Ship of Fools by Katherine Anne Porter ~ January Book Club Online

[marcie]

The Book Club Online is  the oldest  book club on the Internet, begun in 1996, open to everyone.  We offer cordial discussions of one book a month,  24/7 and  enjoy the company of readers from all over the world.  Everyone is welcome to join in.

Ship of Fools
Katherine Anne Porter

"The idea for Ship of Fools originated in a voyage that Katherine Anne Porter took from Mexico to Europe in 1931. Some of the passengers she encountered on the ship became the models for the characters in Ship of Fools. Porter began work on the novel in 1941 and it took her twenty years to complete. Porter wrote that the title of her novel symbolizes “the ship of this world on its voyage to eternity.” The story takes place in the summer of 1931, on board a cruise ship bound for Germany. Passengers include a Spanish noblewoman, a drunken German lawyer, an American divorcee, a pair of Mexican Catholic priests. This ship of fools is a crucible of intense experience, out of which everyone emerges forever changed. Rich in incident, passion, and treachery, the novel explores themes of nationalism, cultural and ethnic pride, and basic human frailty that are as relevant today as they were when the book was first published in 1962."  - Goodreads Discussion Schedule: January 2-7  Part I Embarkation (p. 1-69 - hardback) January 8-15       Part II  High Sea  (first half  p. 71-222 - hardback) -ending with "in the morning, feeling very poorly,  he  asked  Herr Denny by name, please to hand him his medicine." January 16-23  Part II High Sea  (second half  p. 222 - 360 - hardback) January 24-31  Part III The Harbors  (p. 361-497 - hardback)   ***** Some Topics for Consideration January 2 - 7  Part I Embarkation (p. 1-69 - hardback) 1.  As you look over the Vera's passenger prior to the Embarkation, do any of them get your attention or interest? 2.  Do you feel it must have been problematic for Porter to finish this novel in 1962,  which she began in 1941 -  based on notes she took in 1931?   3.  "Why must it always be Germans who suffer in these damned foreign countries?"  What does Rieber mean by this?  How does Porter portray the German passengers on board the Vera?    Does she give a reason why they were in Mexico?  What attracts them back to Germany in 1931?  Do you sense they are escaping, rather  than heading home for a reason? 4.  Are you having difficulty associating the many names with the characters described?   What do you think of each of us choosing a character to shadow all over the ship?   5. Who is telling this story? Do you see any one of the passengers as the narrator?   6.  Are you finding instances of racial or cultural bias that are stronger than anything you'd experience today?  Do you believe things have changed that much?  What did you think of the women?  In which historical era do they appear to be? 7.  How did the first class passengers regard the new passagers taken on board in Havana? Did any of them show compassion? Whose reaction seemed the most  inappropriate?   8. Did you notice how much space is devoted to homely adolescent  Elsa and her  concern that she might never fall in love - or be loved? Do you think we'll hear more about her as the story progresses?

Discussion Leaders:  Joan P  and  Marcie

[marcie]

Jonathan, that's great that you're reading a biography of Porter. We'll have to come to you to get the juicy tidbits... I mean the facts about her life :-)

[JoanP]

Marcie, I agree. Jonathan will be an invaluable resource on the author's life.  At his mention of Darlene Unrue's biography of KAPorter, I found this interesting link you might find of interest -

http://www.bibliobuffet.com/archive-index-readings/363-the-jilting-of-katherine-anne-porter-032507

From this link -

"Does anyone read Katherine Anne Porter’s fiction anymore? Porter, whose powerful Collected Stories about coming of age, the fear of death, and the search for love and home won the National Book Award in 1964, appears to be much neglected in today’s literary landscape. Although Darlene Harbour Unrue’s masterful biography, Katherine Anne Porter: The Life of an Artist (University of Mississippi Press; $30), lacks deep critical engagement with Porter’s fiction, Unrue offers us an engaging portrait of a woman who spent much her life weaving her own life into a fictional masterpiece. "

So we just might find her in one (or more) of these characters aboard the ship.  I see two forty-somethings on the passenger list.  One is an American.  I'll be keeping my eye on Mary Treadwell...
Thanks, Jonathan!

