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Ophelia

Oct 29th, 2021 by

Since Hamlet, the name Ophelia has been pseudonymous with despair and tragedy in every form of media which makes Bellocq’s Ophelia all the more interesting. The ideas of discomfort, hiding oneself, objectification, race, and gender are prevalent throughout the piece. 

Within the book, Ophelia is not her own until she herself becomes a photographer and even then she struggles because of her identity, a mixed-race woman. The title itself hints at the idea she is not her own. She’s Bellocq’s Ophelia and she follows in his footsteps becoming a photographer herself. Before that, she’s called Violet at the brothel where she works. She has to disguise herself as white enough and black enough, stupid enough and smart enough. She’s well educated and a hard worker but where she finds herself she must hide parts of herself and become just enough to meet people’s expectations. 

My personal favorite poem was Countess P–’s Advice for New Girls. In it, the use of fragments creates a strange but understandable picture for new girls of the house. Each paragraph flows independently and is tied together by broken sentences. It gives the poem, and the actions described within it, a natural feel independent and it definitely connects but, at the same time, it feels broken and like it’s moving at an odd pace. The actions described are made out to be both natural and doable but also unnatural and uncomfortable to do.

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A Streetcar Named Desire

Oct 29th, 2021 by

Throughout A Streetcar Named Desire, themes of escape and the struggle between fantasy and reality are explored through several unique and artistic ways. 

Blanche, the protagonist, constantly tries to escape themes of death which seem to follow her everywhere regardless. She tries to escape the reality of her life-changing by lying to herself and those around her. She tends to run and deceive herself and others to avoid her problems.

Stanley, the antagonist, and arguably Blanche’s foil character, is firmly set in a reality that cripples and crushes him. He uses drinking to try to cope and perhaps escape but tends to bring those problems he tried to forget with him, taking these things out on the people around him and his home. 

The set of the play points at another important aspect of the central theme stated above: reality is inescapable. The set is an apartment open to the street. There is no sort of shelter or protection from the space outside the apartment. It leaves everything visible to everyone and gives the characters nowhere to hide. The audience can see this discomfort and the street helps highlight different plot points as they happen in the apartment like Stanley’s violence or Blanche’s promiscuity. This set makes every lie Blanche tells completely null and void. The audience can literally see the truth. Conversely, this means for Stanley there is no separation between the pressures and stresses of the world outside the apartment and the people within the apartment. There is no sanctuary for either character exposing them to the harsh reality of the world around them and exposing their actions to the audience.

All of this is a uniquely artistic way of demonstrating this central theme of fantasy vs. reality. It is something both physical and emotional and adds to an overall sense of vulnerability and discomfort to the play as a whole.

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Identity and Escapism

Oct 28th, 2021 by

Natasha Trethewey’s book, Bellocq’s Ophelia, is full of so much pain and each poem shares a different story, some similar stories, some not. There is a deeper meaning of identity and escapism, one or both being reflected in each and every poem. The main character, Ophelia, seems to have no “real identity.” She is a different person for every occasion to appease the “audience” around her. She is not only a woman, but a woman of color and she is forced to turn to prostituion for a living. March 1991, is a poem that starts off about her childhood, in it she states, “Later, I took arsenic – tablets I swallowed/to keep me fair, bleached white as stone./Whiter still, I am a reversed silhouette/against the black backdrop where I pose, now.” She is forced to conform into something- someone, that will be accepted by society. She seems to dissociate during the photography process as a way to deal with it.

She really just wants to forget all of her trauma. She wants and pleads for acceptance, for being able to exist how she pleases. She has no sense of who she truly is anymore, just what everyone wants her to be – the person she conforms into for the sake of them, for the sake of being able to exist. It’s sad really and it reflects in the emotion and wording of each poem, all of the pain she holds and feels. She is invisible to those around her, they only see what they want, what benefits them. She is forced to mold into their perception, never truly getting to be who she is or learn more about herself.

More specifically, molding into the male gaze. Which takes such a toll on a person, especially her. She doesn’t get to be a poet, a writer, smart, a photographer – nothing but an object, an object to be photographed and subjected to others wants. This is the only way she can make a living, the only way she can exist. She thinks back to her childhood, she reflects on these memories and they cause her to stay still. She learns to be still and quiet. She says it’s her being a lady, she knows how to be a lady, though I think it’s another part of her losing her identity for the sake of others, being groomed and prepared for this part of her life.

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Crooked Work of Art

Oct 28th, 2021 by

“A picture is worth a thousand words,” coined by Henrik Isben, according to Google, is the phrase that comes to mind when reading “Bellocq’s Ophelia” because Natasha Tretheway proved him wrong. She gave meaning to Bellocq’s images; without her creating narrative, we’d just believe that he was a man with a weird hobby who just so happened to capture history. The poet’s tale and the picture could truly go hand in hand. Her story does follow one fictional octoroon prostitute but the portrayal of life could resonate with many like her during that time. Sought after only because of the fetishization men possess to want to dominate a ‘black women in white skin’. Constantly, questioning her own identity and how she is viewed by herself, others, and to Bellocq’s camera lens.

