Who Has Seen the Wind by W. O. Mitchell
"Who Has Seen the Wind" by W. O. Mitchell is a novel that explores the coming-of-age journey of Brian O'Connal, a small-town boy navigating the complexities of life from ages four to twelve. As Brian seeks to understand the chaotic nature of human experience, he grapples with profound themes such as the inevitability of death and the search for deeper meaning in his world. The novel's title symbolizes the unseen forces that influence Brian's life, much like the wind that he cannot directly perceive but feels profoundly.
Structured chronologically, the narrative follows Brian's maturation as he learns to cope with loss, including the death of loved ones and the cruelty of others, while also confronting social hypocrisy in his community. Through various encounters with townsfolk, Brian gains insights into life's imperfections and the importance of imagination. The prairie landscape serves as a backdrop for his reflections, representing solace and continuity as Brian's understanding evolves.
Mitchell's work is recognized for its ability to combine childlike innocence with deep social commentary, drawing comparisons to Mark Twain's storytelling style. While some characters may lean toward stereotypes, the novel effectively captures the universal struggles of youth, making it relatable to both young and adult readers. Ultimately, Brian's journey culminates in a transcendent realization of life's interconnectedness, as he learns that the essence of existence, like the wind, manifests in unseen yet palpable ways.
Who Has Seen the Wind by W. O. Mitchell
First published: 1947
Type of work: Novel of initiation
Time of work: The 1930’s, during the Depression
Locale: A small Saskatchewan town in the prairies
Principal Characters:
Brian O’Connal , the protagonist, whose maturation is the central focus of the novelGerald O’Connal , Brian’s father, a druggistSean O’Connal , Brian’s farmer uncle, a warmhearted blasphemerMrs. O’Connal , Brian’s grandmotherMrs. Abercrombie , a hypocriteYoung Ben , a friend of Brian, a boy who intuits the power of natureMr. Powelly , a zealotJohn Hewlett Hislop , a sensitive and tolerant ministerMr. Digby , the public school principalMilt Palmer , the philosophical shoemaker, who transmutes metaphysics into everyday language
The Novel
Who Has Seen the Wind, like Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn (1884) or William Golding’s Lord of the Flies (1954), is a children’s book written for adults. The novel traces Brian O’Connal’s quest for knowledge, tracing his development from the age of four to the age of twelve. He is a pleasant and likable small-town boy who searches for the order, pattern, and significance underlying the chaos of human experience. The novel is called Who Has Seen the Wind to suggest that Brian is moved by a force that he cannot see directly. The rare and moving spiritual joy that he has sometimes felt, like the wind on his neck and arms, tells him that there is some “force” at work in his world, although he cannot perceive it directly.
The novel is structured chronologically, and the reader follows Brian’s growth and maturation. Brian recognizes that death is ever present and inevitable. As he matures, scenes of death become increasingly significant for him. He gradually learns to accept death’s presence in his world. As he matures, he learns to cope with the fact that his dog Jappy is killed, that a gopher can be cruelly tortured by boys, that his friend Fat must accept the loss of his rabbits, that his father and grandmother can and do die.
The realization that death is inevitable is, however, only one of the concerns of this book. Brian, not understanding the force that gives him sudden elation even in the face of death, continues to try to learn the ways of the world. He learns to accept life’s imperfections, particularly social hypocrisy. He must, for example, learn to deal with the intolerance represented by Mrs. Abercrombie. Despite the obvious weaknesses and flaws of his society (even Mr. Powelly is more a fanatic zealot than a believer), Brian continually yearns to understand what underlies his world. From the Ben family, particularly young Ben, he learns that a sense of continuity and life force is possible. From the school principal, Mr. Digby, he learns that he should not be deceived by the appearances of a small town: A larger world than the one he knows is possible to him through the gift of the imagination. From Milt Palmer, the philosophical shoemaker, he learns wisdom.
By the end of the book, Brian has gained knowledge and developed his imagination. He now receives the insight that makes his quest a success. The closing passage of the novel suggests that the prairie offers solitude and renewal. The wind heading over the prairies, in particular, suggests to him that although the force and vitality of life may never be seen directly, its effects are clear. Life and death are merely the outer forms of the energy which, like the wind, is ever present. The prairie, the boy finally understands, represents his solace and consolation, for at its horizon merge the finite and the infinite, the living and the dead, the visible and the invisible. By the end of the book, then, Brian is offered the transcendent vision he has earned through his relentless efforts to understand the events around him.
The Characters
Although Brian O’Connal is, at times, too mature for his age, he is usually depicted quite realistically. The boy is not only sensitive but also determined and tenacious. Furthermore, his quest is, if somewhat too programatically controlled by the author, a moving account of a boy’s gradual steps toward maturity and insight. W. O. Mitchell has carefully linked the boy’s perception to the dimensions of the small prairie town in which he lives. By making the boy learn about his world through the local people, the typical animals, and the natural forces of the prairies, the author is capable of gradually moving the boy’s eyes and understanding from the immediate events in the town to the distant horizon, thereby giving a convincing portrayal of growth and maturation.
Many of the novel’s other characters are not as successfully drawn. Mrs. Abercrombie is an all-too-extreme and all-too-recognizable hypocrite. Mr. Powelly, too, is a zealot bordering on caricature. Regrettably, even the Ben family borders on a stereotype. The father is the classic ne’er-do-well of the small town, and young Ben functions much too obviously as an alter ego for Brian. At times, then, the characters are used didactically, not naturally: The writer clearly wants to suggest a moral rather than tell a tale. Since the book is, in part, a children’s story focusing on the sensibility of a young boy under the age of twelve, the exaggeration may be forgiven. Unfortunately, the stereotypical presentation of many of the characters cannot be completely forgotten by the mature reader, and the novel therefore suffers slightly.
Critical Context
Who Has Seen the Wind, in the context of Canadian literature, earned for Mitchell the stature of a minor Mark Twain. Like Twain, Mitchell was seen as a raconteur who offered penetrating yet humorous insights into the human situation. In fact, Mitchell’s novel is recognized as firmly resting in the tradition Twain established. All critics agree that Mitchell, like Twain, used the children’s novel for profound effects. The novel represents a sharp, at times biting and acidic, commentary on social deception and hypocrisy. The work, too, deals in depth with the problems the young face as they must necessarily come to terms with a puzzling, often incoherent, inconsistent world.
By relating the material of the novel to the perspective of a child, Mitchell has treated the profound and complex in a way that is readily accessible. Young and old readers will strongly identify with Brian’s responses. Mitchell’s celebration of innocence, spontaneity, and natural freedom suggests that such values must always be cherished in the face of the impending darkness which can never be evaded.
Bibliography
Cameron, Donald. Conversations with Canadian Novelists. Vol. 2, 1973.
Latham, Sheila. W. O. Mitchell: An Annotated Bibliography, 1981.
Peterman, Michael. “W. O. Mitchell,” in Profiles in Canadian Literature. Vol. 2, 1980.
Ricou, Lawrence. “The Eternal Prairie: The Fiction of W. O. Mitchell,” in Vertical Man, Horizontal World, 1973.