Summer Gone: A Canadian Paternal Masterpiece

In the novel, Summer Gone, by David Macfarlane, the predominant theme of lost innocence is strongly supported through the main character, Bay Newling. Having been a child borne of two obstructive parents, a father of an immature child, and a husband in a doomed marriage, Bay's very existence marked him almost as a poster boy for this reoccurring theme. Yet, despite the troubling characteristics that inhibited Bay from excelling during his life, Macfarlane is able to show through the use of vibrant imagery and evocative metaphors, that Bay was never unable to free himself from the disastrous world in which he had been presented.

This point can be made clearly through the major theme of lost innocence, which by itself, was made possible due to three painful defining aspects of Bay's reality. First, because of his failure to develop a structured childhood, Bay became blind to the fundamental facts of life, which consequently clouded his perception. The second aspect of Bay's life is the lack of attention and support that he received from his parents when younger, which could arguably have been the prevailing reason as to why Bay's heart gradually became hardened with contempt, and as a result, might have been the dominant factor in steering Bay away from the gentle and innocent persona that he had been born with. Lastly, through a disturbing adulthood, the results of having had his life shaped by these previous two factors can clearly be seen. It was the contributions of these three defining aspects of his life that led Bay to slowly become withered by his seemingly inescapable and painful reality, and which restricted him from achieving a fulfilling life. Tragically however, these aspects of his life contributed largely to Bay's early death, which, sadly came at a time when he had finally regained his old childhood innocence.

As a child unknowingly growing up without the fundamental support required to form a structured and secure childhood, Bay's life quickly adapted itself so that it required only a bare minimum of supports. His curiosity towards such areas of a normal child's growth and development like: vacationing, camping and adventuring, became steadily dismissed due to a lack of personal experience. By the time he was ten, Bay had become so adept at dismissing any signs of curiosity towards new subjects, that whenever an interest towards something new surfaced, he was able to subconsciously repel it. Unfortunately, through years of conditioning, Bay became unaware of this defense mechanism, and since there wasn't any pressure by his parents to pursue his bursting curious impulses, he remained this way for many years. Only when his parents were forced to send him away on a fourteen-day summer camp, Bay began to put his young life into perspective. The Northern Ontario camp, which was one of the most defining experiences of Bay's entire life, had filled the 12-year-old with a new found sense of wonder--a feeling that he had long forgotten. Here, Bay was free to live in a strange new world filled with opportunities, which allowed him to open up his barricaded mind, and explore new thoughts and concepts. With the assistance of the compassionate camp counselor, Peter Larkin, Bay soon began to embrace all of which the camp offered. The largest imprint that his camp experience left on him was his cigarette smoking addiction. The following narrative quotation showcases of Bay's deep-rooted love of cigarettes, and was stated during one of Bay's flashbacks towards the summer camp.

The real smoker can foresee that the storms of coughing and nausea will disappear quickly enough, and that, with time, each inhalation will hold that silver light in place, passing its placid glow from nerve ending to nerve ending, like tag, like the serial impulses of accumulating memory: there will be girls lying in the sun, the scratch of a wooden match, the smell of coal oil, the curl of burning paper, the acridity of autumn leaves, the rumble of a voice. (Summer Gone, 233)

With this quotation, the author reveals the reminiscing effects that cigarettes had on Bay, as they were able to remind him of past experiences of summer and camp. By smoking each cigarette, Bay became temporarily whisked away within certain periods of his 'accumulating memory', which, for the most part, were memories of times he had at camp, such as: 'girls lying in the sun' and the 'smell of coal oil'. It was only through smoking that Bay was able to remind himself of an innocent period of his life, and towards a time when his outlook on life wasn't consumed by indignation and disgust. It was a habit passed down to him by Peter Larkin, portrayed by Bay as being perfect. This portrayal of Larkin is effectively illustrated throughout the following narrative quotation, which was stated regarding Bay's reminiscing of Larkin's brilliant canoe work.

Even a good solo canoeist cannot help but steer a course that is, however skillfully controlled, a series of over-reaches and corrections on a bearing. But Peter Larkin was much more than a good canoeist. He was able to chart an unflickering, perfectly straight line across the water: a stroke that was neither pull nor pry. There was never a waver. There was never so much as a tremble in his bow. (Summer Gone, 172)

By telling of the perfection of Larkin's 'unflickering' canoe work, Macfarlane effectively symbolizes Larkin as the epitome of childhood perfection. Larkin was in possession of the knowledge of how to maintain a fulfilling life, and was able to balance his leisure-time with work, through the use of a perfect "stroke that was neither pull nor pry." As Bay watched in awe of Larkin's performances, he became filled with strong feelings of jealousy and self-disgust, as he realized that he had been restricted to achieve such similarities.

Secondly, due to the absence of support that he tried desperately to receive from his parents, Bay became held back from excelling towards his full potential, and subsequently, due to his despondence, he lost his sense of innocence. Throughout the novel, there were many instances when Bay's parents had overlooked the painfully obvious times when Bay required nurturing. As a young boy who once had many mighty admirations of the future, Bay's early life was similar to that of any other. Yet, due to the lack of a broad and expansive teaching regarding a wide variety of subjects, such as: music, literature and sports, Bay's parents had presented him with a very bleak understanding of the world. It was due to this lack of knowledge that Bay became unaware on how to immerse himself within new social surroundings, as he was unable to connect with