All viewpoints of her identity can be narrowed down to one thing; to sculpt herself to fit what is desired. Throughout the book, she morph’s her own image to please a plethora of men whose requests vary. In the poem, February 1911, she lists what the men tend to want: “nothing but to talk and hear the soft tones of a woman’s voice; others prefer simply to gaze upon me, my face turned from them as they touch only themselves,” and acknowledges that some acts should never be put down on paper. The fear that resonates with her father lingers into adulthood causing her image to be what she holds dear which is why she does her best to satisfy everyone regardless of their pronouns. Having him gaze upon her as though he sees her, the true her riddled with imperfections and mask crumbled. In Father, she says, “I wanted him to like me, think me smart/, delicate colored girl-not the wild/ pickaninny roaming the fields, barefoot.” Her education lessons are stripped away from her; she even stumbles to write grammatically correct, but I guess it doesn’t really matter in a diary. It’s just the appropriate place to be unapologetically defenseless. She, like the contortionist mentioned in Vignette, is always putting on a show, contorting into someone else to please a crowd. The acts constantly cause her to shield the world from her true identity which she progressively grows tiresome of and eventually comes out from behind the facade in the end. 

The unfathomable acts she performs in prostitution aren’t the only audience, but also, the lens of Bellocq. She shares in her letters how she feels uncomfortable in front of the lens only to, again, have to suck it up and meet the photographic demands asked of her because he believes she is “right for the camera”. (Portrait #2) However, peering into her diary the reader knows that Ophelia knows none of it is real– just a facade to capture a moment of ‘truth’ or ‘beauty’ that if not encapsulated at the right moment will be destroyed by a scratch of a fingernail. For the majority of the novel, Ophelia is stuck inside the frame of what others would like her to be, an image distorted by the world’s need in order to survive. Even when she is not working, walking the streets of New Orleans she feels it’s necessary to gain acceptance by passersby. In a Letter Home, Ophelia writes, “Do I deceive/ anyone? Were they to see my hands, brown/ as your dear face, they’d know I’m not quite/ what I pretend to be”. She constantly tries to blend into the background and not to draw attention to herself, so no one would notice that she’s a negress passing as one of them, especially a lewd and promiscuous woman. 

Acting, in general, is a centralized aspect of Ophelia’s life since birth. Whether it is trying to impress a customer, posing for a photo, or simply walking down the street, Ophelia is never fulfilled in her own skin. She is always behaving in a certain manner to meet the expectations of others and loses part of herself in this process. The question that can never truly be answered; was the lessons of race equates to worth that sent her to question herself or was it when she took initiative to solicit herself to stay finically afloat? Either way, along the process she lost herself through it her experiences. Ultimately, just becomes a snapshot, a picture of a woman still in place; as mysterious as an illusion open to perception. Similar to the Duck-Rabbit Ambiguous Figure where every answer is correct. There is no right or wrong about who Ophelia is because she herself does not know, which is why in this telling of Bellocq’s work she is perfect for the lens. No individuality shines though thus why no real communication is there, just a blank canvas ready to be labeled by the observer. 

 

 

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Complex Character?

Oct 28th, 2021 by

In Walker Percy’s book, The Moviegoer, the main character Binx seems like any ordinary womanizing man. From the title, I expected he would be an avid movie watcher instead of a self-proclaimed film enthusiast. The book is well written and I believe it shows how well Binx is written by my distaste for him as a person. The readers are taken on this ride through Binx’s current state of life. Through his “time” with his secretaries, his time at the movie theater, and time with his family. He spends quite a bit of time in the book explaining what he sees and feels.

He doesn’t even have “depth” in his search for- well we are not entirely sure what he is searching for he doesn’t state it and instead states it would be too complicated, but I believe it is meaning to his existence or life itself.  Binx is full of despair and is an overall “debbie downer” or “negative nancy” and it leads him on this quest of finding the meaning of life. He uses his secretaries to feel something, but in the end he does get married. I wouldn’t say Binx is a complex character or even has a lot of depth, he just has bad coping strategies, though he comes across as if he wants to be “complex.”

He is simply a result of what he feels; and instead of getting to the bottom of it or trying to understand, he tends to use the women around him. Binx seems quite boring in his nature, but again it shows he is well written by my distaste for him. He wants more in life and he is sick of how he feels. Though being depressed and womanizing doesn’t make for a “complex character.” He complains a lot about New Orleans specifically in the beginning, but as the book goes on he complains about everything. Nothing seems to be good enough for him, but maybe this is why he is full of so much melancholy. He tries feeling his void with women which obviously doesn’t work and makes some readers despise him.