[Jonathan]

Marcie, I enjoyed the Unrue biography. What a life! Applying it to her book may be difficult. But then she herself said, don't look for facts in my fictions. She wished to be thought of as an artist.

Strange, isn't it, to be setting out on this voyage on the hundredth anniversary year of the Titanic tragedy.


Thanks, JoanP, for the link to the review. It's very informative. But I was never certain, after every marital crisis, and/or love affair, who did the jilting.

Tomorrow, then, if we can get out of Veracruz alive.

[JoanP]

Welcome aboard the Vera!    Are you ready for this voyage into the past?   Ah, but what "past" are we revisiting?  the 1930's as captured in the author's journal detailing the actual passengers on the  voyage in August, 1931?  Or has Porter edited them in the light of history, as  the book wasn't finished until 1962?

We'll be spending the first week getting acquainted with these passengers.  I'll continue to look for the author in that passenger list - though she warns us to consider the work as fiction.  Thanks for that, Jonathan.  Can't wait to hear  everyone's  first impressions on the passenger list.

I find myself wondering what was going on in Germany when the Vera set sail.  Did you notice the number of returning Germans on the passenger ship?  Did you find that unusual, or no?
 
ps. HAPPY HAPPY NEW YEAR, everyone!  Isn't the first day of the new year always so promising with the possibilty that things will be better than the year left behind?  

[bellamarie]

Hope there is room for one more fool/passenger on the Vera.  I would love to join the discussion.  Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and wish you all a Happy New Year!!

Ciao for now~

[marcie]

We're about to launch and welcome everyone aboard!

Joan, you comment on the number of Germans on the ship. It seems that Mexico (the originating port of the ship) was a somewhat popular immigration destination for Germans. During 1931 to 1940, 21,284 German-speaking immigrants arrived. See the chart at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_immigration_to_Mexico. It would seem likely that a number of Germans would be on the ship to visit, or return to, their home country.

Including a number of Germans on the ship would give Porter the opportunity to portray a cross-section of the views and dispositions of the German population.

[hats]

I'm here. I don't have the book yet. Will go searching.

[Mippy]

Happy New Year!  Bon Voyage!
Will try to come aboard shortly, after catching up in Latin.  Rather tied up at the moment with a surprise National Latin Test assignment in Latin class.

[nlhome]

I am struggling with this book. I've had to renew it twice and I'm still only a little ways into it. But I'm trying. So far I don't think much of the passengers. But I haven't spent much time with them.

[marcie]

It's good to see you here, hats, Mippy and nlhome.

Perhaps not all of the passengers are meant to elicit our sympathy. A wikipedia article says that:

"The ship of fools is an allegory that has long been a fixture in Western literature and art. The allegory depicts a vessel populated by human inhabitants who are deranged, frivolous, or oblivious passengers aboard a ship without a pilot, and seemingly ignorant of their own direction....
According to Jose Barchilon's introduction to Madness and Civilization,
    'Renaissance men developed a delightful, yet horrible way of dealing with their mad denizens: they were put on a ship and entrusted to mariners because folly, water, and sea, as everyone then 'knew', had an affinity for each other. Thus, 'Ship of Fools' crisscrossed the sea and canals of Europe with their comic and pathetic cargo of souls. Some of them found pleasure and even a cure in the changing surroundings, in the isolation of being cast off, while others withdrew further, became worse, or died alone and away from their families. The cities and villages which had thus rid themselves of their crazed and crazy, could now take pleasure in watching the exciting sideshow when a ship full of foreign lunatics would dock at their harbors.' "

[JudeS]

I was finding S.o.F. a very difficult read . So this morning I just grabbed a book off the shelf to read with breakfast.  Serendipity- It was a book of short stories and the first story was by Katherine Porter:"The Downward Path to Wisdom". This story too is depressing.  It is written from the perspective of a four year old boy who experiences the mysterious terrors of childhood. His elders use the boy as a club against each other.The writing is brilliant but the story left me depressed.

