| Abstrakt: |
Questions of belief and ways of knowing are what the characters in F. D. Shands's Frame 39 set out to explore in spiritual and epistemological journeys across time and space. In this architectural pilgrimage narrative, certain numbers appear to have a particular significance. Twos appear in the form of doubles, dichotomies, and ambiguities. Fours stand out, too, and could be related to the classical elements of earth, water, fire, and air. Used to create mood and atmosphere throughout the story, the four elements, as this essay will argue, constitute a hidden matrix in this novel. A symbolism related to the number four could be seen as particularly significant in a narrative focused on spiritual and epistemological matters. Predominant as explanatory principles of fundamental energy forces in many different thought systems throughout history including ancient Greek thought, Eastern spirituality, and medieval philosophy, the four elements have been a way of understanding the origins and workings of the physical universe and to get a grasp of the most elusive and ungraspable building stones of existence itself. It is precisely such a pursuit of deeper knowledge and fundamental material and spiritual truths that informs the pilgrimage in Frame 39. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
