The valley of Arcana — Themes and Context

Lost in the Redwoods: Setting as Disorientation

The novel opens with a precise geography of confusion. Shonto and Jerome are 'hopelessly lost' despite their extensive experience, surrounded by timber 'vaster than they had dreamed.' The redwoods are described with a mix of awe and unease: 'straight as the path of righteousness, solemn, aloof—impossible trees.' This language suggests that the landscape itself resists easy understanding, functioning as more than mere backdrop.

The fog, the steep slopes, and the absence of familiar landmarks create a sensory experience of being unmoored. Hankins emphasizes the men's silence as they hurry, sliding and clambering, hoping for a sign. This opening establishes a pattern: the physical journey through unknown terrain parallels a psychological journey into unfamiliar social territory. Readers should note how the environment repeatedly forces the characters to confront their own assumptions, whether about direction or about proper behavior.

A Cigarette and a Debate: Dialogue as Social Critique

In a later excerpt, Shonto and a woman named Charmian sit by a campfire and discuss whether women should smoke. The scene is notable for its extended, almost essayistic dialogue. Shonto rolls a cigarette for Charmian, who admits she knows how but rarely does. What follows is a philosophical exchange on taboo, tradition, and logic.

Shonto argues that the prohibition against women smoking is 'only another example of the slavery to which woman has been subjected.' He compares smoking to top-spinning or candy-eating, noting that men may injure themselves 'with impunity' while women who do the same are deemed immoral. Charmian agrees, calling it 'another of our stupid taboos.' The dialogue is remarkably direct in its critique of conservative society, and it reveals Shonto as a character who prides himself on rational thought. Readers should watch for how this intellectual stance is tested by the events of the plot.

The Logic of Taboo: A Key Passage

The campfire conversation contains a concentrated statement of the novel's thematic concerns. Shonto asks, 'Why think for ourselves, when the ancients went to so much trouble to prescribe for us our taboos and our religious beliefs and our standard of morals?' This rhetorical question encapsulates the tension between inherited custom and individual reasoning that runs through the excerpts.

Charmian's response—'And isn't there any hope for us, Doctor Shonto? Will nothing make us think?'—prompts Shonto to cite the Great War as a catalyst for critical thought. This exchange suggests that the novel is interested in the possibility of social change, even as its characters remain embedded in a world of rigid expectations. The dialogue is not merely filler; it establishes a framework for understanding the characters' later choices. The reader should consider how the abstract debate about smoking might prefigure more consequential decisions about love, marriage, and independence.

From Dialogue to Action: What the Excerpts Leave Unresolved

The excerpts provided offer only fragments of the novel's plot. We know from the catalog that the story involves a young woman, a widow, and mate selection, set in California. The chapter titles hint at adventure: 'The Prospector's Story,' 'The Trail to Mosquito,' 'The Cave of Hypocritical Frogs.' Yet the excerpts focus on conversation and description rather than action.

This imbalance is instructive for a first reading. The novel appears to value intellectual exchange as much as physical adventure. The opening's emphasis on being lost—both geographically and ideologically—suggests that the characters' journey through the redwoods is also a journey toward self-definition. Readers should approach the text with an eye for how the debates about taboo and tradition are embodied in the characters' relationships. The excerpts do not reveal the resolution, but they establish a clear thematic tension between conformity and independence.

As you read The Valley of Arcana, pay attention to how the landscape mirrors the characters' internal states. The redwoods are not just scenery; they are a presence that challenges the characters' sense of scale and certainty. Likewise, the dialogues are not digressions but central to the novel's exploration of social rules. The excerpts suggest a work that uses adventure as a vehicle for social commentary, and the reader who tracks the interplay between setting and conversation will find a coherent thematic architecture beneath the surface of the plot.

That rainy afternoon, Hankins’s redwoods felt so heavy with unspoken things—the widow’s quiet glances, the prospector’s riddles. I kept thinking about what people leave unsaid between them. Later, drying the book’s cover, I picked up The shadow between them; — Themes and Context, and somehow the same hush followed me, a different valley, same weather inside.