Book Analysis: The Descent Of Alette

In the book The Descent of Alette by Alice Notley, the book is a twist to what readers would expect. In the story, a girl name Alette is chosen for a certain mission and she goes in not knowing what to expect. Alette goes on these journey and face with challenges that she must overcome, but it is more about the destination then than the journey itself. One of the important theme throughout the book is transformation. The story of Alette uses the traditional epic form, where the narration are told in verse or in meter and it retells the the journey of a single person or group. In this case, Alette is the person who becomes the hero in the story and also is the narrator of the story. In the traditional story, they consist of mostly men hero;

She incorporates the the myth of Persephone (Greek), the Descent of Inanna (Sumerian). She also alludes to Dante's Inferno and The Odyssey. With all the myths that were incorporated into the story, each character had to go through a transformation to get to where they are. Each character also descended; hence, the title Descent of Alette. Alette had to descend into the different realm and learn to transform into an owl. She woke up on a subway that nevers end and is guarded by a tyrant who does not allow anyone to surface and to surface comes with a price. In the beginning of the story starts like this. “& found myself on” “a subway, endlessly”... “a tyrant” “a man in charge of” “the fact” “that we were” below the ground” endlessly riding” “our, trains, never surfacing” “A man who” “would make you pay” “so much” “to leave the subway” (3). Alette has become the chosen one and goes through a series of challenges. As she goes through each door there is a lack of transition due to the face of dream logic. An example would be “I stepped through” “the archway” “& there was” another door”.... “As I went on,” “a next cave” “a next entrance would” “be in front of me” (49). With a descent there is always a