I wonder, Jonathan, what her life was like? Was it terribly dark and full of evil people?Can you give us some insight from the book you read?

[Jonathan]

Hi, everybody. This is going to be a jolly good discussion. I found myself at sea along with the rest of you, after only a few pages. Baffling isn't it, being presented with such a strange milieu of revolutionary Mexico and harried characters. Not a sympathetic one in the lot. Well, maybe the 'small, emaciated Indian sitting on a bench under a tree' in Veracruz, waiting calmly and patiently for his executioners, deserves our pity. Perhaps they all will in the end.

I can't understand why KAP chose Ship of Fools for her title. These people boarding the Vera are not the 'crazed and crazies' of an earlier ship, as described in Marcie's post. Doctors and lawyers. Teachers and publishers. Engineers and artists. A tobacconist. A travelling salesman.

Why off to Germany? They all have their reasons. Even the ironical one in the hint that Germany is a place of safety and order. Contrast that to the turmoil in Veracruz. And what artistic purpose does the artist see in this curious foursome. Cat, parrot, monkey and  dog? Don't they put on a show?

JudeS, I got the impression that KAP lived a very long and exciting life. Saw the world. Knew all the right people. Loved jewellry and a place of her own. No abiding place, mind you, but lots of them. Of course she was dealt her share of sorrow and troubles.

[salan]

Marking my spot.
Sally

[JoanP]

So happy to welcome our new passengers - we do have some deck chairs left for you!  Bellamarie, Hats, Mippy, Sally - were you able to locate the book?  Let us know if you are reading the hardcover, the paperback or the Kindle version, OK?  This gets better and better.  Welcome!

 Please don't give up on it just yet, nlholme - and JudeS.  If the story seems to be a downer, why not try using it as a point of comparison for our own modern day ship?  Have we improved since the period Porter writes about?  (Hopefully that won't be even more depressing.  How far into the book are you?  The first part - the Embarkation - is quite confusing with so many names, I'll admit.  Difficult to keep them straight, isn't it?

What do you think of each of us choosing a character to shadow all over the ship?    Do you want to select a character or two and we'll try it?  You will become the expert on the chosen character...  I'm not sure it would work, but it it's worth a try, I think?

[PatH]

I just started reading last night, am only 25 pages into it.  What strikes me so far is Porter's seeming total lack of sympathy with any of her characters.  She sees them all clearly, describing them accurately, but seems to be sneering at them all.  You can't really understand someone without at least a little sympathy, so maybe it will surface eventually.

I'm still sorting out the characters; they're all thrown at us at once, without even names attached at first.  I'm particularly bad at this, but the cast in the front is a big help, and I'm getting there.

Jonathan, I'm guessing that the passengers are "fools" because they are deluded about themselves, about what is happening in the world around them, about the disasters to come.

[JoanP]

Hello PatH!  Happy you are joining us.  I agree, at first glance, none of the characters evoke our sympathy.  Do you think KA Porter could write this entire book without our sympathizing, relating to, or pitying any of them?  Jonathan, you've asked an interesting question -  why did she choose Ship of Fools for her title?  Marcie referred to  the 15th century book Ship of Fools (1494) by Sebastian Brant, which served as the inspiration for Bosch's famous painting, Ship of Fools: "a ship—an entire fleet at first—sets off from Basel to the paradise of fools."  Porter has referred to this work as her inspiration for the title.
 The Vera is heading for Germany - Do you think Porter is referring to Germany as the paradise of fools?  (What's going on in Germany in 1931/1932?  This many be important.)