Although, I feel like it is a fairly realistic book. Someone feeling the void with meaningless sex then running off on a search for a deeper meaning for life – that is what a lot of people do with college. Binx is just an ordinary person.

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Struggles and Perceptions

Oct 28th, 2021 by

Belloq’s Ophelia, is a character that is trapped between society’s limitations and who she can be if she were afforded the same opportunities as white men at this time. Lacking the opportunities and jobs afforded to white women and discriminated against for being a woman of color, she is forced to turn to prostitution to make a living. “I did not accept then, though I had tea with her- the first I’d had in days. And later, too hungry to reason, I spent the last of my purse on a good meal. It was to her that I went when I had to leave my hotel, and I am as yet adjusting to my new life” (Trethewey, 12). Sadly, not an uncommon situation in 1911 for a rural woman seeing the glimmer and opportunities of the city. Few jobs in 1911 would hire a woman, even fewer that would hire a woman of color. Many women turned to sex work in turn for enough money to feed themselves and often a hungry family. “I thought not to do the work I once did, back- bending and domestic; my schooling a gift- even those half days at picking time, listening to Miss J-” (Trethewey, 8). 

Trethewey provided an ending that really drove home that it was society and their limitations upon Ophelia that truly trapped her. In the end, Ophelia becomes a photographer, armed with knowledge of what Bellocq taught her. “Now I wait for departure, the whistle’s shrill calling. The first time I tried this shot I thought of my mother shrinking against the horizon- so distracted. I looked into a capped lens, saw only my own clear eye” (Trethewey, 46). 

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The Ideals that Created Ophelia

Oct 27th, 2021 by

Bellocq’s Ophelia by Natasha Trethewey is a powerful look into how women of the past (and possibly still today) were positioned in a man’s world.  Although these poems take place in the early 1900s and are built around the prostitutes that Bellocq has so carefully photographed, what is most prominent about them is the fact that these topics about female autonomy are still prevalent today.  The way that Tretheway presents these women solidifies the fact that Storyville was the direct product of how society viewed women.  What is disheartening about them is the fact that although Storyville might be gone the society that created it is still present and the sexism that was there before is still here. 

The poem entry under Letter’s from Storyville dated March 1911 is about the ideals that families instill in their daughters and how they translate to Ophelia’s work in prostitution. As young women, girls are often taught how to please men by being attractive, sociable, dainty, and graceful to be able to acquire a husband. This can be seen in a portion of the poem where Ophelia states, 

“It troubles me to think that I am suited 

for this work -spectacle and fetich-

A pail odalisque. But then I recall,

My earliest training -childhood-how 

My mother taught me to curtsey and be still

So that I may please a whiteman, my father, 

For him, I learned to shape my gestures,

Practiced expressions on my pliant face.” (Trethewey 20) 

  From this portion of the story, we are told how Ophila feels that prostitution doesn’t go against what was taught to her by her parents as from a young age it was ingrained in her to always please the male gaze. In the past the most education women got was based solely on etiquette and how to market themselves to a man. Thus, society inherently taught women they are only important for the pleasure that they can give men.  Prostitution caters to this mindset that society has created as prostitution is after all just another way that women market their bodies to men.  What is most disturbing about this statement Ophelia makes is that she indicates that any girl would be able to do her job as they all have been brought up and groomed the same way.  To add to this issue is the fact that a man’s world makes no room for professional independent women so prostitution became the only answer for women to survive on their own.   

At the beginning of this collection of poems, it starts with a few letters from the main character, Ophelia, to her friend Constance.  In these letters we watch Ophelia go from a struggling independent woman to a prostitute.  However, this was not a choice Ophelia wanted to make. As a woman of color, she couldn’t find work despite the fact that she was educated and eloquently spoken.  Ophelia states, “No one needs a girl” (Trethewey 7).  When Ophelia had no other option than to sell her body for food and housing she offered herself up to the imprisonment of prostitution.  As it can be seen, the fact that men don’t allow room for women in a professional setting means they have no choice but to once again cater to men.  It is almost as if the man’s world said, “if you can’t keep you locked away in the house then we will have you another way”.  Readers continuously see this idea of ownership of a woman’s body presented throughout this collection of poems. 

Under the Storyville Diary portion of this book is a poem called Bellocq where Ophelia is describing the scene of her posing for Bellocq’s pictures.  The last few stanzas of the poem read, “I’m not so foolish that I don’t know this photograph we make will bear the stamp of his name, not mine” (Trethewey 39).  What is so significant about this statement is that this picture with Bellocq’s name is physical proof of how men take ownership of the bodies of women.  After all, this photo of Ophelia depicts her body in the way she decides to present herself yet Bellocq has decided to take claim of this image of Ophelia. 

