The Moviegoer's Challenge

Having now started to read pages 64-86 of the nationally acclaimed The MOVIEGOER, I noticed some characters made some philosophical questioning that challenged the so called "norm" everyone seems to follow. The first time is when Binx is at the theater. Before Binx watches a movie he speaks to a manager to learn about the theater or something about the people who operate it. But he also comes to a conclusion about why he does it. It is for selfish reasons and he isn't afraid to admit it. "I am no do-gooding Jose Ferrer going around with a little whistle to make people happy. Such do-gooders do not really want to listen, are not really selfish like me; they are being nice fellows and boring themselves to death, and their listeners are not really cheered up. Show me a nice Jose cheering up an old lady and I'll show you two people existing in despair. My mother often told me to be unselfish, but I have become suspicious of the advice. No I do it for my own selfish reasons."(75) Binx truly believes that people can't be 'do-gooding Joses' for unselfish reasons because the only reason they would want to do it is to look better to everyone else. Binx firmly states that he is being selfish on purpose and there is nothing wrong with that. Or is he just being cynical? When Binx meets up with Kate she starts talking about doctors then a question dawns on her. "Now she takes my arm in both hands. 'Have you noticed that only in time of illness or disaster or death are people real?' I remember at the time of the wreck--people were so kind and helpful and solid. Everyone pretended that our lives until that moment had been every bit as real as the moment itself that the future must be real too, when the truth was that our reality had been purchased only by Lyell's death. In another hour or so we had all faded out again and gone our dim ways" (81) Binx agrees with Kate and they continue on their way. These little questions are short adn discussed short between the reader and Binx (his thoughts about her question are told to us rather than to Kate) then its gone with no further thought. At first this sudden outburst of philosophical questioning just left me slightly confused. What do you guys think? And did you noticed something like this in the beginning of the book, or in the other books?

"The Life-Goer?"

In The Moviegoer, Walker Percy narrates the life of a thirty-ish year-old businessman named Binx. Binx tells the story himself, giving his perspective on events and the people with whom he interacts. He also enjoys going to the movies: in fact, this seem so be a very important part of his life: "Other people, so I have read, treasure memorable moments in their lives: the time one climbed the Parthenon at sunrise, the summer night one met a lonely girl in Central Park and achieved with her a sweet and natural relationship, as they say in books. I too once met a girl in Central Park, but it is not much to remember. What I remember is the time John Wayne killed three men with a carbine as he was falling to the dusty street in Stagecoach, and the time the kitten found Orson Welles in the doorway in The Third Man." (7) Because Binx considers memorable moments to be movies, we know he sees them a lot. But it seems to be the way he views life, as well: while reading, I found a slightly third-person omniscient tone , even though it is a character narrating his daily life and a walk down the street. For instance, he observes a young couple walking down the street, and notices that "they are not really happy." He further diagnoses their troubles: "He is anxious; he is threatened from every side. Each stranger he passes is a reproach to him, every doorway a threat. What is wrong? he wonders. She is unhappy but for a different reason, because he is unhappy and she knows it but doesn't know why." Finally, Binx observes the effect of the couple's interaction with William Holden, the movie star (coincidence?): "All at once the world is open to him. Nobody threatens from patio and alley. His girl is open to him too... She feels the difference too. She had not known what was wrong nor how it was righted but she knows now that all is well." (p.15-16). I don't know about you, but I felt like this is the view of someone all-knowing, but it's just Binx's everyday walk. It seems, with his extraordinary perception, that perhaps Binx is not a moviegoer at all but in fact a life-goer. Is this Walker Percy's way of indirect commentary on life? What do you think is his reasoning for creating such a character?

