldengrove//​ is an extremely emotionally involved novel that one can argue may belong in the young adult section of the library -- after all, Nico is easy to relate to for many adolescents. She hates her body and the way she looks, feels restricted by her elders, is searching for answers about who she is and oftentimes feels alienated. Readers have highlighted the strongest themes of the novel to be: coming-of-age/growing up, grief and acceptance, family strength/weakness, predetermined fate, and identity -- and these themes should be apparent to the adolescent readers in your classroom. But an even wider range of interpreatation can blossom if critical theory is introduced to students. Here are a few different readings of the book:

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**Gender Perspective** -Throughout //Goldengrove//, close reading of the repeated passages in which Aaron and Nico are physically involved show that Aaron has considerably more control than Nico does! He makes the first move and she goes along with it. He continuously decides where they go, when, and keeps Nico waiting by the phone constantly. In their final physical exchange, Nico is ready to let him take her virginity without even putting up a fight. As the woman, she is completely submissive. What does that say about men and women in this book? Or about the world's view of men and women?

-Margaret and Nico's father add to the gender perspective. Nico repeatedly reminds us that her father is incredibly good-looking. In fact, he's so handsome that every woman who enters the bookstore wants to take him home -- especially when he's grieving. Do we ever get a description of the mother? No. For the reader, she's sort of plain and average looking -- her husband could have had any woman he wanted but "settled" for her.

​ **Archetypal Perspective** -Nico's archetype is that of a great transformation. It can also be seen as a death and rebirth. After Margaret's tragic demise, Nico begins her transformation. She loses weight, cuts her hair, dresses in her sister's clothing, wears her perfume and even begins exploring sex -- first-hand and through investigation in her father's bookstore. At one point she looks in the mirror and no longer even sees Nico -- Aaron doesn't see Nico, either. The old Nico is dead; she would never have lied to her parents, snuck into her house against her parent's wishes, or confronted her father's supposed lover the way she did. By the end of the novel, Nico is interpreting the world around her //on her own//, no longer wishing she had Margaret around to do it for her. A great activity for students to do here would be to have students select quotes from the "old" Nico and the "new" Nico and act them out in front of the class to show her radical transformation by the end of the book.



-Ask students why excatly the book is titled //Goldengrove//. What did it mean to Nico? Certainly the bookstore served as an escape in some respects: Nico could read about her medical issues, research sex and daydream. But it was a stunning constant reminder of her family's loss and of her father's grief and supposed affair. The family even goes as far as to sell the bookstore -- why? Deconstruction will allow any and all meanings to be considered. -What about Nico's apparent "transformation?" She feels she is becoming Margaret and losing her own identity -- but is she really? Margaret was a free spirirt, she smoked cigarettes despite her heart condition, was incredibly artisitic and had a complete Laissez-faire view of the world. Does that sound like Nico, even after her rebirth? -What does the Great Disappointment mean? What does it mean for Nico? For her father? Is it something larger for her or just something stupid her dad wants to research?
 * Deconstruction Perspective **



-As we said, Nico is an easy-to-relate-to character for young adults that read this novel. Because of that //Goldengrove// lends itself to the reader response perspective. Adolescence can be a tough time period -- certainly it is for Nico. Students can relate Nico's plight to their own lives and the world around them as well as other works they've read, movies they've seen, TV shows they follow or music they are fans of. As long as they can point to a word or phrase in the text that connects to their personal response, it can work.
 * Reader Response Perspective **