The Albanian Virgin is a story which appears to be full of secrets. I felt as if many of these secrets involved Charlotte and Gjurdhi. The largest secret being kept from the reader is whether or not there is more of a connection between Charlotte and the story she is telling. What the reader knows is that it is an idea for a movie she has come up with while recovering in a hospital, however we are never entirely sure what the connection (if any) is between Charlotte and Lottar.
Charlotte and Gjurdi are made out to be somewhat mysterious people, living in a town where they are not really accepted, being seen as scavengers and thieves. They are often seen wandering town with a wagon, usually filled with books that Gjurdi is often trying to sell to Claire, however to no avail. Their apartment is a mess, filled with books and clutter. Charlotte becomes ill (another secret because we do not know what ails her) and while in the hospital "comes up" with a lavish story about an Albanian virgin.
The story Charlotte tells is about Lottar, a woman who is traveling with a small group of people. Lottar goes out with a guide one morning while the others are sleeping where the guide is shot and killed and she is left injured. She is taken back to the tribe, nursed to health, and lives among the tribes people as one of the women (and later one of the men). After the tribe tries to sell her as a wife, the priest tells her only option is to become a virgin and when this no longer seems as a safety net for her, he tells her she must leave; he takes her to the bishop, and she eventually leaves entirely.
I believe that Lottar is more than just a person in Charlotte's story. The two names are somewhat similar, especially when you take into consideration the differences in languages spoken between Lottar and the tribes people. The following passage may be a hint at the similarity in the two names, "she must have tried to tell them her name, and "Lottar" was what they made of it" (pg. 81). For me, the story left me believing that the priest was Gjurdhi. At the very end of the story, after Lottar left, the last line reads, "She called him and called him, and when the boat came into the harbor at Trieste he was waiting on the dock" (pg.128). This leads me to believe that he came to meet her because as the story proceeded it seemed as if they had bottled up feelings for each other. But since it never is revealed, it remains a secret to the readers.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
I agree with Jenn, because there are many secrets kept from the reader about Charlotte and Gjurdhi and Charlotte's story about Lottar.
I agree that it's possible Charlotte is Lottar because in her story, she isn't clear what Lottar's real name was. "In the mountains, in Maltsia e madhe, she must have tried to tell them her name, and 'Lottar' was what they made of it" (Page81)This passage doesnt mention "Lottar"'s real name, so it remains a mystery who Lottar really is.
I agree with both Jenn and Annie. As I stated in my post, I believe that the story is related to Charlotte's life more then the reader knows. Besides the name connection, how could someone as sick as Charlotte is made out to be, come up with a plot so in depth, so detailed, while lying in a hospital bed? I also agree with Jenn when she said that there was some sort of connection between Gjurdhi and Charlotte. For example if the story really was about her, and the priest really was Gjurdhi.
Jenn pointer out in her post a few things that I found interesting that I hadn't picked up on when I read the story. She mentioned that Lottar and Charlotte's names were very similar which I agree with and she also said that the last sentence of the story made it sound like Lottar and the priest were reunited. I think that it's quite possible that Lottar and the priest are really Charlotte and Gjurdhi. They never revealed the priest's name besides calling him the Franciscan. Therefore, Gjurdhi could definitely be the priest. The reader never finds out where Charlotte and Gjurdhi came from and anything about their past, which is a secret to the reader and to Claire. When I went back through the story to see if there was any connections between Lottar and Charlotte I noticed something Charlotte said to Claire in the hospital. She said "Everything tastes like tar to me. I don't know how I know what tar tastes like, but this is what I think" (page 86). When I reread that, the first thing I thought of was when Charlotte is telling the story about Lottar on page 91. "Then they combed some black, bubbling dye through the hair that remained." This made me think that Lottar could really be Charlotte because maybe this black substance was like tar and it ran down her face when the women covered her hair with it.
I think that Charlotte is Lottar and they just couldn't say her name right. The story is so detailed that it would be easy to believe that it really happened to Charlotte. But it is also possible that she just has a really good imagination. The story keeps enough from the reader that there is no way to say you know one way or the other for sure.
Post a Comment