The Mailer Review/Volume 4, 2010/Jive-Ass Aficionado: Why Are We in Vietnam? and Hemingway's Moral Code: Difference between revisions
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Partly that is because Hemingway, through his narrative personae, was | Partly that is because Hemingway, through his narrative personae, was | ||
determined not to describe “or depict life—or criticize it—but to actually | determined not to describe “or depict life—or criticize it—but to actually | ||
make it alive. So that . . . you actually experience the thing” (Hemingway, ''Ernest'' 153). Laura Adams was the first to see a similar technique at work in ''Why Are We in Vietnam?'', although she stopped short of drawing the connection to Hemingway in identifying the “radical promise” of Mailer’s novel, which is that the reader will not only receive an adequate account of the way things are in America (“know what it’s all about”), but also experience at the level of sensibility remission from the cultural plague that is “an ultimate disease against which all other diseases are in design to protect us” (Adams 124). Adams concludes, in language that makes us think of Hemingway’s goals, “The radicalized or ‘shamanized’ reader, whose silence has been rewarded, participates in Mailer’s attempt to reintegrate the old, now suppressed, human circuitry with the baneful new” (124). And this happens, as it does in Hemingway, through detailed description and a compelling new narrative voice. As one critic astutely observes, D.J. makes us experience the{{pg|200|201}} | make it alive. So that . . . you actually experience the thing” (Hemingway, ''Ernest'' 153). Laura Adams was the first to see a similar technique at work in ''Why Are We in Vietnam?'', although she stopped short of drawing the connection to Hemingway in identifying the “radical promise” of Mailer’s novel, which is that the reader will not only receive an adequate account of the way things are in America (“know what it’s all about”), but also experience at the level of sensibility remission from the cultural plague that is “an ultimate disease against which all other diseases are in design to protect us” (Adams 124){{sfn|Adams|1976}}. Adams concludes, in language that makes us think of Hemingway’s goals, “The radicalized or ‘shamanized’ reader, whose silence has been rewarded, participates in Mailer’s attempt to reintegrate the old, now suppressed, human circuitry with the baneful new” (124). And this happens, as it does in Hemingway, through detailed description and a compelling new narrative voice. As one critic astutely observes, D.J. makes us experience the{{pg|200|201}} | ||
narrative more viscerally “through language that is a free and manic association of puns, obscenities, hip slang, jive-talking rhyme, technologese, and mutated psychological jargon” (Wenke 123). D.J.’s voice is such a dominant | narrative more viscerally “through language that is a free and manic association of puns, obscenities, hip slang, jive-talking rhyme, technologese, and mutated psychological jargon” (Wenke 123). D.J.’s voice is such a dominant | ||
and constant presence that the very act of listening to him makes us feel as | and constant presence that the very act of listening to him makes us feel as | ||
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quips, “You’re getting to be a hell of a fellow”when he hears that the Massai | quips, “You’re getting to be a hell of a fellow”when he hears that the Massai | ||
have accepted Poppa into their circle (206). | have accepted Poppa into their circle (206). | ||
“Hip makes for a livelier vocabulary, a more stylish way of carrying oneself, more and better orgasms,” writes one critic (Dupee 101). The Hipster, which D.J. embraces, is a culture whose Mandarin language is understood only by members of an exclusive group, the same as with Hemingway’s heroes. “The Hipster is, of course, only one of many possible realizations of the ‘new consciousness’ of which Mailer is the prophet,” Foster concludes (26); and prophets are always insiders. By the end of ''Why Are We in Vietnam?'' it has become clear that D.J. is indeed an insider with a unique and prophetic voice. He’s also a true aficionado. But the disturbing question (and the force behind what power the novel possesses) is, as Mailer was fully{{pg|206|207}} | “Hip makes for a livelier vocabulary, a more stylish way of carrying oneself, more and better orgasms,” writes one critic (Dupee 101){{sfn|Dupee|1976}}. The Hipster, which D.J. embraces, is a culture whose Mandarin language is understood only by members of an exclusive group, the same as with Hemingway’s heroes. “The Hipster is, of course, only one of many possible realizations of the ‘new consciousness’ of which Mailer is the prophet,” Foster concludes (26); and prophets are always insiders. By the end of ''Why Are We in Vietnam?'' it has become clear that D.J. is indeed an insider with a unique and prophetic voice. He’s also a true aficionado. But the disturbing question (and the force behind what power the novel possesses) is, as Mailer was fully{{pg|206|207}} | ||
aware, of ''what?'' More and better orgasms? As Hemingway’s war-wounded | aware, of ''what?'' More and better orgasms? As Hemingway’s war-wounded | ||
hero quips at the end of ''The Sun Also Rises'',“Isn’t it pretty to think so?” (247). | hero quips at the end of ''The Sun Also Rises'',“Isn’t it pretty to think so?” (247). | ||