63 pages • 2 hours read
Geraldine BrooksCaleb's Crossing
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2011A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Summary
Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Character Analysis
Themes
Symbols & Motifs
Important Quotes
Essay Topics
Tools
BetaSymbols & Motifs Symbols & Motifs
Listening
Listening is an important skill that Bethia learns from her mother. Listening is a way to overcome some of the challenges involved in being a woman, as listening provides you with information that can empower you. For Bethia’s mother, this information takes the form of gossip. For Bethia, it takes the form of knowledge typically associated with formal learning, such as Latin, Hebrew, and so forth.
Names
Names are important in this novel. Bethia’s name, for example, means servant, and indeed she becomes a servant for a time. Caleb’s Indian name, Cheeshahteaumuck, means “hated one.” This could refer to the way in which he lives his life apart from his people, or it could simply be a way of warding off evil spirits. Bethia learns that names can have multiple meanings and that these meanings are filtered through the experience of the people who gives the names.
Untimely Death
This novel confronts us with the fact that untimely death was common in the colonies. These deaths of loved ones and friends gave shape to the lives of the survivors, as these events mark the tragic pivotal moments in one’s own life. This was a radically different time in history from our own, when a harsh winter or shipwreck could wipe out nearly an entire family.
Poetry
The poetry of Anne Bradstreet is important as a model for what Bethia believes can be accomplished if women are allowed the free pursuit of knowledge. Poetry can be considered a high cultural achievement, and in the case of the Puritans, Bradstreet’s poems help add cultural cohesiveness to a shared experience in the New World. Poetry is almost a universal cultural force. There is poetry in the speech and song of the Native Americans, and this is something that even ties them to the ancient Greek epic poet, Homer.
Related Titles
By Geraldine Brooks
