This was the first of three novels I had to read this past semester for my popular Canadian literature class (I didn't post it immediately for fears of the work I handed in getting dinged for plagiarism and then having to explain to my prof that this is in fact my blog yadayadayada). I found that Terry Fallis did an excellent job in his debut novel The Best Laid Plans. I can see why it was the winner of Canada Reads 2011. Follows are the reading journal entries and opinion paper I wrote for the class. Hopefully you find the opinion paper informative and if you are one of the many in the age 18-24 demographic who does not vote maybe reading this book is a good way for you to start understanding politics and spur you on to take advantage of your democratic rights!
The Best Laid Plans – Terry Fallis (p ix-159)
It is refreshing reading a humourous novel. I often find myself drawn to dystopias or fantastical adventure novels. I love how Fallis is able to elicit fits of giggles and derisive snorts from me as I read. I really enjoyed the characters so far, particularly Angus and Muriel. Angus’ diary entries at the end of each chapter sometimes bring me to tears, I can really feel the love he had for his wife even as a fictional character. One social criticism I noticed was how as Canadians we tend to spend more time knocking down our political leaders than praising them. I remember discussing that topic heavily in history class in high school and how everyone talks about Sir John A’s drinking problem rather than the miracle of confederation and a trans-Canada railroad he established. Another criticism is how Canadians feel they are portrayed by Americans, when Daniel is watching campaign coverage and flips to Fox news you see this in the misspelt names etc. I can relate directly to this text because I live with two engineers, my brother and dad, who are as disinterested in English as the students Daniel teaches in the book. Funnily enough my brother has taken E for E at U of O, or rather technical report writing, and indeed very few students attended class. I have been in classes with engineers and the question “Will this be on the exam?” was definitely uttered more than once a lecture. I also find it engaging to read a book set in the city I was born and raised in. Being able to picture all of the settings in the novel enhances the story.
The Best Laid Plans – Terry Fallis (p161-312)
Part two was just as hilarious and enjoyable to read as part one. I especially love the integrity that Angus possesses while in office which is seldom associated with politicians. My favourite scene of this half of the novel is when Angus bursts into the House of Commons in his orange parka looking like an “Arctic explorer”. I thought that Angus riding his hovercraft along the river to Parliament Hill was the perfect way for him to overcome the snow closed streets of the city and arrive in time to overthrow the minority government. One part of Canadian identity that Terry Fallis touches on in this half of the novel is that of stormy winters, something we’re known for up here in the great white north. It is not uncommon for cities (big and small) across the country to shutdown on account of heavy snowfall. This also touches on another theme, the one of survival of the wilderness, which often occurs in Canadian literature. Surviving Canadian winters is somewhat of a feat in itself, made much easier today by technological advances such as snow blowers, snow mobiles, and central heating. Although, as you can see in Fallis’ story, sometimes Mother Nature rules supreme and forces us to go back to more primitive means such as when some of the MPs are forced to cross-country ski or snowshoe to Parliament. While reading about the snow storm I was reminded of the ice storm of 1998 that shutdown Ottawa, I was eight-years-old and living in Munster at the time. We ended up without power for three weeks, which I thought was an excellent adventure since we had to use the fireplace and camp stove for heating and cooking and trek into Stittsville to get hot water at the fire station. After reading The Best Laid Plans I would definitely recommend it to anyone and everyone and am looking forward to reading its sequel!
The Best Laid Plans – by Terry Fallis – Opinion Paper
They say “write what you know” and that is exactly what Terry Fallis has done. His debut novel, The Best Laid Plans, paints a wonderful political satire even tipping its hat to his engineering background. Political satire is extremely effective at parading facts in a manner that is most often humorous and that the average person can understand, putting things into laymen’s terms. Through this essay I will explore statistics of Canadian youth voter turnout and show the hidden gems amongst Fallis’ political satire which can be used to educate.
In the past 20 years Canada has seen a decline in voter turnout (Ménard, 2010) particularly in the youth demographic. In the 2008 Federal General Election it was estimated 37.4% of the eligible electoral population between the ages of 18-24 voted (Barnes, 2010) . With the total voter turnout being 58.8%, which is problematic in itself, you can see that the youth demographic falls well below the norm. One might say this is an epidemic, placing Canada’s democratic system at risk. Traditionally people were seen to participate more in elections as they grew older, this is referred to as the “life cycle effect” (Barnes, 2010) . Unfortunately this is no longer the case and “generation replacement” (Barnes, 2010) where the younger generation replaces an older generation of voters is poised to continue the decline of voter turnout.
