The Minutes as a Living Record

Women Talking

August Epp’s written record preserves the women’s arguments and becomes a symbol of survival, memory, and future literacy.

increasing

Bearing strength in each event

decreasing

A Recorder Appointed A Recorder Appointed from "Women Talking". Writing for the Women A Practical Assignment Ona Friesen asks August Epp to record the meetings because the women cannot write minutes themselves.

A Recorder Appointed from "Women Talking". Writing for the Women A Practical Assignment Ona Friesen asks August Epp to record the meetings because the women cannot write minutes themselves.

Writing for the Women A Practical Assignment Ona Friesen asks August Epp to record the meetings because the women cannot write minutes themselves. He notes the irony of recording their words for people unable to read them. A Record Requested Anyway The women want the meetings preserved as an artifact for others. The document begins as a tool whose readers and uses remain unknown.

A Document in Hiding A Document in Hiding from "Women Talking". Words Must Be Concealed The Meeting Interrupted When Klaas Loewen appears, the women hide the written lists and August’s papers under the table.

A Document in Hiding from "Women Talking". Words Must Be Concealed The Meeting Interrupted When Klaas Loewen appears, the women hide the written lists and August’s papers under the table.

Words Must Be Concealed The Meeting Interrupted When Klaas Loewen appears, the women hide the written lists and August’s papers under the table. The record is dangerous because it makes their plans visible. A Performance of Normality The women pretend they were quilting. August joins the lie, while the minutes wait beneath the table as evidence of a gathering the colony does not permit.

The Pages as Inheritance The Pages as Inheritance from "Women Talking". A Future Reader August’s Request August asks Salome Friesen to give the minutes to Ona.

The Pages as Inheritance from "Women Talking". A Future Reader August’s Request August asks Salome Friesen to give the minutes to Ona.

A Future Reader August’s Request August asks Salome Friesen to give the minutes to Ona. He knows Ona cannot read them now, but hopes her child may read them someday. Beyond Immediate Use Salome points out that the pages might become kindling. Their usefulness depends on survival, yet August still entrusts the record to the women.

Writing After Departure Writing After Departure from "Women Talking". August Continues A List of Good Things August follows Agata Friesen’s request to write lists of memories and plans.

Writing After Departure from "Women Talking". August Continues A List of Good Things August follows Agata Friesen’s request to write lists of memories and plans.

August Continues A List of Good Things August follows Agata Friesen’s request to write lists of memories and plans. He records sun, stars, pails, birth, language, and people he cannot keep with him. The Record Changes Purpose The minutes no longer serve only the women’s meeting. Writing helps August remain present in life rather than return to his plan for suicide.

The Record Becomes Life The Record Becomes Life from "Women Talking". A Document and a Decision The Purpose Reconsidered August realizes the minutes may have mattered as much for him as for the women.

The Record Becomes Life from "Women Talking". A Document and a Decision The Purpose Reconsidered August realizes the minutes may have mattered as much for him as for the women.

A Document and a Decision The Purpose Reconsidered August realizes the minutes may have mattered as much for him as for the women. Taking them forced him to remain engaged and attentive. An Incomplete Testimony He gives the record to Salome, while the women’s destination and fate remain unknown. The pages preserve a beginning, not a completed history.

June 6, 2009, before the first meeting

June 6, 2009, when Klaas enters the loft

June 7, 2009, before Salome leaves the loft

June 7, 2009, after the women leave the hayloft

Near the novel’s ending, as August watches the unconscious men