Best of the Week: Water In Michael

In class throughout this week, we have looked closely at the text in The Life and Times of Michael K. We discussed a lot of different ideas and themes that appear in the book but one thing that I found very interesting that we just touched on was the reoccurance of the theme of water in the story and its significance. We have often talked about some of the characters in Michael K being alive but not living. Water is the essence of life (cliche I know). In the book, it signifies life as well. Not merely the physical life, but the existential and spiritual life located atop Maslow's hierarchy. A great example of this is the fact that Michael K is a gardener. Water is the source of life for him and his plants who give him purpose. Alli Sontag pointed out a great instance of this in class. At the beginning of the book, when Anna K was still living, she was sick in the hospital and Michael tried to have her drink some water, but she couldn't swallow it. Soon after this passage, she dies. I thought that this was a really cool way of conveying an important part of the character of Michael K. in the novel.