Many youth do not vote simply because they do not feel they know enough about the politicians to make an educated choice. Not only do they not know enough about the politicians, but they generally do not fully understand the functions of the political system that runs Canada. (Ménard, 2010) Ignorance breeds ignorance. And lack of initiative to learn exacerbates this problem. Use of political satire in literature and other forms of media can change this, educating youths on the political system in Canada and empowering them to vote. A few other problems faced by young voters is lack of interest in political issues and lack of trust of the system, believing that their vote cannot make a difference.
In The Best Laid Plans there are a couple of youths who do not fit the stereotypical mold: Pete1 and Pete2, whose facades would lead you to assume they are rebels. As described by Daniel Pete1 “wore Stuart tartan stretch pants, a black Punk Lives! T-shirt, and two tone Doc Marten stompers. A Ramones ball cap covered what turned out to be a hairless scalp. Sizeable black skull studs pierced both ear lobes.” (Fallis, 2007, p 48) And Pete 2 “sported black and pink striped hair, coiffed, it appeared, with a weed-whacker.” (Fallis, 2007, p 48) Clearly not your average Liberal canvassers, yet they surprise Daniel by offering their services to work on Angus’ campaign. Reading about characters that are young, unconventional, and excited about politics may spur readers of the same age group to get involved in politics or simply become more informed.
The most straightforward way that Fallis uses to teach readers about the political system in Canada is when Angus is elected MP of Cumberland-Prescott and he himself is learning the system. Angus is given the Standing Orders by the Clerk of the House of Commons which is essentially his handbook to all procedures going on at Parliament. Daniel also provides a lot of information for Angus, such as the allocation of his budget as an MP towards his salary and that of his staff, his housing allowance, the rental of a constituency office, and posting of a “householder” (Fallis, 2007, p 172-173); what the schedule of an MP looks like including caucus meetings (when part of the opposition), constituency days, and days sitting in the House of Commons.
Fallis is able to use the whole first half of the novel to educate readers on the first-past-the-post system used in elections in Canada:
CTV CAMERON WATCH (1:45 AM EST)
(All polls reporting)
Eric Cameron (PC) 2,992
Angust McLintock (Lib)* 3,703
Jane Nankovich (NDP) 3,639
Spoiled Ballots 14,662
*Declared winner at 10:55 PM (Fallis, 2007, p 158)
Illustrating that in this system an absolute majority is not needed to win, just more votes than other candidates. He also evolves on the campaigning process with a particularly long list of things that Angus wishes not to participate in such as media interviews, door-to-door canvassing, candidate debates, lawn signs, and campaign Web sites (Fallis, 2007, p 23-24). There are a lot of components to a successful campaign in a federal political race and Fallis touches on the most important of them while keeping the mood light and humorous.
Drawing parallels is another way that Fallis is able to make politics more relatable for the reader. For people with knowledge of science or engineering Angus makes many comparisons between them and politics. In particular, he uses Newton’s laws of motion beautifully: “Newton’s first law says that an object at rest or in motion will remain in that state unless acted upon by another force. In politics if a party is at rest – stalled in the polls as it were – it will remain there unless it, or some other force, does somethin’ to change its fortunes.” (Fallis, 2007, p 232) And materials-science: “I’ve already identified several Ministers the PM clearly did not load test adequately before appointin’ them.” (Fallis, 2007, 233)
References
Barnes, A. (2010, April 7). Youth Voter Turnout in Canada: 1. Trends and Issues. Retrieved from Parliament of Canada Web Site: http://www.parl.gc.ca/Content/LOP/ResearchPublications/2010-19-e.htm
Fallis, T. (2007). The Best Laid Plans. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart.
Ménard, M. (2010, April 20). Youth Voter Turnout in Canada: 2. Reasons for the Decline and Efforts to Increase Participation. Retrieved from Parliament of Canada Web Site: http://www.parl.gc.ca/Content/LOP/ResearchPublications/2010-21-e.htm
Terry Fallis
No comments:
Post a Comment