I'd like to comment on a quote from last weeks reading, just because it stood out so much to me.
"Up until then Ty Ty had not for a moment considered Dave a human being. Since the night before, Ty Ty had looked upon him as something different from a man. But it dawned upon him when he saw Darling Jill's smile that the boy was actually a person. He was still an albino, though, and he was said to possess unearthly powers to divine gold. In that respect, Ty Ty held him above all other men." (pp 86-87)
This quote is packed with so much stuff, but I'd like to focus on the ambiguities Caldwell is creating between "animal" and "human." It seems that every character in the book behaves like an animal. The characters have sex with whomever they please - no matter how they are related. But, in the midst of all of this, Ty Ty treats Dave like an animal - and he fails to see the irony in the animal qualities of his own behavior. Also, the last line is extremely ironic - Ty Ty supposedly holds Dave "above all other men." But the narrator seems to be forgetting that Ty Ty kidnapped Dave - not an action that contains any respect at all.
One thing I've noticed about this text is that we all have really strong reactions to what the characters say and do. I mean, these characters are so ludicrous (especially TyTy), that it's really fun to hate them. It's fun to condemn them for their sexual promiscuity, and it's fun to criticize their insensitivity toward each other. It's starting to remind me of reality tv, in fact. One of the things that we tend to like about reality tv is that the characters are such terrible people. They're loud and rude and obnoxious and unprincipled, and we feel sensitive and moral for noticing, and for condemning them for it. In fact, we (the viewers/readers) get double pleasure: the pleasure of witnessing this forbidden behavior, and the pleasure of feeling superior about it. Because as witnesses (even disapproving witnesses) we get to feel what the characters are feeling, and live through these experiences with them, all while remaining untouched by the consequences of their behavior. I think that Caldwell is trying to show the reader something about how we relate to each other, and how we judge each other. I think that the middle class tends to see in the poor whatever it wants to see. What this book does is give us a surplus of that bad behavior-- almost more than we know what to do with. Then we have to question our assumptions about the poor, because the book is too ludicrous to be believed.
One other, probably unrelated, thought: why is no one pregnant in this book of multiple sexual unions?
I'd like to comment on a quote from last weeks reading, just because it stood out so much to me.
ReplyDelete"Up until then Ty Ty had not for a moment considered Dave a human being. Since the night before, Ty Ty had looked upon him as something different from a man. But it dawned upon him when he saw Darling Jill's smile that the boy was actually a person. He was still an albino, though, and he was said to possess unearthly powers to divine gold. In that respect, Ty Ty held him above all other men." (pp 86-87)
This quote is packed with so much stuff, but I'd like to focus on the ambiguities Caldwell is creating between "animal" and "human." It seems that every character in the book behaves like an animal. The characters have sex with whomever they please - no matter how they are related. But, in the midst of all of this, Ty Ty treats Dave like an animal - and he fails to see the irony in the animal qualities of his own behavior. Also, the last line is extremely ironic - Ty Ty supposedly holds Dave "above all other men." But the narrator seems to be forgetting that Ty Ty kidnapped Dave - not an action that contains any respect at all.
- Tyler McBride
One thing I've noticed about this text is that we all have really strong reactions to what the characters say and do. I mean, these characters are so ludicrous (especially TyTy), that it's really fun to hate them. It's fun to condemn them for their sexual promiscuity, and it's fun to criticize their insensitivity toward each other. It's starting to remind me of reality tv, in fact.
ReplyDeleteOne of the things that we tend to like about reality tv is that the characters are such terrible people. They're loud and rude and obnoxious and unprincipled, and we feel sensitive and moral for noticing, and for condemning them for it. In fact, we (the viewers/readers) get double pleasure: the pleasure of witnessing this forbidden behavior, and the pleasure of feeling superior about it. Because as witnesses (even disapproving witnesses) we get to feel what the characters are feeling, and live through these experiences with them, all while remaining untouched by the consequences of their behavior.
I think that Caldwell is trying to show the reader something about how we relate to each other, and how we judge each other. I think that the middle class tends to see in the poor whatever it wants to see. What this book does is give us a surplus of that bad behavior-- almost more than we know what to do with. Then we have to question our assumptions about the poor, because the book is too ludicrous to be believed.
One other, probably unrelated, thought: why is no one pregnant in this book of multiple sexual unions?