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

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image of the “spider” to describe Kelly’s position at the top of society.{{sfn|Mailer|1965|p=237}} As a spider, Kelly constructed a flexible web that stretches out over American society, rigorously controlling the different powers constituting the nation. Kelly’s influence ranges from the corrupted police officer in the street to the head of the CIA, from the petty thieves populating the outskirts of the city to the organized crime of the mafia and even to the American media.
image of the “spider” to describe Kelly’s position at the top of society.{{sfn|Mailer|1965|p=237}} As a spider, Kelly constructed a flexible web that stretches out over American society, rigorously controlling the different powers constituting the nation. Kelly’s influence ranges from the corrupted police officer in the street to the head of the CIA, from the petty thieves populating the outskirts of the city to the organized crime of the mafia and even to the American media.


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.
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”.{{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.


Mailer uses Kelly’s character to illustrate the corrupted American Dream in the romantic stage of American mythology. Following Mailer’s hypothesis, the American Dream was destroyed by the corruption and perversion of the ''nouveau riche'' class, who succeeded in acquiring the power needed to control society. Their influence on society is so powerful that the possibilities for individual growth are effaced. Personal enrichment is only possible by responding to the demands imposed by the ruling class. Mailer’s prophecy rises as a phoenix from the ashes of a corrupted society sent to inflame the American people, not only with the ideas of the newly proposed myth but also with the idea of great personal awareness.
Mailer uses Kelly’s character to illustrate the corrupted American Dream in the romantic stage of American mythology. Following Mailer’s hypothesis, the American Dream was destroyed by the corruption and perversion of the ''nouveau riche'' class, who succeeded in acquiring the power needed to control society. Their influence on society is so powerful that the possibilities for individual growth are effaced. Personal enrichment is only possible by responding to the demands imposed by the ruling class. Mailer’s prophecy rises as a phoenix from the ashes of a corrupted society sent to inflame the American people, not only with the ideas of the newly proposed myth but also with the idea of great personal awareness.
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