What makes these poems so revolutionary is the fact that Trethewey has thrown these prostitutes into the light as if they were some of the first radical feminists. When the United States talks about prominent women in our society who fought against the “man’s world” and rose to fame, we usually bring up women from wealthy families who had the resources and power to do what they wanted. We hardly ever talk about the women who were not so lucky to have those circumstances and had to give up their very bodies for their independence.  Often prostitutes of the past are some of the most looked down upon characters of history. However, the poems that lay within Bellocq’s Ophelia show this specific group of women as the trailblazers of feminism and how the blame of these “crimes” they commit are actually to be blamed on the society that created them.  The feminist movements that were started then are still present today for the sole fact that women still have to fight for ownership of their own bodies and their free will.       

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Ophelia as Prisoner of Perception

Oct 27th, 2021 by

In Bellocq’s Ophelia, the group of prostitutes from New Orleans ‘ redlight district in the early 20th century are represented by Ophelia. Her character functions as an everywoman that encompasses the story told in E.J. Bellocq’s Portraits.

Bellocq’s Ophelia is a poetic analysis of perception at its core. The action is all driven by perception, even the inspiration is from photographs, which capture the subjects to be perceived by others. In the beginning of the collection, Ophelia attempts to get a secretarial job as a white woman. She is leaning on people’s perception of her as a white woman even though she has been classified as an octoroon by societal standards of race. Possibly because she was unable to pass and the potential employers saw her as a woman of color, Ophelia was unable to obtain one of these office jobs. In her failure to, she turns to prostitution.

The reader’s first introduction to the brothel is through the poem “Countess P—-‘s Advice for New Girls”. The piece uses a mirror to demonstrate perception and the male gaze. Ophelia is instructed to “see [herself] through his eyes” and then to move her body according to what would be pleasing to him. Already, Ophelia fails to be perceived as white so she must turn to a brothel where she is taught how to be perceived by men. As the epitaph by Toni Morrison suggests, Ophelia did not have whiteness or maleness to fall back on. She had only herself to lean into.

The very nature of photographs is perception. The second epitaph reads, “nevertheless, the camera’s rendering of reality must always hide more than it discloses,” drawing forth the wonder of what Bellocq’s camera is disclosing. His images of women both dressed up and posed naked tell a story. Natasha Tretheway turned her perception of the women behind Bellocq’s lens into a narrative of a woman trapped under her identity.

 

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Identity vs. Perception in Bellocq’s Ophelia

Oct 27th, 2021 by

Identity was a clear theme throughout Bellocq’s Ophelia, within the first poem it paints a picture of the relationship between the Ophelia of Millais’s painting versus the photographed prostitutes of Storyville, New Orleans. The similarities between how they’re viewed, being trapped in a sense, and how they’re more so known for their final pictures. That moment captured in time was important, but Trethewey’s poems explored a more intimate look at a woman’s life as one of the nameless women photographed. In “Letter Home” she asked questions like “Do I deceive anyone?” and there’s this idea that she had eyes on her at all time, that somehow something about her mannerisms or appearances gave away her being a mixed woman in these times. The imagery of the parlor being lined with mirrors, constantly reflecting different angles of both the speaker and of others reinforced the idea of being under scrutiny and observation. “For our customers / you must learn to be watched…” “Become what you must” (p. 11).

The speaker explored the delicate gray area of treading what one has to become to survive and holding onto who someone thinks they are. Once she began working as a prostitute, Countess P. took bits of Ophelia’s life, hinting at her past through her abilities and through her new name she was supposed to go by. It was so simple, but Ophelia’s identity ( how she’s supposed to portray herself, and the way that she was supposed to present herself in order to make a living) became so warped. It almost felt like she, and others, were looking at her through a sort of foggy mirror; there was an idea of who she is, but through necessity she becomes almost distorted as time went on. Ophelia ascertained that “I alone / have made this choice” on p. 15 but in this time there really wasn’t, it was between going hungry or resorting to prostitution so there also seemed to be a kind of internal struggle to say that she had agency over her own life as a way of consoling her friend (or anyone who may read this quasi-diary). The same idea was explored through her relationship with being photographed, how even though she was the subject she still knew who she was could only be filtered through Bellocq’s gaze. Even the fact that the last poem is from Bellocq’s perspective where he seemed to be talking about her was interesting, the final image of her in the book wasn’t even from her own perspective. Who she is and what she wants is to start over with a new identity and a quiet place and I think that goal is the closest that even she came to understanding herself.

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January 1911

Oct 26th, 2021 by

In Bellocq’s Ophelia, we aren’t told a lot about the character writing, but rather we have to piece together the clues ourselves. One entry I keep coming back to is January 1911. In this, Ophelia is writing in response to her friend Constance. In this letter, she reveals that being unable to find a job she has taken a job under Countess P___ at her brothel in Storyville. We do not see Constance’s letter so we can piece together what she is saying in Ophelia’s letter.

