Patrick Smith - A Land Remembered

A Land Remembered: Focus on Solomon MacIvey

 

A Land Remembered

The novel A Land Remembered, is full of incredible characters. A Land Remembered focuses on three generations of the MacIvey family who migrated to Florida during the 19^th century. At first there are many struggles that the family has to deal with. They soon adapt to live off the land and start a cattle & citrus business. The character that I thought went through a transformation in the novel was Solomon MacIvey.  

Solomon MacIvey, or Sol, is a third generation MacIvey, who likes to call himself “the least of the MacIveys”. He was born into the cattle business and taught by his father Zech and his grandfather Tobias. After his father dies he decides to leave the wilderness for a new life. This new life was a miserable one because he soon became power hungry, selfish, and obsessed with big business. He uses some of his father’s land to start a business. At first he is saddened by the real estate boom and buildings popping up on either side of his family’s land, however he couldn’t resist the temptation of a profit and soon gave into real estate and created the MacIvey Real Estate and Development Company. Sol soon falls in love with a girl named Bonnie who helps change him. It wasn’t until after her death during a hurricane that he realizes the monster he’s become.
         Sol’s character relates to the environment in two ways: in a positive way before his father’s death, but a negative way after he passes. He realizes he made a mistake of building on the land his father wanted to preserve. I feel that Solomon feels a sense of place in nature, back at Punta Rassa. I believe he has a strong attachment to this place because after he realizes he was utilizing the land wrong, he gives away some of his possessions and returns there as his final resting place.  

  Sadly, Solomon only left behind a physical legacy because he created many buildings and businesses with his family’s name. He realized that he had exploited the land after the damage had already been done, and progress isn’t reversible.

Although Solomon lived a painful life, I choose him because I can feel for him. I feel that he made decisions to misuse the land rather than preserve it because he did not have to go through as many hardships as previous generations had to establish themselves. His parents and grandparents had to create a new life for themselves in the scrub of the Florida wilderness. When Solomon was born he was just taught what they had worked for. He experienced tragedies in his life and using his family’s land for a profit seemed like a good solution. I don’t blame Sol for the choices he made in the novel because I understand his point of view. Like Sol, I am a third generation in America where things come easier for me than they did for my parents or grandparents. My grandparents came from Italy and made a living for themselves. They worked hard and appreciate things differently than I do.

  Overall I enjoyed the book. I thought Patrick Smith did a really awesome job at illustrating early Florida and the hardships that the MacIveys went through.