From Font to Film with Flannery and Feagles

Last semester I took a class taught by Michele Lettiere called From Font to Film (shout out to Abdi who took it as well). As the title suggests, we studied numerous works of literature which were then turned into movies and watched to see how the plot line and characters were altered in order to create a more comprehensible, and often more concise, story. Even though The Displaced Person was not a novel itself, that does not mean that it cannot follow the same guidelines upon which other longer stories are assessed when turned into film. Even Brokeback Mountain, a movie of 134 minutes, was once only a short story of about 40 pages (completely guessing here because I can't find my handout, but that should be proof enough because it was only a handout). When watching The Displaced Person, I couldn't help but notice that it hardly left the story's dialogue or timeline whatsoever. Normally when I watch the movie-version of a book that I have read, I am thoroughly disappointed and often outraged at the way the director chose to portray one of the characters or that they decided to leave out one of my favorite scenes, so I thought that I would be pleased to have finally seen a film whose visual matched directly with the text. But this was not the case. I loved the story, but the film somehow bored me. Was it because I knew everything that was going to happen? Was it because I didn't like Mrs. Shortley in the book, so I obviously wasn't going to like her in the film? I still can't place my finger precisely on the reason that I just did not enjoy the film all that much. What do you guys think? Did you like the film? Would additional scenes have helped? Maybe more/fewer characters? Whatever the reason may be, I still enjoyed the entirety of A Good Man is Hard to Find, and will deal with a little disappointment regardless.

What's your favorite story?

After coming to the end of Flannery O'Connor's collection of short stories, I could not help but think which is the best? I suppose this is more a personal opinion than literary discussion question, but I still think it is important to examine because the question at hand is which story was most effective? For me, when I finished Good Country People, I had an "ah ha" moment where I felt like all the previous stories seemed to click into place. The themes and motifs O'Connor had alluded to were fully flushed out and the dark tragic comedy was perfectly placed and moved the story forward instead of detracting. I think O'Connor did a masterful job of weaving in, without seeming obvious, the important themes of religion, socio-economic classes, education, gender and the tension between city and country. In only a few dozen pages, O'Connor was able to resurrect not one or two but four complicated, intriguing and authentic characters. The stylistic choices of using flashbacks in time, humor, meaningful names and dialogue made the story come alive. Although I think this is a cohesive collection, I think Good Country People could stand on its own as a representation of the essentials of A Good Man is Hard to Find and Other Stories. The one important aspect of the collection that this story is missing is the subject of racism and racial tensions which can obviously not be ignored as it is a defining part of the rural South. Mrs. Hopewell's comment "Lord,... he bored me to death but I just couldn't be rude to him. He was just good country people... just the salt of the earth" (193) is just one example of the many poignant lines throughout the story that seem to stick with you and really get O'Connor's points across. Anyhow, do you agree that this was the most effective or favorite of your stories? Respond with your favorite and why or if you agree with me please add to the evidence.

"Humor"

 " 'I've gotten a lot of interesting things,' he said. 'One time I got a woman's' glass eye this way'...and then the toast-colored hat disappeared down the hole and the girl was left, sitting on a straw in the dusty sunlight. When she turned her churning face toward the opening, she saw his blue figure struggling successfully over the green speckled lake." (205) When I neared the end of Good Country People and read that quote, I couldn't help but let out a few uncomfortable laughs. It was a very unexpected and odd ending to the story and reminded me of Faulkner's Pantaloon in Black not because of the plot but rather the subtle "humor" that is shown in both. In Pantaloon, Faulkner uses humor when describing Rider's appearance and describing the dinner scene with the sheriff and his wife for the purpose of laying out the divide between black people and white people in a different way. To what purpose does O Connor use humor in this story? At first, I interpreted Good Country People as comic relief after multiple sad stories. What are you thoughts? Is this story inserted just because it's a change in mood, or is there a more subtle use of this humor?

Religion in "A Good Man is Hard To Find"

A major theme in “A Good Man is Hard to Find” is religion and how religion relates to moral obligation. This theme is woven throughout the short story “The Displaced Person” in terms of the priest. The priest is a symbol for Christianity. He is first introduced as a “long-legged black-suited old man with a white hat on and a collar that he wore backwards” (208). He was the one who arranged for the “Displaced people” to come work for Mrs. McIntyre. At first, a good light is shed on him because Mrs. McIntyre is so thankful for the displaced person and all the work he does. Later, when Mrs. McIntyre realizes that the displaced people are “lie rats with typhoid fleas” (210), a poor light is shed on the priest who brought them there. At first, when the displaced people are good, religion is good. But when the displaced people become bad, religion is bad. It is clear from the title that O'Connor thinks there are very few good people in the world but what is not as clear is what she defines as a good person. Do you think that religion is directly connected to being “good” and “moral”? Why do you think the portrayal of the Priest changed throughout the story? Do you think that Flannery O’Connor wants the reader to see Christianity as a good or bad thing?