“I know you are driven to such harsh words, out of your concern for me, and second, out of your gentle piousness which I still fondly recall-” (15). From this, we piece together after hearing the work her friend was now doing Constance most likely freaked out and it was clear in her letter. She cares for her friend and is worried about the life she is now living. However, Ophelia is quick to reassure her.
“My dear, please do not think I am the wayward girl you describe. I alone have made this choice. Save what I pay for board, what I earn is mine. Now my labor is my own.” (15).

We don’t often think about women who are doing sex work as, making this choice willingly. Usually, we assume it is out of desperation or they were forced/manipulated into this lifestyle. This presents a different perspective that this is Ophelia’s choice and she doesn’t seem to be regretting it. In a world where sex is such a taboo subject, especially for women, Ophelia has seemed to reclaim herself sexually from whatever she had run from. This is a very different perspective from what we are used to having of the Red Light District.

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Bellocq’s Ophelia

Oct 26th, 2021 by

This book was different from the rest of the works that we have covered in class. The foremost and most obvious trait of this book is that it is a collection of poems about a sex worker. A close second is the fact that this book focuses on a mixed woman of color as the main character, surrounded by women of a similar background in a ‘colored brothel,’ considered a rarity in New Orleans. Ophelia, the main protagonist, is a woman of mixed race and has been groomed from a young age. By her mother, she was taught to curtsy properly, given arsenic to whiten her skin to appear pretty for her father. By the owner/matriarch of the brothel she is trapped in, Countess P___ trains her in dance, entertainment, and courtesan mannerisms. The Countess teaches all new girls how to become appealing to customers and photographers alike, to ‘let him see whatever he needs.’ (pg 11) Throughout parts two and three of the book, Ophelia observes her surroundings, speaking of her life, troubles, and lamentations, in letters to her friend Constance and her diary. The time of the letters spans from 1910-12. Other poems are picture descriptions and imagined stories of the prostitutes–the women are described as bawds or women who have given themselves over to lewdness–photographed by Bellocq, which portray the women as delightfully human, a novel idea ahead of Bellocq’s time, unshared with the public. 

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Race in Bellocq’s Ophelia

Oct 26th, 2021 by

In Bellocq’s Ophelia, race plays a strong role as it plays a much bigger role in comparison to The Awakening, A Streetcar Named Desire, and The Moviegoer. Upon first glance, anyone could say “It’s because the main characters in the other three stories are white, while Ophelia is white-passing.” While that is true, it speaks to a much larger observation. In the stories where the main focus is on a white character, any and all Black characters are pushed to the sidelines. This is the exact opposite of how New Orleans is usually depicted these days. When people think of New Orleans, they think of jazz, second line, Mardi Gras, and maybe Princess and the Frog if you’re lucky. For example, in The Awakening, there was a Black woman who was looking after the Pontellier boys. Readers aren’t given any information about her. We don’t know her name, her background, whether or not she has her own children, etc. She was just there. The same could be said in A Streetcar Named Desire, where any Black person was only mentioned in passing as they are in the background. This time, it’s the exact opposite. Ophelia is a white-passing black woman who has memories of living on a plantation. Her father is a white man, most likely her former enslaver, whom her mother forces her to obtain the approval of. One of the poems references a lynching and how her mother would go to great lengths to hide so they would not get in trouble (Page 22).

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Bellocqs Ophelia

Oct 26th, 2021 by

This book is very different from the other 3 books we have read in many ways. Firstly, it is poems instead of a novel which right aways gives it a different vibe. Secondly, the “characters” are people of class and high status. This is a fact I actually enjoy because I feel we are able to see the point of view of actual people especially the women of New Orleans. The poems especially January 1911 paints perfectly the picture of how many women’s relationships with friends and family changed since they started working in Storyville.The line that says whoever the author was writing to was too simple to be able understand her new life and that was okay basically describes how must people doing sex work feel. Lastly, I like that this book actually talks about black people. In the other 3 books black people were overlooked or simple nameless background characters they gave little to none contribution to the story but yet somewhat acknowledged. In Bellocqs Ophelia black women were apart of the story and their lives were shown a little more.

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Perspective in Bellocq’s Ophelia

Oct 26th, 2021 by

For me, one of the most interesting parts about reading Bellocq’s Ophelia was the differences in perspective throughout the collection of poems.  The collection starts with a poem that doesn’t seem to have a set perspective.  In fact, it almost seems like the reader is watching from outside the scene, watching as if we were a wallflower, silently observing the end of Ophelia’s life in the painting.  It both seems distant and all knowing at the same time.

The poem immediately after is written like a letter being sent to home.  Here, it’s clear we’re looking through Ophelia’s lens as if she was writing that letter in the moment, asking about her family and providing updates on her new job, despite having no work at the time.  This isn’t the first time a poem was phrased as a letter, directed to a specific someone to read.  In fact, two other poems both started as “My Dearest Constance.”  These three instances were the only poems that were written from Ophelia’s point of view, but otherwise were not directed to what I presumed to be herself.