 I thought this comment from that site was interesting - "Some of them (the passengers) found pleasure and even a cure in the changing surroundings, in the isolation of being cast off..."  So Jude, there may be hope that Porter's characters will change - for the better?

Here's the famous Bosch work -  

[bellamarie]

Good evening all..I'm hoping to get the book tomorrow since the library was close today.  It was not avaiable for my nook-color.  So disappointed

Looking forward to the journey with all of you.  I must admit when it comes to history or geography i am so awful for lack of interest, so i will rely on all of you to help me out.  Be back when i've read the chapters.

Ciao for now...

[marcie]

I'm glad to see more aboard our ship. I hope that those of you who are  having difficulty getting into the book, will stay with us. The book is a very different kind of writing/reading for me too.

[JudeS]

Good news!
Got over the hump and all of a sudden I am aboard the ship and want to know what happens. Finished part one and have started on part two.
However I did mark  a few places. One in particular:Page 59 (paperback0-Herr Reiber talks about his feelings towards the displaced sugarcane workers...Lizzi Spckenkieker repeats his words.."I would do this for them: i would put them all in a big oven and turn on the gas." Oh she said....isn't that the most original idea you ever heard?"

This is a reminder of the gassing in the concentration camps. I imagine that Herr Reiber is not one of the "nice people" on this journey.

[nlhome]

I tried to read more last night, but only five pages and I was too weary. The characters are just getting situated on board and the writing is good enough that I can feel the physical closeness - not a pleasant feeling for me - and imagine some of the smells.

[Jonathan]

'the physical closeness - not a pleasant feeling for me

Good point, nlhome, and it seems to be the feeling of others on the ship as they find themselves dismayed by their cabinmates. This is first class? Imagine, putting Herr Rieber and Herr Loewenthal in the same cabin! (It may be premature, but I've decided Herr Loewenthal is the only civilized human being on the ship, and he has decided to make the best of it).

Is there no humor in the book? The unmarried lovers, Jenny and David, are assigned different cabins! Just think, says Jenny, over drinks in the bar, 26 nights sleeping in separate beds. We'll get to know each other better.

Don't worry about the geography, Bellamarie. It's all about human relations, and you're good at that.

[mabel1015j]

Marking my place so i can come back and read the comments. I have the book, but am not sure i will have the time to keep up w/ the readings.
I read it in the 60s but remember nothing.

Jean

[JoanP]

nlhome - really happy you are staying with it. (Maybe you shouldn't wait til bedtime to read it, though. )After reading your post, I wondered if Porter wants the ship to smell - and the passengers be uncomfortable around one another.  Her writing sure makes you get that idea.  The Germans seem to be the only ones who approve of one another - so far.

Jonathan, since you have decided  Herr Loewenthal is the only civilized being on the ship, will you "volunteer" to follow him through the journey to see if he succeeds at making the best of it?  He seems so lonely to me.  Hope he finds a friend.  Is it simply because he's Jewish that he is kept at arm's length?

Jude -  glad you brought up Herr Rieber's pitiless comment about putting the starving migrant workers into an oven.  This is an example of how Porter's writing must have been difficult for her - writing of the poverty and inhumane treatment of these workers in 1932...and then writing the book AFTER WWII, with the knowledge of the gas chambers.  I didn't understand what made Lizzi giggle at this inane idea, though.  It just didn't fit logically in the conversation.  In fact, I thought Rieber's comment was kind of clumsy in that context.  Maybe Porter just wanted to remind us of what is to come.
Since you have put the spotlight on one of the "not nice" people on the journey, how about you follow him through the crossing and see if you can learn more about him - and what motivates him?   Sorry to ask you to associate with him - but someone had to do it!

Bella, don't worry about your lack of historical knowledge.  Jean might not be able to keep up with the readings, but she is something of a history buff if I'm not mistaken. 1931/32 in Germany.  What is Hitler up to  at this point in time?

