Going After Cacciato (vol. I)

In his work, Going After Cacciato, Tim O’Brien explores the issue of fear and heroism in the character of Paul Berlin. O’Brien writes, “The real issue was the power of will to defeat fear. A matter of figuring a way to do it. Somehow working his way into that secret chamber of the human heart…for the exercise of courage” (81). Throughout the novel, Berlin struggles against the paralyzing force of fear. In the midst of battle, fear rises to place a strangle hold upon the helpless Spec Four. As a result, Berlin collapses into himself in a futile attempt to escape the fear. Berlin counts, focuses on an imaginary marble, pretends to be home…he does everything but confront his fear. Berlin’s inability to deal with the realities of war turn him into a runaway of the mind. He flees the harsh times of marching, the long hours of the observation post, and the problems between soldiers by escaping into his imagination. Perhaps in many respects Berlin may be looked upon as a coward who cannot face life with courage. But perhaps Berlin escapes into illusion as a defense mechanism, as a way to save something which the war attempts to take. As a safe guard against becoming cold, hopeless, and without sympathy, Berlin daydreams. But in his attempts to save his soul he never finds what he truly needs: the courage to face life in war and keep moving forward.

The Violent Bear It Away (vol. II)

Flannery O’Connor’s work is most certainly the most difficult I’ve had to evaluate this semester. Unlike the other works, the reality here is purposely distorted and the characters not simply living in a magical world. When we think of a bildungsroman we typically think of a work which follows the positive growth of a young protagonist. However, if anything, O’Connor’s work is an example of a negative bildungsroman. Francis is set on a course of inevitable destruction because he has two forces at play in his life ripping him into pieces. On the one hand, Francis must wrestle with the pulling force of the mad faith of Old Tarwater. On the other hand, Rayber’s cold, emotionless reason attempts to drag Francis to the opposite end. I refer to Old Tarwater and Rayber as “forces” because that is truly how they function, there is no acts of love to win over Francis but only the hope to pummel him into submission. Each is attempting to create a boy in their own image, the force of which ultimately tears the boy apart. As a result, reading O’Connor’s work is much like watching a car accident take place. Francis is set on a course of destruction (getting drunk leads to burning the house which ultimately leads to murder) because he is placed in a world in which love is an idea that people speak about but are unable to express. In a loveless world, neither true words nor nice acts can save a boy who is tragically bound to develop into a psychologically devastated individual.

The Violent Bear It Away (vol. I)

The Violent Bear It Away contains many interesting characters, but none as fascinatingly influential as Uncle Tarwater. The lives of young Tarwater and Rayber stand in the shadow of the life of their crazed Uncle. And while the two despise the ramblings of their Uncle, both of the characters cannot help but be drawn to his energy. “He [Uncle Tarwater] would look as if he had been wrestling a wildcat, as if his head were still full of the visions he had seen in its eyes…these were the times that Tarwater knew [that he would answer the call from God]” (8). Uncle Tarwater instills in Rayber and his cousin a spirit which the two with wrestle with for the entirety of the novel. But what is the “spirit”? The spirit appears to be “love that appeared to exist only to be itself, imperious and all demanding, the kind that would cause him to make a fool of himself in an instant” (114). The depth of true love is terrifying to Rayber because it challenges all the mastery his self-will has fooled him into believing, love challenges the intellectual control he has obtained over his life. Indeed, love is a force which makes people do foolish things, become like Uncle Tarwaters. But if we deny love, deny passion in order to gain control we become simply mechanical men. The battle between intellectual control and the untamable passion which dwells within the characters is fought throughout the novel.

The Bear (vol. III)

Faulkner’s The Bear is certainly a bildungsroman. The work begins with Isaac McCaslin as a young boy setting out for his first hunting expedition in hopes of killing the legendary Old Ben. On his first hunt, Ike is unsure of himself and filled with fear at the prospect of encountering the bear. However, under the mentorship of Sam Fathers, Ike matures into one of the most skilled hunters in the group. But the development of Ike is not simply in terms of hunting ability, but he is also instilled with the virtues of pride, humility, and courage which are instilled in him by the wilderness. His encounters with nature help Ike to develop a sense of identity and provide the virtues which will guide his future decisions. The work then shifts to Ike’s revelations concerning his family’s troublesome past and Ike must now wrestle with the legacy left to him. It seems that like most young adults exiting adolescence, Ike understands who he is but now must decide whether his future will follow in the footsteps of his family or if he must brave a new path entirely. Ike comes to grips with his family’s past and decides that who he is and will become will be set apart from the sins of his fathers.

The Bear (vol. II)

The wilderness has always been a region which has captivated the imagination. Personally, the “wilderness” is the places on the planet which are free from the taint of human society. Hence, one man alone in a forest is still the wilderness because he cannot have society with himself. Philosophers throughout the centuries have been fascinated with the wilderness, particularly post-Enlightenment thought. Thomas Hobbes believed man’s greatest achievement was leaving the wild, a place of endless fighting, to enter into society. Conversely, Jean Jacques Rousseau believed it was society which corrupted man and that the goodness of man was found in nature. As such, moderns have a love hate relationship with the wilderness. We seem drawn to it, as if the trees themselves have some secret about our humanity to tell to us while at the same time we are enslaved by a desire to dominate it. The Bear demonstrates the tension as Isaac is instilled with the virtues of the forest but at the same time part of a group hoping to conquer the wilderness. Though Old Ben is killed and although man continues to conquer the wilderness, the victory comes at a cost. For many members of the hunting group, they do not understand what has been lost but simply reflect in nostalgic sorrow. I think the cost of the destruction of the wilderness is that we lose the sacred group upon which humans from the dawn of the species have been instilled with that restless, nervous energy; that dominant force to strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.

The Bear (vol. I)

American historian Frederick Jackson Turner in his work, The Frontier in American History, argues that the early frontier of the United States was shaped the very fabric of the American soul. Turner claimed that the frontier formed a character marked by, “that practical inventive turn of mind, quick to find expedients; that masterful grasp of material things... that restless, nervous energy; that dominant individualism.” In essence, Turner argued that the colonists had not mastered the wilderness, the wilderness first mastered the settlers. Similarly, William Faulkner’s The Bear explores the way in which the wilderness shapes the character of Isaac McCaslin. In many ways, Faulkner’s observations parallel Turner’s as displayed in McCaslin’s observation, “It was of the…hunters, with the will and hardiness to endure and the humility and skill to survive…within the wilderness in the ancient and unremitting contest” (186). The wilderness of The Bear is a sacred place in which men are instilled with the most important virtues of pride, humility, and courage. The theme is similar to other portrayals of nature seen in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and A Room With a View where nature is a place that draws out the raw essence of man. Faulkner’s wilderness acts in much the same way but goes a step further by molding the soul of man into one with a “restless, nervous energy; that dominant individualism” which reflects the American spirit.

Their Eyes Were Watching God (vol. III)

Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God is certainly a bildungsroman. However, the growth of Janie is not as obvious and not in similar ways as characters in the works previously read. While Harry had his moment of accepting his own fate and Huck has his decision to go to Hell rather than allow Jim to return to slavery, Janie’s growth seems to slip in past the reader’s radar. The development of Janie’s character springs from her well of love which she desires to share with a man in a beautiful marriage. However, her first marriages only succeed in tarnishing her vision and forcing Janie to retreat into herself. But Janie’s marriage to Tea Cake allows Janie to open up and to express all the love she had buried for so love. The true growth in the novel is Janie’s understanding of how to love and be love and how that looks. Janie survives countless storms which sweep through her life and by the end of the novel has discovered the power of love.