There were a few other poems that were not from Ophelia’s perspective were the ones that were viewing at Ophelia herself – the poems written from Bellocq’s point of view.  These poems are looking at Ophelia like Bellocq did through his photography.  They were all carefully worded to showcase the things he thought were important to the final photograph.  For the most part, this was mainly focused on Ophelia and what she was wearing for the photo at the time, though, in the very last poem, Bellocq is remarking Ophelia’s attention as he’s waiting for the right moment to take her picture.  This particular moment I found very interesting, because there weren’t any remarks outside of her own image from Bellocq – only what he was looking for in a photograph – which made him look through a new perspective, as well.

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Sir John Everett Millais, “Ophelia”

Oct 26th, 2021 by

Ophelia 1851-2 Sir John Everett Millais, Bt 1829-1896 Presented by Sir Henry Tate 1894 http://www.tate.org.uk/art/work/N01506

Here’s the caption to this painting at the Tate Gallery in London:

This work shows the death of Ophelia, a scene from Shakespeare’s play Hamlet. Many Victorian painters like Millais used Shakespeare’s plays as inspiration. Hamlet murders Ophelia’s father, and she is so upset she falls into a stream and downs. The flowers she is holding were chosen for their meanings. The poppies symbolise death.

The background was painted from real life. When this picture was made, it was thought to be one of the most accurate studies of nature ever painted. Artist, poet and model Elizabeth Siddall posed for Ophelia in a bath of water at Millais’s studio. The water was meant to be kept warm by lamps underneath, but these went out, and she became ill after spending so long in cold water.

 

 

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Binx’s Relationship with Lonnie in The Moviegoer

Oct 26th, 2021 by

[posted on behalf of a student]
In Walker Percy’s The Moviegoer the main character, Binx, has a very close relationship with his half-brother, Lonnie, who is disabled and uses a wheelchair. Binx says, “He is my favorite, to tell the truth. Like me, he is a moviegoer. He will go see anything. But we are good friends because he knows I do not feel sorry for him. For one thing, he has the gift of believing that he can offer his sufferings in reparation for men’s indifference to the pierced heart of Jesus Christ. For another thing, I would not mind so much trading places with him. His life is a serene business” (Percy 137). They are close because of their shared love of movies, which they feel others don’t fully understand, as well as Binx does not pity Lonnie, which is important to both of them. Binx feels that Lonnie doesn’t need to be pitied because his life is actually pretty good with his faith in God, and Lonnie doesn’t want to be pitied because he feels that his suffering draws him closer to God.

Binx talks about how he feels Sharon thinks he is just being nice to Lonnie by taking him to the movies and is being unselfish, but in reality he isn’t just doing it for Lonnie; he wants to go too. It is this shared love of movies that helps to make their relationship so strong. After the movie Binx says, “A good night: Lonnie happy (he looks around at me with the liveliest sense of the secret between us; the secret is that Sharon is not and never will be onto the little touches we see in the movie and, in the seeing, know that the other sees–as when Clint Walker tells the saddle tramp in the softest easiest old Virginian voice: ‘Mister, I don’t believe I’d do that if I was you’ – Lonnie is beside himself, doesn’t know whether to watch Clint Walker or me), this ghost of a theater, a warm Southern night, the Western Desert and this fine big sweet piece, Sharon” (Percy 144). Lonnie is thrilled not just with the movie but with the shared connection that he and Binx have when watching movies together as devoted moviegoers. This is what brings the two so close together as it is something only the two of them understand.

One of the other things that brings the two so close together are the serious talks that the two of them have. Binx says, “For Lonnie our Sundays together have a program. First we talk, usually on a religious subject; then we take a ride; then he asks me to do him like Akim” (Percy 164). The talks that they have are important to both of them even though Binx is not religious. By having these talks, Lonnie feels like he is understood by Binx with not just movies as most people would not think that a child of Lonnie’s age could be so serious about religion. Binx, on the other hand, recognizes the importance of religion to Lonnie and is willing to talk about it even if he doesn’t agree or believe in religion or God. This creates an even closer bond between the two of them.

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Walker Percy’s Conversion and Binx’s Search

Oct 23rd, 2021 by

On the back flap of The Moviegoer, Walker Percy’s author bio states that before he became a writer he converted to Catholicism. Before he began writing about a search, he conducted his own. Biographical literature on Walker Percy includes his quotations on the matter of his conversion. When asked why he joined the Church, Percy answered, “I believe what the Catholic Church proposes is true.” For a man who had experienced the search that Binx embarked on himself and found an answer, it is impossible that it was not in the back of the author’s mind that the answer to Binx’s despair was found in the Catholic Church.

