JCO: Re: bigbowtai's them querry_ PLOT DESCRIPTIONS HERE, so watch out, nonreaders.
Hi, Tai. What a treat to sit down to a discussion of text! And thanks for reminding me that I own the Modern Edition them with its intriguing photo of an Audrey-Hepburnesque JCO on the cover. I always refer to my old 1970 paperback them -- with my ancient marginal notations. Forgot I had the 2000 ed. too.
Anyways...the scene on page 228 seems to me simply Maureen's point of view in the hours immediately following her attack (and cash robbery) by Furlong. She's dazed and battered but sensible of Loretta's getting her on the bus to an emergency room for basic repairs from the beating, the beating which ends on page 226. No clairvoyance or out-of-body stuff that I see there: simply M slowly regaining consciousness after a traumatic physical ordeal.
After the hospital -- to the reprehensible Loretta's credit, she does not leave M in the hospital to the untender mercies of the charity wards -- M. is "cared" for at "home" by her mother and so retreats into an overweight, clueless infant state while recovering from the beating...and incidentally from her short, somewhat lucrative career as a prostitute. (Ironically, Maureen succeeded as a streetwalker for several months, where Loretta's attempt to hook a john -- 10 or 12 years earlier -- was comically foiled.) The repetition of the bus ride on page 332 reminds us how M. was transformed into Loretta's overgrown baby by Furlong's attack. Uncle Brock's arrival on page 334, reading aloud a letter from Jules, begins M's recovery from her helpless, dependant infant state. M owes her mental recovery to Brock (rotten bastard that he is having murdered Loretta's first love Bernie) and Jules (who will eventually exploit many women and murder a policeman.) These two problematic (to put it mildly) men are instrumental in Maureen's return to adult independence -- which is what she had been trying to achieve by making money on the streets in the first place: unfortunately, Furlong looted M's secret money stash after the beating. Also, sister Betty's overheard arguments with Loretta add to M.'s recovery. When Betty hits L. in the mouth, one thinks: Thank God. I used to wish JCO had written about Betty instead of Maureen, but had to wait for Foxfire. The sterling influences of
wild Betty, adventurous Jules, and tender Brock will get M. out of bed, back to school and then an office job, night school college English classes, and eventually into an adulterous affair with a married teacher who will leave his wife & kids to make a new family with M. A dubious achievement, that marriage, but miraculous good fortune by Maureen's standards.
In short, M's ride on the bus with Loretta is a "real" experience both times: the first time muted by M's battered perceptions, the second time augmented by recalled physical details such as the waiting room memory of a fat, drooling child swaddled in a soiled red snowsuit -- M's fate for the the duration of her infantile months in Loretta's "care" post-beating.
Did you get any other replies to your them question on Tone Clusters? Will you please forward them to me? I don't think I receive postings from there anymore but am grateful that yours came through. Is your work on them still in process? What's going on with it now?
Best,
Cyrano
In a message dated 10/11/2007 8:02:12 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, bigbowtai@hotmail.com writes:
Hi All,
I've been a relatively silent member for some time now, only occasionally posting comments. I'm currently writing on _them_ and am trying to work out a particular passage. (If you haven't read _them_ you might want to stop reading this post; plot discussion follows). I'm thinking specifically about the prologue (if that's even the right word for it) to Book Two. (Pg 228: I'm using the 2000 Modern Language edition). I "get" that Maureen is having a clairvoyant or out-of-body experience but I'm wondering about why the section begins with this sequence of events and then repeats within the standard narrative time on page 332. While the second occurrence is not constructed verbatim, it is the same sequence and comes within a longer example of Maureen's escape to the safety of the – I don't want to say "spiritual," but perhaps detached experience of life. She clearly values the life in books more than she appreciates her real-world experience. Is this just an example of her finding solace outside of the real world? By page 332, she is not speaking and is recovering from her traumatic experience with Furlong. Can I call this "clairvoyance?" Is it a successful, transformative event? Is it more real than what's happening in the real world? But most of all: Why repeat it?
I appreciate any discussion or encouragement about these statements.
best
tai
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posted by Admin at
9:13 AM
