Jorinda and Jorindel by Mavis Gallant
"Jorinda and Jorindel" by Mavis Gallant is a poignant story that explores the loss of childhood innocence through the experiences of Irmgard, a privileged young girl. Set during a summer at a lake, Irmgard grapples with her changing perceptions of the adult world, influenced by her self-absorbed parents and her cousin, Bradley. As she navigates her relationships, particularly with Freddy, a poor French Canadian orphan, Irmgard's initial innocence begins to wane. The narrative reflects the complexity of childhood friendships, particularly as Irmgard slowly drifts away from her connection with Freddy when Bradley arrives.
Freddy, who has been raised in an orphanage and lacks basic education, is initially enchanted by Irmgard but finds himself sidelined and ultimately forgotten. The story contrasts the carefree nature of childhood with the harsh realities imposed by class and social expectations. The theme of transformation is central, drawing parallels to the Grimms' fairy tale, where characters are turned into birds by a witch, symbolizing lost potential and the impact of societal norms. As Irmgard navigates her summer, she faces the unsettling realization of how her world is shaped by both privilege and the consequences of exclusion, leaving readers to reflect on the fragility of childhood bonds.
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Jorinda and Jorindel by Mavis Gallant
First published: 1959
Type of plot: Psychological
Time of work: The early twentieth century, probably the 1920's
Locale: A lake not far from Montreal, Canada
Principal Characters:
Irmgard , the protagonist, a seven-year-old girlFreddy (Alfred Marcel Dufresne) , a poor French Canadian orphan boyBradley , Irmgard's cousin from Boston, who is ten years oldMrs. Bloodworth , a drunken wedding guestGermaine , Irmgard's French Canadian nursemaidMrs. Queen , the English cook
The Story
In the course of a summer at the lake, Irmgard, a rather spoiled child of an upper-middle-class Canadian family, loses some of the innocence and charm of early childhood. In doing so she becomes, regrettably, more like her smug parents and her rather unpleasant cousin Bradley.
Like most children, Irmgard is a secret observer of adult life. Her parents have parties that sometimes drag on into the next day. The most curious leftover guest at a recent wedding party was a drunken woman named Mrs. Bloodworth, who spent a noisy night practicing the Charleston and possibly getting incorporated into the little girl's dream as a witch—that is, the witch that in the dream captured Jorinda and reached out to turn Jorindel into a bird.
The child is a bit confused in her folklore because in the Grimms' fairy tale, it is Jorinda, the girl, who is turned into a bird, while Jorindel, the boy, stands paralyzed as a stone. When her cousin Bradley, who visits all during August, goes back to Boston, he is said to have "fallen out of summer like a stone." At the beginning of the story, it is Bradley whom she identifies with the Jorindel of her dream. By the end of the story, however, she has decided that it was probably her local friend Freddy who was spirited away by the wicked witch of the forest.
Freddy is a poor French Canadian orphan who works on his uncle's farm for food and shelter. He was reared in an orphanage until age seven, when he was considered old enough to work. He was never taught to read or write or even to eat politely, but he has visions of the Virgin Mary. Freddy is quite entranced with Irmgard, who taught him to swim and knows intuitively what he is thinking.
When Bradley, the ten-year-old cousin, shows up for a visit, all that is changed. The inarticulate Freddy stands on the sidelines waiting for an invitation to join the two children. When Bradley asks who he is, Irmgard disclaims knowing him, not once but three times.
Freddy disappears and Irmgard does not even think about him until Bradley leaves almost a month later. Bradley has proved to be a rather unsatisfactory companion because he is very self-centered and contemptuous of girls. He is big, healthy, and stubborn, however, quite like Irmgard herself in that regard, and claims officiously that he is going to be a mechanical and electrical engineer when he grows up. Irmgard has only aspired to be a veterinarian or a nun. By comparison to the pair of them, Freddy looks old, undersized, and undernourished.
When Irmgard at last remembers Freddy again and goes to find him, the rapport they once knew is gone. She no longer knows what he is thinking, and he has discovered that he can live without her. He agrees to go swimming with her, not at her place but at the dirty public beach where she has been forbidden to go. Because they have no swimming suits, he swims naked and she with bloomers on.
Mrs. Queen, the cook, says that Freddy will be sent back to the orphan asylum. Irmgard remembers her dream, however, and says that Freddy was sent on an errand into the forest and got lost. After all, there is a witch there who changes children into birds.
Bibliography
Canadian Fiction Magazine 28 (1978). Special issue on Mavis Gallant.
Essays in Canadian Writing 42 (Winter, 1990). Special issue on Mavis Gallant.
Gadpaille, Michelle. "Mavis Gallant." In The Canadian Short Story. New York: Oxford University Press, 1988.
Grant, Judith Skleton. "Mavis Gallant." In Canadian Writers and Their Works, edited by Robert Lecker, Jack David, and Ellen Quigley. Toronto: ECW Press, 1989.
Keith, William John. "Mavis Gallant." In A Sense of Style: Studies in the Art of Fiction in English-Speaking Canada. Toronto: ECW Press, 1988.
Kulyk Keefer, Janice. Reading Mavis Gallant. Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1989.
Schaub, Danielle. Mavis Gallant. New York: Twayne, 1998.
Simmons, Diane. "Remittance Men: Exile and Identity in the Short Stories of Mavis Gallant." In Canadian Women Writing Fiction, edited by Mickey Pearlman. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 1993.
Smythe, Karen. Gallant, Munro, and the Poetics of Elegy. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 1992.