Percy-L: Literary, Religious, Scientific, and Philosophical Discussion of Walker Percy

[lowry.charles AT gmail.com]

Dear Friends,
> 
> I was pleased that Henry asked me to make the first posting of Chapter Two 
> (pp. 64-116), because in this same chapter we find (a) the part of The 
> Moviegoer I have generally found least interesting, the sale of the family 
> fishing camp, and (b) the dialogue at the end of the chapter that I think 
> gives us insight into the most significant aspect of the novel.  Let us 
> begin, and to help us begin, I shall make just a couple observations, at 
> which you may smile indulgently, jeer scornfully or nod enthusiastically.  
> Please also, by the way, feel free to take up for our group’s benefit any 
> part of Chapter Two that I have neglected.  It’s a group effort!
> 
> * I have said that this chapter contains the section of the novel I find 
> least interesting.  That is the trip to sell the fishing camp to Mr. 
> Sartalamaccia. (pp. 89-96)  I don’t see how it advances the action of the 
> plot, which is not such a big deal, or draws out any of the important 
> characters, which would indeed for this book be a big deal.  Help me: what 
> am I missing?
> 
> * In several places in the novel, Binx insists that he has to get some 
> down-to-earth detail about a place before it becomes real to him, or before 
> he has a fighting chance to prevent the spirit genie of a place from 
> overwhelming him utterly.  In our chapter, twice we see the necessity of 
> approaching a new place in a very particular way to make it real.  We hear 
> about this first in regard to the movie theater: “Yet it was here at the 
> Tivoli that I first discovered place and time, tasted it like okra.  It was 
> during a rerelease of Red River a couple years ago that I became aware of 
> the first faint stirrings of curiosity about the particular seat I sat in, 
> the lady in the ticket booth…” (p. 75)  Binx is even more emphatic about 
> the thought of just picking up and going to Chicago: “Chicago.  Misery 
> misery son of a bitch of all miseries.  Not in a thousand years could I 
> explain it to Uncle Jules, but it is no small thing for me to make a trip, 
> travel hundreds of miles across the country by night to a strange place and 
> come out where there is a different smell in the air and people have a 
> different way of sticking themselves into the world.” (p. 98)  The 
> perspicacious critic Jessica Hooten Wilson gives us an idea of Binx’s 
> hesitation : “Binx sweats and curses over such an assignment because the 
> journey removes him from the particularity of his place and time.”  What is 
> the point of Binx’s necessity to form a connection with anyplace he stops 
> at or travels to?
> 
> * The chapter concludes with Kate’s trip to Elysian Fields after the supper 
> for former Neptune queens.  Binx has been alerted that she may be en route, 
> so, clad in pajamas and a raincoat, he waits for her on a bus stop bench.  
> After she arrives, she speaks to Binx of her psychiatric breakthrough, that 
> she is a free being required to meet no one’s expectations but her own.  
> Alas, Kate is, in Jay Tolson’s memorable phrase, “someone who has never 
> found her footing in the world.”  As dawn approaches, then, the old fears 
> and insecurities return:

> <<“Ooooh,” Kate groans, Kate herself now.  “I’m so afraid.”
> “I know.”
> “What am I going to do?”
> “You mean right now?”
> “Yes.”
> “We’ll go to my car.  Then we’ll drive down to the French Market and get 
> some coffee.  Then we’ll go home.”
> “Is everything going to be all right?”
> “Yes.”
> “Tell me.  Say it.”
> “Everything is going to be all right.”>> (p. 116)

> Borrowing now from my Goodreads review, I think this is a truly remarkable 
> piece of dialogue. In a medieval romance, this would mean, “Your crops 
> won’t fail, the tax collections will be good, your late husband’s evil 
> brother will not kidnap your children and seize the crown.”  Of course this 
> is a modern novel, not a medieval romance.  Binx cannot possibly promise 
> Kate all of this.  Perhaps what he means here is, “Maybe things will be all 
> right and maybe they won’t, but either way, I’ll be right here by your 
> side.”  I am convinced that this is the equivalent of “I love you.”  And 
> that should be enough.  This moment signifies Binx’s acceptance of his 
> responsibilities toward Kate.  Am I wrong about this?  Do I overestimate 
> the importance of this scene?
> 
> Lagniappe: the first two chapters make up about 45% of the book.  So far, 
> so good?  Would the “average” reader keep reading?
> 
> Please feel free to comment on any of these paragraphs, or indeed any other 
> material from this chapter.
> 
> Chuck Lowry
> Brooklyn, NY