[retired]

Hello all:
I completed the novel. Had to return it to the library.
I copied the first few pages devoted to the passenger list and assigned cabin mates
to keep my thoughts organized.

The middle aged woman who keeps a notebook and makes notes  with her observations of the
passengers behaviors would remind me of the author at work . I wrote her name down in my notes ( not
Ms. Treadwell ) but I cannot locate her by name.
The observations are certainly not flattering .

The German passengers are portrayed as very Nationalistic , Germans and Germany the best .
The antisematism for Jews is very evident. Herr Reibner denies this later by remarking that he knows
many arabs and he likes them.
However, we read later that he and some other Germans are insrtrumental in getting Herr Freytag
a Christian German who they learn is married to a Jew moved from the Captain's table to sit alone with Mr. Lowenthal who is a known Jew.
Mr. Lowenthal is not very welcoming to him either when he becomes his table mate.
He is very disapproving of mixed marriages among Christians and Jews .

nfrridentity . The separation of the "other".
As I read on , I was mindful of the Horror ahead in Germany and the German philosophy as Master race and the subjugation of others who were considered inferior due to  body deformity or ethnic inferiority.
Gypsies, Jews .

I wanted to shout to some of those passengers " turn back your lives are in danger ."
The relationships depicted among the German spouses could remind one of the male dominated female.
Point in fact I did not like any of the passengers described on this ship .
We do not learn from reading what criteria the Captain used to decide which passengers would be
selected to sit at the Captain"s table.

Enough said for now . Will stay on board to see the events unfold.
   
 

[mabel1015j]

In 1931, Hitler was the leader of the Nazi Party.  They had a surprise victory in 1930, coming in second in the voting for the Reichstag. In March 1931, Hitler lost the election for president to Hindenburg. There were still laws against beating up Jews as their party was doing, using the Jews and communists as scapegoats for the depression and laws were passed outlawing the Nazi party, at the time having a membership of 800,000. But thru the spring the 3 political parties battled each other physically. At the end of July the Nazi Party won 14 million votes and Hitler was made chancellor.  Germans who opposed him failed to unite and Hitler moved to consolidate his power.

Here's a site w/ more info

http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/riseofhitler/success.htm

[kidsal]

If she had finished this book in 1931 it would have been a very different story.  Reading it now we are looking through the lens of WWII.  Has she explained somewhere what was her purpose in 1931?

I find the German Jews the most interesting because we know their fate.  Also the American Denny was the central character in the movie (Robert Mitchum) but he doesn't stand out in the first part of the book. 

Think of the German women as rather frumpy.  Probably didn't fit in in Mexico - house fraus.

[JoanP]

"Has she explained somewhere what was her purpose in 1931?"

Good morning, kidsal!  You've asked an interesting question.  I think KA Porter was keeping a journal back then - she was on her way to Germany to study.  (Does anyone know what she was studying?  If memory serves, she was on a Guggenheim scholarship.)  It wasn't until the early 1940's that she began to write her novel.  I noticed Mary Treadwell, a 40 year old divorcee (like Porter) also kept a journal.  Like retired, I'm  forgetting the name of the female German journalist, also keeping notes on the journey.  Does anyone remember her name?

It's funny that the American Denny was the central character in the movie - he didn't get my attention at all in the first part of the book.

retired - good to hear from you too. Interesting comments on Herr  Lowenthal - especially when you consider what Jean has posted on Hitler's rise to power during this period. (Thank you, Jean!) His Mein Kampf is well known  at this time.  Probably beyond Germany?  I don't think we know yet WHY Lowenthal, a Jew, would be returning to Germany at this time.  And why Wilhelm Freytag would be planning to bring his Jewish wife and her mother to live in Germany.  You're observations are right on.  These passengers are not accepting of one another's differences.

