CLAY by David Almond

Almost all males populate David Almond’s tale set in Ireland. Strange, then, that all of the narrative conventions revolve about giving “birth” to a clay figure. The boys in Clay, Stephen Rose (malevolent or simply misunderstood?) and Davie, have the mystic power to animate earth. Davie is the Irish boy-next-door. Stephen Rose is a freaky young man, in fact, his family history includes carnival side shows, insanity, and early deaths. The Creator images, the desire, the immersion into a wildly druidical trance, the secrecy, all align Almond with Shelley and the tellers of Golem tales. The young men find that though they have the ability to create life, they are repulsed (well, Davie is) by their child. He is a fearsome thing who can be made to do fearsome tasks. He does. Briefly, in terms of gender role perspective, the reader feels that Stephen Rose wants to mold beings and wants to transgress to maternal life-breathing roles not because of esteem for women, not because he even knows traditional womanly virtues. He seems most driven to absorb creation as Power. He grasps and wrestles. He wants to usurp the female role as an expression of dominance. According to me. Give Clay a read. I found the ending . . . well, let’s just say, what’s the point of it all?! Maybe you can tell me the meaning of life. One thing I can say is that, perhaps not surprisingly, the two young men who cross over to “maternity” are by no means deemed admirable. Where have we ever heard that theme before?
Jeanne