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  • From: hughesl6363 AT aol.com
  • To: "Percy-L: Literary and Philosophical Discussion" <percy-l AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [percy-l] Response to All Comments on Moviegoer--Chapter Four
  • Date: Fri, 9 Aug 2024 19:33:56 +0000 (UTC)

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My Fellow Percy People –

Since I “led” the discussion of Chapter Four, I wanted to respond to your
thoughts before diving into the Chapter Five posting.

On Chuck’s Comments:
Thank you, Chuck, for your compliments! So nice to hear thoughts that
sounded scattered in my head were apparently coherent!
• I agree with you that Sam is a satirical character. I was afraid to
use the word “satire,” since Percy is often taken so seriously.
• Thank you for your skepticism about Allen’s suicide theory. Looking
back at it, he builds a compelling case, methodically tracing Binx’s
emotional progress, examining every detail of his similarity and differences
from the father. The father’s suicide provides a psychological reason for
what troubles Binx. But I think it’s more than psychology. The best hard
“evidence” is that the word “quietus” is used when Binx recalls his mother
“put a quietus on his [father’s] hopes for sleep,” relating it to Hamlet’s
soliloquy. And Percy’s comments about Quentin Compson is another clue for
Allen. He also, by the way, describes Kate as “suicidal,” which I’m not sure
about.

On Rhonda’s Comments:
Rhonda, your response is “a real humdinger,” as a wise scholar would
say. 😊
• I love your trip down the rabbit hole of Mother Smith’s possible age.
I once spent the better part of a day hoping to prove that Binx’s brother
Scott died the same year as F. Scott Fitzgerald. It comes close enough.
Close enough to suggest Percy may be moving on from “Gatsby” the way Twain
dismisses a predecessor by having the steamboat Walter Scott run aground in
“Huckleberry Finn.”
• The satire involved in Sam’s character is part of the larger picture
of the South, which is a running theme throughout. He and Emily are also
satirical commentary on Percy’s father-figure William Alexander Percy and his
“Lanterns on the Levee.”
• I’m still not completely clear how Binx perceives the difference
between Sharon and Kate—we see it, but Binx doesn’t, as you’re suggesting.
• Rory vs. Holden: perhaps it’s part of Binx’s progress, diminishing
the significance of moviegoing as a means of escaping the malaise.
• So glad you brought up the Waffle House. My favorite Percy scholar
Lewis Lawson wrote the essay “Walker Percy’s Indirect Communications” showing
how his fiction is an indirect version of his nonfiction commentaries. Binx’s
reluctance to conclude anything directly about God—the larger issue is
brought up in an atmosphere where so many expressions are broken. I think you
should write the paper, and just fit my name in it somewhere.
• The suicide theme is definitely prominent, and I’m glad you and Chuck
agree that there’s nothing explicit about Binx’s dad in that regard.
• Good idea about Sidney and the Jews Binx sees in New Orleans; another
suggestion of his progress.
• Yes! Shakespearean comedy.

Good luck with Debby’s debris. Percy was always partial to the effects of
hurricanes.

On Janet’s Comments:
More compliments! Thank you, thank you, thank you! I’m getting self-conscious.
• Glad you described the character of Sam Yerger in terms of Percy’s
fine literary techniques, in contrast to his philosophical “function.” How
Percy writes is often lost in trying to interpret what his writing means.
• Interesting take on Binx’s trip to Chicago as a sort of necessary
awakening. Personally, I’m with Binx before the trip…I’d never say leaving
New Orleans is a good thing; every time I’ve had to do it, I fell into
despair!
• The dreamlike description of the trip is very evocative. I need to
go all the way through it now, to appreciate it.
• The same is true of your observation about reflections. I love that
you’re pointing out Percy’s style, his talent as an artist, as well as a
philosopher.
• And, in terms of those “interruptions” or incomplete missions, I’d
forgotten that the entire trip is interrupted in the end.
• I think you’re right about the suicide theme. I don’t think Kate is
suicidal…it’s her way of dealing with despair. Mental depression is one
thing; existential despair is a whole new ballgame.
• Another great observation: “Kate is real”; “Sharon is a movie.” Helps
me to understand why Kate is the better choice.
• “Digression” matters more than “the story”! Yes!
• We’re unanimous, agreeing “The Moviegoer” is a comedy. I have to
admit, I was so in synch with Binx, I’m not sure how many times I read it
before I could understand that he could be seen as a brunt of the jokes. (I
still want to take up for him.)
• And I’m not totally sure, either, how the “romantic” can be a
moviegoer without movies.
• Finally, I love your observations…I gotta read “The Moviegoer” again,
in a new light.

Thank you all, sincerely,
Leonard

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  • [percy-l] Response to All Comments on Moviegoer--Chapter Four, hughesl6363, 08/09/2024

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