"Hitler focused his propaganda against the Versailles Treaty, the "November criminals," the Marxists and the visible, internal enemy No. 1, the "Jew," who was responsible for all Germany's domestic problems. Hitler's first written utterance on political questions dating from this period (1920) emphasized that what he called "the anti-Semitism of reason" must lead "to the systematic combating and elimination of Jewish privileges. Its ultimate goal must implacably be the total removal of the Jews."http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/hitler.html

So, do we agree?  These passengers, as presented in the opening days of the journey - are not at all likeable.  Would you prefer to spend the journey on the  ship's deck, with a good book, rather than get to know your fellow travelers?
I'm hoping that as we sail along, we'll get to know them better - understand them better and maybe even like one or two. 
On the other hand, KA Porter may have other plans...

[Jonathan]

On the other hand, KA Porter may have other plans.

Right on, Joan. This is a very complex piece of writing. Porter worked on it for twenty years, or was it thirty? She had achieved success with her short stories and assorted other writings: reportage, essays and reviews, etc. To achieve true literary status she needed at least one novel. And this novel represents her odyssey to reach that goal. A lifetime of experience is worked into her story.

I keep thinking of Jude's question: I wonder what her life was like. Was it terribly dark and full of evil people?

I didn't think so reading the biography. Certainly there was a lot of sturm und drang along the way, but she kept her head all along and steered her course to the distant shore, observing and pondering everything along the way, not least of all her own life. This book, I feel, is an excellent artistic account of the arrival of the modern woman. Perplexed but determined. Just look how much there is on relationships.

Of course, it's also a political novel, a commentary on her times. We should slowly become more understanding about all the characters. They are not at all evil. With the exception of those two little monsters, Ric and Rac. And how well they play their role. In Porter's political spectrum they must represent the Anarchists. Or Terrorists?

I'll be very happy to keep my eye on Herr Lowenthal. Just wonderful having him share a cabin with Herr Rieber. The one supplies women with a wardrobe and the other supplies her with religious accessories. That should supply them both with a common ground for cooperation.

[JudeS]

Joan P
I really wanted to follow Herr Karl Glocken, the hunchback.  He so reminded me of a High Schhol English teacher we had:Dr. Fuchs. Now it was a different era but Dr. Fuchs (also German) was married and the father of twin daughters.
 Herr Glocken would also probably killed as a "freak" by Hitler's people.

I don't mind reporting from time to time on Herr Rieber but it feels creepy to be responsible for him. Also it probably means constantly being forced to see the most negtive of thoughts and actions in this "happy" group of passengers.
Is there someone else interested in followingHerr Reiber or at least sharing him?

[marcie]

I appreciate the varied comments, here. I too see what you are all saying; the book certainly paints a dark picture of most all of the people so far. In the introduction to the passengers in Veracruz, the people hardly seem human. They are "herded" everywhere. There are many  analogies comparing individuals to animals: peahens, goats, mules, etc. It's all very unsavory.

 I keep thinking about what might have made Katherine Anne Porter write this novel...and write it the way she did. JoanP asked what was happening in 1931 when Porter was taking notes for the novel and mabel tells us about the rise of Hitler during a time when Germany was impoverished and its people didn't trust its government.

Now I'm thinking about 1941 when Porter began to actually compose the novel. By the end of that year, the U.S. would finally be drawn into the War. People must have been on different sides of whether the U.S. should fight, whether Hitler was truly bad or wrong. Perhaps, Porter was writing to wake people up to how they view the world around them and themselves in that world.

[marcie]

JudeS, let's see if anyone else is willing to take on Herr Reiber. If not, I'll shadow him.

[kidsal]

From www.nebraskapress.unl.edu.  Because Mexico’s German community in the early 1930s was small and already organized into a cohesive social unit, the Nazi Propaganda Ministry incorporated the Nazi ideology into its preexisting structure. A small German colony had a long tradition in Mexico, dating back to the nineteenth century. In the first half of the 1930s between six and seven thousand German nationals resided in Mexico.   In the twentieth century, German nationals contributed to the Mexican economy in the automotive, electrical, construction, and pharmaceutical industries.