Mesa Has to Comment on this Post Because She didn't Comment on My Last One.

As the lovely Maddy did in her post, I would also like to compare A Good Man is Hard to Find to Go Down, Moses. While these two books are set in very different time periods, I think they share a lot of the same themes and motifs. A Good Man is Hard to Find is the New South, no doubt, but that doesn't mean it has nothing in common with Faulkner's novel. First and foremost, let's talk about the juxtaposition of New vs. Old South that we see in both books. In Delta Autumn, we see Isaac, an old southerner, awkwardly mixed in with a bunch of new southerners on a hunting trip. Well, I would argue that we get another glimpse of that same situation in The Life You Save May Be Your Own. Mr. Shiftlet does not fit in with anyone, which is part of why he's a vagrant in the first place. I think he's a representation of an old southerner because he's a man that has "a moral intelligence" (57), and talks philosophically about "big picture things" while he is mostly ignored, "He asked a lot of questions that she didn't answer" (55). And, in the end, Mr. Shiftlet ends up accepting he doesn't belong, admitting that he is "slime from this Earth" (66) and driving on, just as Isaac realizes he doesn't belong pretty early in the hunting trip. There are also references to religion in both, but I'd be lying if it wasn't way heavier in O'Connor's novel. However, I think that this motif, too, can tell a lot about the books and what the authors are trying to show. In Go Down, Moses, Christianity is more of a way of life. It is something that the characters use to direct their lives or to substantiate their points as Lucas does when he's trying to convince Roth that there's money on the land, "Because God say, 'What's rendered to My earth, it belong to Me unto I resurrect it. And let him or her touch it, and beware,'" (99, GDM). However, the whole preface behind The River is to question religion. It a story where we get to compare people who are religious with people who do not affiliate with religion. O'Connor does not pass any judgments about what is right, and the story ends with the reader questioning whether the river is accepting or rejecting Bevel/Harry into the Kingdom of Christ. The use of religion, though, further extends the comparison between the Old and New Souths. What do you guys think? Do you agree with me? Disagree? Do you have any more places where you think a theme is used in both books? Let me know. And if you choose to disagree, please don't be a Maddy.

"and Other Stories"???

As I hope you all are aware, Go Down, Moses and A Good Man is Hard to Find and Other Stories are both collections of short stories. In 1942, Go Down, Moses was originally published as Go Down, Moses and Other Stories, before Faulkner addressed his editors and forced them to change it in 1949 for obvious reasons. Although they can be read and appreciated as individual works (for example The Bear), his stories not only are about the same characters and set in the same 'mythical county', but they share themes their significant themes and motifs. In the four stories of Flannery's that we have read so far, the connections between them are far less obvious as the characters, locations, and plots do not match, but I believe that, like Faulkner, Flannery could eliminate the "and Other Stories" from her title because the stories are interconnected through her continued use of motifs and themes. Flannery uses motifs/metaphors relating to the sun throughout her stories. For example, in "The River", Flannery speaks often of the sun in all turning points of the story, and she draws much attention to it. As Bevel enters the river for the last time, the "sky was a clear pale blue, all in one piece except for the hole the sun made"(48). As he leaves his house for the river, "The sun was pale yellow ans high and hot"(47). In each case, the sun mirrors the plot and is steeped in symbolism. Flannery uses this also in "The Life You Save May be Your Own", as the plantation belonging the mother and Lucynell is infused with the sunset which becomes heavily interconnected with the character of Mr. Shiftlet. Also, the stories all focus on the sense of desperation asscociated with religion, and religion is the theme that most of the stories are centered around. Stylistically, Flannery forms a 'pantaloon' if you will of the female characters in each of her stories by referring to them as 'the grandmother', 'the mother', 'the daughter', or 'the wife', placing them in highly symbolic roles that address gender and the past in the stories. These are just a few of the connections between the superficially unrelated stories in "A Good Man Is Hard to FInd and Other Stories", which in my opinion could really do without the "and Other Stories".