Inkling Explorations Link-Up // August 2015 & New Must-See Buttons!!!

As this is our fourth Inklings month I decided it’s high time to mix in some new buttons!

How do you all like them? :) Feel free to use any—or all five!

And our topic for this month is: A scene happening on/at/around a train or train station 

July specific notes: Selections can be from either books or films

And you can probably all guess my choice.... ;) Yes, indeed—the ending scene in the '04 North and South! (And a couple notes: while I love both versions of N&S, the following specifically applies to the BBC '04 adaptation with Richard Armitage and Daniela Denby-Ashe. Also, I’m actually lifting this post almost entirely from my review which you can read in full here.)

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And now for our North and South scene in which the themes of the entire wonderful story are captured to brilliant perfection. 

First, the train appears throughout—beginning and ending the film, tying it completely and richly together with its portrayal of continuation and change—and while the ending scene (with its kissing at a public place) may or may not be historically accurate, from a story perspective it’s dazzling. 

In the beginning, while hoping to remain settled, Margaret finds herself uprooted to a new and completely foreign world. And with that catalyst (even as she tries to remain fixed within herself) the ground is pulled from beneath her by the inescapable rushing forward of life. Everything she had deemed simple and immovable—her world, her entire family, even her own mind, opinions, and (at last) emotions—are caught in that great unstoppable impetus. 

From the beginning there’s a ripeness and maturity about her. Yet with that softness there’s also an inflexibility—a resistant immobility—dyed into her very character and desire for a solidity of place, for the clearly delineated safety found in habitual routine and a clearly defined social world. There’s safety in stagnation... while change can involve both danger and heartache. 

But real change generally comes unasked and unlooked for. 

Margaret learns she cannot box herself and she cannot box others in closely defined categories. Yet one of the greatest things I love about the story is that—changing—she doesn’t lose who she is. Lovely and gracious, she’s still Margaret, but—growing in humility—she learns also an active, diligent rest. 

So comes the train station at the end. The station—that stopping place in the forward push of life and progress—that place with the dizzying potential for a full face, 180-degree turn. The stopping place encapsulating those few, tangible, epic—fully historic—moments in life that completely reorient us, changing everything. Yet again. 

And arriving at such a stopping place Margaret reaches forward to the future—finding tried and tested strength to lean on—finding again a field of rich fulfillment and labor.

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As always, entries are open through the end of the month and I can’t wait to see your selections! Remember, you can write as little or as much as you like. And don’t forget to check out and share one of the new buttons!

Naomi @ Wonderland Creek
Inkling Explorations in Gone With the Wind @ a room of one's own
Hamlette @ The Edge of the Precipice
Rose @ An Old Fashioned Girl
Natalie @ Raindrops on Roses & Whiskers on Kittens

*Rules*

1. Post the Inklings button on your sidebar.

2. Do a post on your own blog relating to the month's selection/subject (a literary excerpt as short or as long as you like AND/OR—if specified that month—a screencap from a film with an explanation of how the scene builds/develops the story). Link back here somewhere in your post.

3. Come back here and paste your link in the comments box and I'll add it to the post. Then enjoy visiting and reading everyone else's contributions!

That's all there is to it!

Up next month: A Funny Story Opening in Literature