  Business dealings between the two countries were interrupted during World War I, which coincided with the Mexican Revolution. During the 1920s and 1930s German nationals once again became involved in the Mexican economy.  Although many German families assimilated into Mexican national culture, the German colony in Mexico maintained a strong sense of solidarity and a strong loyalty to the fatherland.   German businessmen belonged to exclusive social organizations, and families sent their children to German schools in an attempt to maintain a sense of German identity.   German organizations promoted conservative, nationalist ideals among their members and encouraged members to speak the German language and practice German customs.

 A Nazi propaganda apparatus emerged and became an important part of the German community between 1935 and 1940. The Nazi Party  attempted to implant the idea that German nationals were culturally and intellectually superior to Mexicans.   Hitler reorganized nearly all previously existing German social organizations into the Centro Alemán, a new community group controlled by the Nazi Party. The party controlled its membership, disallowing children of mixed German-Mexican marriage and even Germans with Mexican spouses. The party also aimed to capture the loyalties of German youth through the Hitler Youth who were being trained eventually to become members of the Nazi Party. The Colegio Alemán, a German school that was also brought under the supervision of the Nazi Party, complemented the Hitler Youth.

MEXICO CITY, May. 13 1942
German Jews in Mexico, who have not obtained Mexican citizenship - and most of the refugees fall into this category - are being evacuated from coastal areas along the Atlantic and Pacific shores, under a decree issued by the Ministry of the Interior ordering the removal of all Axis nationals from strategic points on the coast, the Mexican press reports today. The Mexican Government is not differentiating between nationals of Germany who are in the country for commercial reasons and those who have fled from Germany since the rise of Hitler.

[Jonathan]

'What was her purpose in 1931? A good question from kidsal.

Porter was hardly out of her Mexican phase in 1931. She had been absorbed in Mexican art, and got caught up in Mexico's revolutionary ways. She tended to be sympathetic to the underdog, active, for example, in the Sacco-Vanzetti affair in 1927. In 1923 she wrote:

I write about Mexico because that is my familiar country. I was born near San Antonio, Texas. My father lived part of his youth in Mexico, and told me enchanting stories of his life there; therefore the land did not seem strange to me even at my first sight of it. During the Madero revolution I watched a street battle between Maderistas and Federal troops from the window of a cathedral...

My stories are fragments, each one touching some phase of a versatile national temperament, which is a complication of simplicities: but I like best the quality of aesthetic magnificence, and, above all, the passion for individual expression without hypocrisy, which is the true genius of the (Mexican) race.

All the things I write of I have first known, and they are real to me. Taken from Why I write about Mexico.

[JoanP]

Quite an interesting independent woman, Jonathan.  Let's remember she's on her way to Germany in 1932 - on a Guggenheim fellowship.  She's about 42 years old at the time.

"Porter's first volume of stories, Flowering Judas (1930), impressed critics, although it did not sell very well. It won a Guggenheim fellowship (an award with a cash prize intended to be used for study or research) that allowed her to study abroad, and after a brief stay in Mexico she sailed in 1932 to Bremerhaven, Germany (which provided the setting for her only novel, Ship of Fools ). "

Her cash prize then is to be used for study - or research.  From your post, I noted her interest in Mexico's revolutionary ways. and her concern for the underdog.  Is this what she is researching?  I can understand why she would be keeping a journal on the passengers on this voyage then.

retired - there is another passenger on the ship besides Mary Treadwell who is taking notes one this trip.  A German woman - Frau Rittesdorf.  I'll shadow these two ladies - unless you want to?  I'm looking for the author in one of these two characters.)

