The Mailer Review/Volume 2, 2008/A New Politics of Form in Harlot's Ghost: Difference between revisions

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highly ambiguous work. In ''The Secret Agent'', readers are at least provided with enough details to understand the motivations of the characters and the events of the novel. ''Harlot’s Ghost'' features an almost complete, radical indeterminacy, where it is not just the characters that don’t know the meaning of the events but also the readers and perhaps even the author himself. This situation is justified by understanding the real subject matter of the novel.
highly ambiguous work. In ''The Secret Agent'', readers are at least provided with enough details to understand the motivations of the characters and the events of the novel. ''Harlot’s Ghost'' features an almost complete, radical indeterminacy, where it is not just the characters that don’t know the meaning of the events but also the readers and perhaps even the author himself. This situation is justified by understanding the real subject matter of the novel.


Critics who have written about the novel have generally taken it as a simple novel about the CIA, and have failed to notice its allegorical features and the way the novel operates.{{efn|12. A notable exception, as mentioned above, is John Whalen-Bridge.}} On the literal level, the novel treats historical events from the Cold War and espionage. On a deeper level, the novel concerns issues central to Mailer, namely the possibility of creativity, freedom,
and the cost of success in American society. Mailer’s intellectual framework, based on the valorization of courage and existential integrity as the road to self-expansion, is tested in this novel through characters who strive to succeed in influencing history.{{efn|13. See ''An American Dream'' and the episodes of rock climbing in ''Harlot’s Ghost''.}} Further, as is often true of Mailer’s writing, questions of individuality and freedom intersect with the status of ''writing'' and being a ''writer''. The status of writing is explicitly at stake since the novel is formed by a series of incomplete narratives with missing information from
the protagonist Hubbard, who at one point explains, “I clung to my writings as if they were body organs” (102). Hubbard feels that if he can narrate the events he will have gained knowledge and provided absolute truths; however, since his narrative if fragmentary, filled with gaps, and incomplete, he cannot fulfill either goal.


 
Mailer’s treatment of the dangers and conditions of life in the CIA gives a clue to the novel’s real subject matter, which is broader than just the military and information gathering features of the Cold War. The Cold War and espionage serve as parts of a greater whole, as metonymic representations of
 
 
 
Critics who have written about the novel have generally taken it as a simple novel about the CIA, and have failed to notice its allegorical features and
the way the novel operates.12 On the literal level, the novel treats historical
events from the Cold War and espionage. On a deeper level, the novel concerns issues central to Mailer, namely the possibility of creativity, freedom,
and the cost of success in American society. Mailer’s intellectual framework,
based on the valorization of courage and existential integrity as the road to
self-expansion, is tested in this novel through characters who strive to succeed in influencing history.13 Further, as is often true of Mailer’s writing,
questions of individuality and freedom intersect with the status of writing
and being a writer. The status of writing is explicitly at stake since the novel
is formed by a series of incomplete narratives with missing information from
the protagonist Hubbard, who at one point explains, “I clung to my writings as if they were body organs” ~102!. Hubbard feels that if he can narrate
the events he will have gained knowledge and provided absolute truths; however, since his narrative if fragmentary, filled with gaps, and incomplete, he
cannot fulfill either goal.
 
Mailer’s treatment of the dangers and conditions of life in the CIA gives
a clue to the novel’s real subject matter, which is broader than just the military and information gathering features of the Cold War. The Cold War and
espionage serve as parts of a greater whole, as metonymic representations of
the nature of life in America. This explains the fact that we find few episodes
the nature of life in America. This explains the fact that we find few episodes
of physical danger in Mailer’s CIA. Instead, the difficulty of CIA work seems
of physical danger in Mailer’s CIA. Instead, the difficulty of CIA work seems
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12. A notable exception, as mentioned above, is John Whalen-Bridge.
13. See An American Dream and the episodes of rock climbing in Harlot’s Ghost.
14. Mailer makes explicit his connection with his characters in the “Authors Note” of Harlot’s Ghost when he says that, “I wrote this book with the part of my mind that had lived
14. Mailer makes explicit his connection with his characters in the “Authors Note” of Harlot’s Ghost when he says that, “I wrote this book with the part of my mind that had lived
in the CIA for forty years” ~1169!, going on to say that he might have joined the CIA proDAVID ANSHEN { 471
in the CIA for forty years” ~1169!, going on to say that he might have joined the CIA proDAVID ANSHEN { 471
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