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

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This is a re-post of the opening comments for Chapter Two of The Moviegoer made to the Reading Group by Chuck Lowry. Responses and comments about Chapter Two as a whole are welcome.

lowry.charles AT gmail.com

Initially posted: Sat, 13 Jul 2024 12:57:03

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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