Canadian Literature

Bull Moose
&
The Glass Roses

By Alden Nowlan

Alden Nowlan
In 1933, Alden Nowlan was
born into rural poverty in
Stanley, Nova Scotia,
adjacent to Mosherville, and
close to the small town of
Windsor, Nova Scotia, along
a stretch of dirt road that he
would later refer to as
Desolation Creek.
His father, Gordon Freeman
Nowlan, worked sporadically
as a manual labourer.

 His mother,
Grace Reese, was
only 15 years of
age when Nowlan
was born, and
she soon left the
family, leaving
Alden and her
younger
daughter Harriet
to the care of
their paternal
grandmother.
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http://cliparts.co/cliparts/rcj/G7g/rcjG7g7Xi.jpg

The family believed that education as a

waste of time, and Nowlan left school
after only four grades. At the age of 14,
he went to work in the village sawmill

Alden Nowlan
At the age of 16,
Nowlan discovered
the regional
library. Each
weekend he would
walk or hitchhike
eighteen miles to
the library to get
books, and
secretly began to
educate himself.
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 At the age of 19,

Nowlan's started
working at
Observer, a
newspaper in
Hartland, New
Brunswick. While
working at the
Observer, Nowlan
began writing
books of poetry.

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Nowlan eventually
settled permanently
in New Brunswick.
In 1963, he married
Claudine Orser, a
typesetter on his
former paper, and
moved to Saint John
with her and her son,

He became the
night editor for
the Saint John
Telegraph
Journal and
continued to
write poetry.
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 In 1966, Nowlan was diagnosed

with throat cancer. His health
forced him to give up his job, but
at the same time the University
of New Brunswick in Fredericton
offered him the position of
Writer-in-Residence.
He remained in the position until
his death on June 27, 1983

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Characters - Stephen
Stephen associates being a man with the
characteristics that his father has
modeled.
He doesnt want to be like his father, but
he wants to be recognized as a man.
Realizes that his father has been
affected by the war, but Leka has as
well, and yet, they both have differing
end results.

Characters - Leka
Nowlan describes him as a Ukrainian second world war
refugee, who has come to New Brunswick to work in
the pulp woods.
He is paired with a boy, who is the son of the foreman.
The woodsmen think he is from Poland and call him a
Polack.
He is a man whose heart is constantly warmed by the
memory of the culture he once beheld cathedrals,
castles, cavalrymen and whose dreams are racked
by the spectre of its destruction.
He constantly faces fear:
When Leka is awake, he is persecuted due to his
differences.
His nightmares remind him of what he endured during the
war. They remind him that he wanted to die; that he had
given up.

Stephens Father vs. Leka

Father
Hard/rough
Hard worker/strong
Demanding
Unemotional
Judgmental/Afraid of
different people
Lacks compassion

Leka
Physically weaker
Finesse/fragile
Friendly
Emotional/sentimental
Open-minded
Respect for nature
Man of religion
Kind and
compassionate

Symbols
Glass Roses:
They are valuable, yet fragile and
beautiful.
They represent all that is innocent
and wonderful, but can easily be
broken by others.

The Axe:
Represents the strength and
respect.
It is what holds Leka and Stephen
back from being recognized as
men.

The Cathedral:
They represent a world he once
knew and valued.
They provide Leka and Stephen
with a point of discussion that most
men would not share with each
other.

Themes
Search for Identity: Stephen is oscillating
between what kind of man he wants to
become.
Illusion vs. Reality: This could be explored on a
few levels:
How the men view their relationship vs. how
Stephen and Leka view their connection.
What most people believe to be masculine
characteristics and what really makes a strong man.

Individuality vs. Conformity: For Stephen to be

accepted by his father and the other men, or
for him to stand on his own and make the
choices.