Paul’s journey to becoming a world class pianist begins in a humble fashion with is father having had unfulfilled dreams of attaining greatness as a pianist, he places much of his desire of this upon Paul encouraging and guiding him. Though his father lacks the means of teaching Paul further and therefore arranges for Paul to be tutored by a professional. It is from this point on that the journey of Paul’s musical career truly comes into light. When Paul first meets Keller he is young, smug and very superficial in his judgements. For he sees Keller as just another teacher such a student as himself. This interpretation could not be further from the truth as we are warned by the intro “First impressions?”, the question mark leaving doubt in our minds about the judgements made. This is emphasised by how Paul is treated by Keller, expecting to marvel Keller with his talent he is swept away when Keller says he doesn’t need to play for “I have heard hands like this before”. Paul soon realises his inaccurate first impressions of Keller and sees that there is more to him than face value. With Keller’s guidance Paul’s musical ability begins to improve greatly and show great promise. His journey continues further as he enters various competitions around Australia and claims may titles though for all this he is not content for in his mind the real test of his talent lies in the music halls of Vienna. His choice to travel to Vienna proves to be both a test of his talent and the turning point of his journey. For in this city of music and sophistication he realises after many failures at winning and being recognised, the true extent and short comings of his talent. With this realisation comes the reality that his journey to greatness is at an end and his dreams will never be attained. In this way, Goldsworthy created a journey which was pivotal in the novel of “maestro”.
With this is the journey of Paul going from childhood through adolescence to adulthood. For the way in which Goldsworthy depicts this is through Paul’s maturing and interactions wit the other characters. In this we see how Paul interprets others seeing many as being inferior to himself. Keller, his teacher who is lucky to be able to each such a talent as he posses, Keller, the fugitive Nazi war criminal, Keller, the drunk. All descriptions that Goldsworthy was depict the smug young Paul that cannot see past the superficial. This is also evident in his lust for Megan, the cumulus of curls, the nape of her neck, all are based upon the superficial misinterpretations of Paul. Though these are important for it is from his experiences and realisations with both Keller and Megan that he matures past childhood and into adulthood. For Keller soon comes to light as the great Maestro he is and his importance to Paul as not only a teacher but also a close friend. With Megan he develops an intimate relationship with though is disappointed in what she truly is and with this leaves behind his superficial childhood mind and matures. With this he notices another girl who he begins to love not only physically but emotionally and with this enters the adult frame of mind. In my mind, Goldsworthy did well in his choice to depict Paul growing up in this fashion and presented it well as a journey.
In both aspects the journey is very important to the novel. Paul’s journey of musical discovery and self realisation is pivotal in being one of the foundations for the novel and in partnership with the journey of growing up became key to the flow and progression of Goldsworthy’s novel, “Maestro”.
Overall Level of Performance: ACHIEVEMENT WITH EXCELLENCE
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