The novel’s closing paragraph leaves Binx pondering a man’s motives for entering the Catholic parish on Ash Wednesday. He wonders if he is there on a mundane task, or because he believes is God is present in the building. Perhaps, he wonders, he may be coming for a routine errand and leaving with God’s grace anyway. Although Binx concludes that it is impossible to know this one man’s motivation, Walker Percy certainly knew that Binx was in the right place to receive grace. Given Percy’s own persuasion towards the Catholic Church, he certainly wrote Binx in the direction of the Church.

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Stagnant Way of Life

Oct 22nd, 2021 by

As a self-proclaimed expert film watcher, I expect so much more from the protagonist whom I thought I could relate to. Instead, Percy’s Binx Bolling was irritating and uninteresting, a do-nothing, and I wasn’t won over by his frequent jaunts to a movie theater. Initially, I expected to have that constant pull from reality on a whim to connect it to a movie, maybe even possibly disappearing into the characters. However, he did not do such a thing but continued to be annoying and exasperating. In class, we discussed briefly how Walker Percy made a conscious decision to make Binx an “antihero” or nonhero so the character’s lack of participatory status could grow on the reader. The idea is that in the end readers would step back and reflect on the ‘search’ or acknowledge that they too settled for a 9am-5pm routine giving up the mission of finding their own code. Binx, to me, is the embodiment of how many people end up– as an outlier. He consistently shows disdain towards the fabulous New Orleans living. Yet, chooses to live in Gentilly as if it’s superior to other New Orleans neighborhoods. He has gone about having a respectable degree and career, and living a prescribed life, from pledging a top fraternity to passionate participation in Mardi Gras every year, joining a “krewe ” of reputable locals with a float, parade, and ball. As he stated in the book

“I can’t stand the old-world atmosphere of the French Quarter or the genteel charm of the Garden District,” Binx declares. So much for tourists in New Orleans! He resides on the long-running street Elysian Fields, but as far from downtown as possible. He’s rented a basement apartment in an anonymous middle-class neighborhood called (a fictitious name) Gentilly. Binx is proud that “one would never guess it was part of New Orleans.”

Almost as if he’s acting as an extra in his own movie. A movie called Life, sorta meta in a way. Binx does what extras do on movie sets; judge others, do what’s asked of them, and be as hidden as possible as to not take attention away from the ‘main characters’. It’s like the mission was to become the ‘main character’ in his life which he sort of does during his excursions with Kate or times when he’s actually enjoying himself. However, in the end (to me) he is now fully accepting his role as the back seat driver of his life by doing what his aunt requested of him in the beginning and marrying which in itself physically traps him in a role where he probably won’t leave. 

He chose to be mundane but rises to the occasion as high as he can in regard to those who ask of him at times. Life is full of disappointments and in the end, everydayness is inescapable. You become engulfed in the routine that eventually becomes you. Thus, the moviegoer and never the movie star.

 

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Malaise, Despair and the Human Condition

Oct 22nd, 2021 by

The Moviegoer by Walker Percy is interestingly named as the novel itself has less to do with an avid film enthusiast and more to do with a man who is fixated on finding the meaning of life.  Jack “Binx” Bolling, also known as the moviegoer, is a stock and bond broker in 1950s New Orleans who when not at work fills his time with money, sex, and more interestingly movies.  Binx’s moviegoing is quite different from his other past times as he uses the scenes and the stories within them as an avenue for this “search” that he is on.  Binx never really explains what his search is as he states it would be too complicated to explain.  However, it is quite obvious that Binx is suffering from what we know to be the human condition. He does not know who he is or why he exists which concludes that this search of his is a search to find the purpose of life.  

During Binx’s search he never quite finds an answer to his question.  Yet somehow not coming up with an answer is an answer unto itself.  At the beginning of this novel it starts off with a quote by Soren Kierkegaard who is referenced again at the end, “… the specific character of despair is precisely this: it is unaware of being despair”.  Throughout the novel, Binx regularly talks about malaise, “What is the malaise? You ask. The Malaise is the pain of loss.  The world is lost to you.  The world and the people in it, and there remains only you and the world and you are no more able to be in the world than Banquo’s ghost (Percy 121)”.  There is a clear relation here between the words despair and malaise.  Binx explains that he feels most alive when he is experiencing this malaise as it breaks him away from the monotony of life.  This may be due to the fact that loss is such a huge part of being human.  At any given moment we are experiencing some sort of loss whether it be the loss of time we will never get back, the loss of a relationship, a memory, or even a whole other human.

It is through Binx coming to terms with and fully experiencing the feeling of despair that he feels alive which connects back to the quote at the beginning of the novel.  Malaise quite literally is the despair that is explained in the beginning.  Binx is aware of his despair(malaise)which allows him to feel alive because being aware of his despair, as the quote states, allows him to have the possibility to rip away from the unauthentic world he lives in.  What is unknown to Binx and humans as a whole is how to escape fully from this despair that humans seem to be in perpetually.  This discovery that there is no answer is kind of an answer unto itself.  

