As I was reading Chapter 8, I was especially thinking about the overall pace of White Boy Shuffle -- it doesn't acknowledge the reader as much as some of the other books in that it moves more in Gunnar's preferred pace. I think that's the point of the book, though. Not only to display Gunnar's life, but to let the reader feel his thoughts through the constant movement of the novel.
"Gasping for air, I almost took the remedial schedule and the weeks' worth of lunch money my counselor, Ms. Baumgarten offered me, but my pride got the better of me" (153). In this moment, I was thinking "here we go...," and then he is off into "Just stop patronizing me and do your job." Gunnar jumps at the chance to live through honesty, and I definitely admire him for it.
As we talked about recently in class, I appreciate the way Gunnar doensn't conform in the same way most of us would. College, the shots in the basketball game, the wife -- they all mean something different to him (if they mean something at all) than we might expect. And the language plays right along with this in that it parallels with piled on quotes or metaphors allowing Gunnar to let his mind run. I'm not saying this book is just unedited work, I'm just saying that the plot and the language go hand in hand. In the same Chapter 8, Gunnar has an encounter with the Harvard recruiter. The Harvard recruiter begins to teach him how to mountain climb, but Gunnar just goes "home." He "lowered himself into the night," and that represented his disinterest for Harvard. The next line reads "Mom was disappointed I wasn't going to Harvard" (160). I admire this decision making -- I wish I had the same skill.
I actually really enjoy Beatty's pace and ability to keep the reader's attention. After three straight books from the 1940s, it's nice to have a change of pace with something more contemporary. The surrealism gets to be too much at times but the endless humor more than makes up for it.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely agree with this. I enjoyed the earlier novels, especially Invisible Man and Their Eyes Were Watching God. Still, it feels GOOD to laugh out loud during a book, and it makes the contrast (but is it even contrast? It's woven in so naturally) with the more serious topics striking. Beatty employs some of Ellison's hyperbole and surrealism, Hurston's color, and all three previous novels' weighty issues. Mix all that with his own blend of poetic humor, and it makes for a truly enjoyable novel. It's easier to take someone's point seriously when they speak to you as an equal.
DeleteI agree with your point about the language and context going hand in hand. We see as the book progresses that the Gunnar stops cracking as many jokes, and he starts to get really depressed. When Gunnar gets depressed I think we al feel it. The writing just makes us feel for him and want him to do better, and that wouldn't be possible if the writing was as it was in previous chapters
ReplyDeleteThere is indeed something admirable about Gunnar's confidence and swagger as he dismissed stuff that he finds patronizing and reductive, and his ability to articulate this rejection in creative and theatrical ways (the minstrel performance at the game, the improvised Shakespeare monologue). It's a big part of his character's appeal. But the anger and frustration that underlies such moments is starting to take its toll, and we get the sense that the very NEED to keep reacting against all of these subtle (and less subtle) racist pressures is starting to depress him, as if all he can do is react and can't just BE. The "elite public high school" really starts to drive this home for him, and Boston (the "elite college") only makes it worse. And his ability to improvise creative responses is taking a much darker turn.
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