The Mailer Review/Volume 5, 2011/Norman Mailer's Mythmaking in An American Dream and “The White Negro”: Difference between revisions

Another important feature to note in this conflict is the explicit reference to the notion of the psychopath, which is expressed in “Negro.” Here Mailer depicts the Hipster as the elite of the psychopaths, “the wise primitive in a giant jungle” .{{sfn|Mailer|1959|p=343}} Rojack himself notes during the conflict: “The feeling of joy came up in me again the way the lyric of a song might remind a man on the edge of insanity that soon he will be insane again and there is a world there more interesting than his own” (185–86).{{sfn|Mailer|1965|p=185-186}} This more interesting world can be accessed only by violence, which is why Rojack finally instigates the physical conflict; “I took a step toward him. I did not know what I was going to do, but it felt right to take that step,” after which Shago feels threatened and starts pushing the hero-protagonist around, but Rojack reacts with the speed of lightning (185).{{sfn|Mailer|1965|p=185}} “The pressure back of my neck let go of itself and I was a brain full of blood, the light went red, it was red.” Rojack senses that “[m]y rage took over,” his body governs his actions; “I was out of control, violence seemed to shake itself free from him each time I smashed him back to the floor and shake itself into me”.{{sfn|Mailer|1965|p=192-193}} According to the philosophy of Hip outlined in ''Advertisements'', violence is a necessary cleansing characteristic for the Negro

According to Slotkin, mythology is a key for understanding a nation’s identity, since “a mythology is a complex of narratives that dramatizes the world visions and historical sense of a people or culture, reducing centuries of experience into a constellation of compelling metaphors.” It is important to note that the narrative of a myth is not perpetual, but has to be reactive to the changes in an inherently dynamic society. If a mythological narrative strives to sustain its functionality, the myth must address these alterations in society. At the same time, the response of people living in that particular society to that particular myth is equally essential to the viability of a myth, because “a people unaware of myths is likely to continue living by them, though the world around that people may change and demand changes in their psychology, their world view, their ethics, and their institutions”.{{sfn|Slotkin|1965|p=4-5}}

by reality as he envisions it.{{sfn|Slotkin|1965|p=7}}</blockquote>

in a society dominated by that particular myth. Subsequently, a myth is much more than ''only'' a narrative, but can be considered to be “a source of power.” This power is derived from the fact that a myth shows its readers “how to appropriate and control the forces that order the world”.{{sfn|Slotkin|1965|p=7}} In this view, myths offer a guide to success.

In the secondary or romantic stage of myth, the emphasis is on “the fulfilment of the obligations established for the myth”.{{sfn|Slotkin|1965|p=13}} This means that the people became aware of the specific set of rules outlined by the myth-artist, and try to live life accordingly.

The third and final stage is called the consumatory stage of myth. In this stage, the major thinkers in society become aware of the corruption that flowed from the romantic stage. The original faiths and values that were constructed in the primary stage were perverted to such an extent that the myth is no longer supportive to the nation and the nation’s people. The mythmaking artist is the first to become aware of this degeneration. He is blessed with a strong sense of critical awareness and senses the need for a new myth. “In a conscious attempt to recapture the lost innocence of the mythopoeic attitude, [he] tries to assume the role of a prophet in society.” As a visionary, he reaches out to people and tries to make them susceptible to his new vision. The artist’s prophecy is based on his new hypothetical “construction of symbols and values, derived from real and imaginary experience and ordered by the imagination according to the deepest needs of the psyche”.{{sfn|Slotkin|1965|p=13}} Mailer’s work on the “American identity” is situated in this final stage of the development of American mythology, not only because of the apparent reaction to a degenerated myth frozen in the romantic stage, but also because of the prophecy of a new, consumatory myth.

The myth Mailer is concerned with is one of the strongest surviving myths in American society: the American Dream. According to Slotkin, the American Dream equals “the conception of America as a wide-open land of unlimited opportunity for the strong, ambitious, self-reliant individual to thrust his way to the top”.{{sfn|Slotkin|1965|p=5}} In this view, anyone can climb the ladder of success by hard work and just a bit of luck. However, the reality of everyday life often contradicts this perpetual ''idee-fixe''—and wealth is often accom-

But if you strike a bargain with the devil, the devil will come and collect. Kelly has to pay the price for his success and the devil sends his envoy Bess to corrupt Kelly even further. Bess is described as a representative of the American ''nouveau rich'' and is, to say the least, not reluctant to the idea of sex. She tempts Kelly in cheating on his wife Leonora and wants him to take part in an incestuous threesome with her daughter. Even for Kelly, who never felt such temptation, this act is too much. Nevertheless, Kelly debates what the outcome could have been if he had not resisted, since “[i]ncest is the gate to the worst sort of forces” (246).{{sfn|Mailer|1965|p=246}} The idea of the potential powers of incest keeps haunting him until Deborah, fifteen years old at the time, returns home to live with her father. This time Deborah is the serpent, the temptress sent by Satan to corrupt Kelly. In contrast with Bess, she succeeds in her sinister task. The temptation overwhelms Kelly, and he and Deborah have sex. Deborah’s daughter Deirdre is the living proof of their incestuous relationship. At this point, Barney Oswald Kelly is totally corrupted and reached the point of no return. The corruption of the American Dream is now complete.