49 pages • 1 hour read
Paulette JilesSimon the Fiddler
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2020A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
Clothing
Denoted by the colors of the Union and Confederate jackets, the different clothing the characters wear symbolizes their social status and power within the turbulent Civil War and postwar landscape. Simon is especially aware of this and often weaponizes clothing to sell an image of himself and others. Much of the band’s money repeatedly goes towards buying new clothes, whether bullet-riddled white shirts or fancier shirts and cravats; without new clothes and tidy appearances, the men cannot find employment.
Simon’s insistence that they dress like civilians to get paid, as soldiers would not get paid for playing music, shows his awareness of social dynamics that other characters might ignore. By repeatedly describing Simon’s efforts to find suitable clothing for his purposes, Jiles emphasizes the importance of appearances in this contemporary culture. Jiles specifically emphasizes the need for men to be put together and the struggles and expenses therein. This articulates the theme of War, Violence, and the Complex Signifiers of Masculinity. As symbolized through the bullet-ridden shirts that the men buy, war has made presenting oneself well complicated, yet they must adopt the best appearance they can to earn their place in society as respectable men.
Land Ownership
Land ownership is a motif that emphasizes the text’s definition of freedom and independence. Land ownership at the time was practically equivalent to citizenship and voting rights. To own land is not just to have property; at the time, it was equivalent to being recognized as a person of value. Despite the importance of owning land, the novel also emphasizes the instability of the process in postwar America; paperwork is often ignored under the rule of violence.
At first, the reasons behind Simon’s desire to own land are vague and ill-defined; while they eventually solidify after Doris enters his life, the reasons why he wants to own land are consistent. In his view, owning land makes him a man and makes him more powerful. While music gives him a certain social power and a language with which to communicate, owning land will gain him the respect of others, Doris included. Simon’s quest to buy land parallels his quest to, in a sense, possess Doris. He cannot have one without the other; he needs the land to earn Doris’s respect and needs Doris to make the land worth owning. The recurrent motif of the land Simon dreams about owning gives him a practical goal for which to fight.
Musical Instruments
Musical instruments, particularly Simon’s fiddle, form the motif that relates to Music as a Universal Language and Form of Connection. Simon’s fiddle is an immediate signifier of Simon’s value to the communities he enters. He is given a specific role in the Confederate army due to his musical talent and is welcomed in places that might ordinarily reject him because he can play the fiddle. His fiddle is essentially an extension of himself and his humanity; as a result, when the sheriff breaks it at the end of the novel, it leads to the sheriff’s ostracization and Simon’s acquittal. Destroying a musical instrument in a world that desperately relies on music as a communicator of joy and hope is a barbaric act not just to the musician, but to the community, and the sheriff is punished accordingly.
Despite this development of the motif, musical instruments are also limiting. Simon is the titular fiddler and struggles to expand beyond that reputation. Despite his pride in his abilities and this reputation, it does create problems with his relationship to Doris and how people treat him—he is often treated as an object that plays music rather than a person. In many ways, breaking the fiddle is symbolic of Simon moving into a new life. Even if he picks up a new fiddle or a new instrument, the Simon who existed prior to Doris and marriage disappeared with the broken fiddle.
Related Titles
By Paulette Jiles
