Gift from the Sea | Characters/Techniques
In Gift from the Sea Lindbergh returns to a setting familiar to her since childhood summers spent in Maine. Within this familiar landscape, Lindbergh relies on a simple descriptive style and poetic metaphor to create her narrative. Originally written as a series of essays, Lindbergh reshapes this journalistic style into a stream-of-consciousness format that dissolves the boundaries between fiction and nonfiction. Her use of natural imagery and the singular narrative voice establishes a simplicity that accomplishes empathy and intimacy between reader and narrator. The metaphor provided by the seashells subtly expresses her social concerns. The simplicity she achieves is the deceptive result of a disciplined and controlled literary style. Her eye for detail remains evident throughout.
Lindbergh's counsel is never dictatorial. The sensitivity with which she approaches women's social issues extends to her careful observations of the seashore and shells. The organic source of her symbolism and romantic imagery lends a visionary quasi-religious element to the work. The only human character of any sort is the singular narrative voice. Although it suggests the author's presence, the narrator seeks to achieve a certain anonymity. The "I" of the narrator lends authority to Lindbergh's philosophy while successfully integrating the narrator's voice as a collective voice for all women.
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