[JoanP]

Are you finding it confusing when attempting to view these passengers through the lens of history - as they would have appeared in 1931, unaware of the impending horrors associated with Nazi Germany.  Marcie reminds us that Porter referred to her notes of 1932 and began the book in 1942.  How do you see these passengers?   To me, they're living in the 1930's, not the 1040's - oblivious of where the world is headed..

kidsal - you bring revealing information -

" Hitler reorganized nearly all previously existing German social organizations into the Centro Alemán, a new community group controlled by the Nazi Party. The party controlled its membership, disallowing children of mixed German-Mexican marriage and even Germans with Mexican spouses."

And then this - "German Jews in Mexico, who have not obtained Mexican citizenship - and most of the refugees fall into this category - are being evacuated from coastal areas along the Atlantic and Pacific shores

So Wilhelm Freytag is on his way to Germany to fetch his Jewish wife, Mary Champagne and her mother - to bring them back to Mexico to live.  He thinks she doesn't appear to be Jewish - blond hair, etc,  but from kidsal's information, it seems they must hide her nationality, even in Mexico, doesn't it?  

We still don't know why Herr Lowenthal would be going to Germany at this time.  Is he aware of the danger?

I'm willing to bet that most of the passengers on the ship have something to hide - and that after spending 26 days or so -  isolated together in rather close proximity, they will begin to reveal their true selves.  It's nearly  inevitable.

[JudeS]

In her book "The Lacuna" , Barbara Kingsolver writes about the ongoing fight between Stalinists and Trotskyists in Cayocan near Mexico City in the 1930's( till Trotsky's murder in 1940).
I didn't at first connect the two books but when I did, I realized how much Kingsolver gave me in understanding the people of Mexico ,especially the Intellectuals, of that periiod. As an example Trotsky was extremely close to Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo (of German Jewish extract), while the painter Siqueiros was a Stalinist who hired thugs to kill Trotsky. (they sprayed his home with machine guns but injured only his Grandson.)
If Porter was following the politics of Mexico and Germany during this period, I can understand her interest in bringing out
the tragic fates of those returning to  Germany, a country  that had changed dramatically from 1925 to the Nazi regime of the 1930s.
Her affinity for Mexico and her sojurn in Germany gave her an excellent background on which to base her story.

[retired]

Joan:
I reviewed my notes again.
Herr Lowenthal was traveling to Germany to visit his sister only .
Frau Rittersdorf was keeping a notebook writing her observations
of some of the passengers behavior. Perhaps she is a journalist
or a proxy for the author of this novel.

I answered my own question when revewing my notes.
The criteria for choice of seating at the Captain's table
was essentially the small group of First Class passengers.

This novel was quite an interesting choice for discussion.
I can not say that I liked any of the passengers .
I will stay on board to watch events unfold.
                                         

[nlhome]

I don't think I'll ever keep up with the discussion, but I try to read. Unfortunately right now I can only read at bedtime, and that means I'm already sleepy. I'm getting to know the characters a little better now. The time period is interesting. Think it's the same setting as another book I'm thinking of reading, and the between the war period of some of the Masterpiece programs, thought of course different settings.

[JoanP]

nlholme, good for you!  Keep reading.  You aren't the only one having trouble keeping up.   We thought that once we slowly read the first section, the reading would go faster.  I'm finding this is not the case.  Please don't anyone give up.  Marcie and I are right now discussing ways to slow down a bit, break down Part II even further.  We could  extend the discussion into February.  Will that help?  Can those of you reading library books renew?

"If Porter was following the politics of Mexico and Germany during this period, I can understand her interest in bringing out
the tragic fates of those returning to  Germany, a country  that had changed dramatically from 1925 to the Nazi regime of the 1930s."  Thanks, Jude.  It sure sounds as if she is aware of the politics of Mexico and Germany, doesn't it?

Thanks, retired.  I had forgotten that Herr Lowenthal was returning to Germany to visit his sister.  It would be a good idea if he brought her back with him.  Of course no one knows of the impending atrocities - but there are already signs that life is not good for the Jews in Germany and will not get better.