In another scene Binx has another discovery that supplements this conclusion that presents itself, “I had discovered that a person does not have to be this or be that or be anything, not even oneself.  One is free (Percy 114)”.  The answer to the question of the meaning of life is just that there is no answer.  Part of the human condition is that people have the freedom to form their own meaning or purpose.  For some, this meaning is found in religion which we can see in Lonnie who is Binx’s half-brother, for others, it is success in a field such as Rory the movie star who is walking around New Orleans at the beginning of the novel.  However, this vague answer, if we even want to call it an answer, leaves Binx unsure of what life means to himself as he doesn’t even understand himself.

When Binx returns to Chicago with Kate Cuter, his cousin, after forgetting to inform his aunt that he took his suicidal cousin out of town after she overdosed, his aunt summons him to her house.  Aunt Emily is furious with not only Binx’s irresponsibility but also for the fact that he doesn’t act like other upstanding members of their society which deems him unreliable.  In this powerful scene Aunt Emily asks Binx, “What do you love? What do you live by? (Percy 226)” to which Binx does not have an answer.  So although Binx realizes he doesn’t have to be anything in particular he is still lost as to who he is as an individual.  This, however, is part of Binx’s search as he is on both a “vertical” and “horizontal” search.  Binx describes his horizontal search as a search for a meaning of the universe.  Whereas the horizontal search refers to understanding who he is as a person.  Binx came to the conclusion that there is no correct answer for the universe and also still has no idea how to satisfy the answer of who he is. 

In the Epilogue, Binx seems to be settling down by marrying Kate and making plans to go to medical school.  Binx says that he has nothing further to say about his search.  At first glance it seems that Binx is giving up under the pressure of his search but then he says something that could change this conclusion, “…much too late to edify or do much of anything except to plant a foot in the right places the opportunity presents itself- if indeed ass-kicking is properly distinguished from edification” (Percy 236).  In a sense, life is just about taking the next best step a person can.  There is nothing inherently wrong with someone just doing the best thing they can.  In fact, for Binx this realization allowed him to actually find some purpose in his life such as finding a partner who he is helping through life, becoming closer with his mom’s side of the family, and having an opportunity to look into a possible calling.  Even though this ending could still be interpreted as Binx giving up it doesn’t really change what the novel has successfully communicated to its readers.  

Sure, the end of the novel does seem to leave the audience feeling somewhat disappointed in Binx for not giving readers the answers to the universe yet at the same time there is nothing for him to tell readers other than what they already know.  Binx does shed light on the fact that part of life is to feel alive during everyday moments.  It is up to us to realize our own disparity in the fact that our life is fleeting and temporary.  It is only then can we appreciate every moment by being fully alive.  There is in the end a meaning hidden within the “everydayness”.                

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Binx’s Treatment of Women

Oct 21st, 2021 by

When we are introduced to the main character Binx at the beginning of The Moviegoer, Binx’s character is a complex one but passive as well. From the beginning, Binx has a passive nature of observing things in the world around him. Binx is directionless and his treatment of women is less stan stellar. “Linda becomes as exalted as I am now. Her eyes glow, her lips become moist and when we dance she brushes her fine long legs against mine. She actually loves me at these times — and not as a reward for being taken to the Blue Room. She loves me because she feels exalted in this romantic place and not in a movie out in the sticks. But all of this is history. Linda and I have parted company. I have a new secretary, a girl named Sharon Kincaid” (5).

Binx flirts and sleeps with his secretaries regularly, this feels like a coping mechanism for dealing with his life being stagnant. He doesn’t know who he is or the meaning of his life. Casual sex seems to be one of the ways he deals with it. However, his treatment of the women he has these casual flings with is less than ideal. Binx can register some of these women at times have genuine feelings for him, but whatever guilt he has he seems to shove down.

At the end of the book, Binx still doesn’t know who he is or the greater meaning of things. But his treatment of women has been improved. He has settled down with Kate and is beginning on starting a life with her and we can see this improvement when they go to see a dying Lonnie. “I had my doubts about Kate’s idea. It was an extravagant womanish sort of whim… although I tried to prepare her for the change, she was not prepared.” (238).

Binx writes off Kate’s ideas to see Lonnie in a rather rude and sexist way, but he still goes with her and even tries to prepare her for the state Lonnie is in at his point. I don’t think the Binx at the beginning of the story would have done this. Maybe it’s the journey he takes but in the end, he clearly cares for Kate and despite his bit of dismissiveness, he is still willing to support her in what she wants to do and even tries to comfort her in his own very awkward way. When Kate expresses her doubts about her mental health, Binx reassures her things will be okay. This is something I don’t think Binx at the beginning to the novel would have been able to do.

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