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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<blockquote>High on pot, the prose of the Marquis de Sade and William Burroughs, and the cheerfully psychotic inspiration that he may be the voice of a ‘Harlem spade’ imprisoned in the body of the son of a white Dallas tycoon, he tells the story of how he got that way. It is an initiation story (new style) as An ''American Dream'' was a new-style story of sacrifice and redemption. (19-20)</blockquote> | <blockquote>High on pot, the prose of the Marquis de Sade and William Burroughs, and the cheerfully psychotic inspiration that he may be the voice of a ‘Harlem spade’ imprisoned in the body of the son of a white Dallas tycoon, he tells the story of how he got that way. It is an initiation story (new style) as An ''American Dream'' was a new-style story of sacrifice and redemption. (19-20)</blockquote> | ||
How D.J. got that way explains how America got where it is, and why, by | How D.J. got that way explains how America got where it is, and why, by novel’s end, a boy who has enough aficion to know right from wrong in the matter of hunting etiquette seems suddenly hot to board that plane for “Vietnam, hot damn” (Mailer, ''Why Are We in Vietnam?'' 208). Unless, of course, he is the voice of an ironist who asks which is worse, Harlem guiding Dallas or vice versa? The Hipster or the Redneck?{{pg|205|206}} | ||
novel’s end, a boy who has enough aficion to know right from wrong in the | |||
matter of hunting etiquette seems suddenly hot to board that plane for “Vietnam, hot damn” (Mailer, ''Why Are We in Vietnam?'' 208). Unless, of course, he is the voice of an ironist who asks which is worse, Harlem guiding Dallas or vice versa? The Hipster or the Redneck?{{pg|205|206}} | |||
Ultimately, it is Mailer and D.J.’s adoption of the Hipster mind-set and | Ultimately, it is Mailer and D.J.’s adoption of the Hipster mind-set and | ||
way of talking that sets them apart from others, even more so than the | way of talking that sets them apart from others, even more so than the | ||
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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). | ||
===Citations=== | |||
{{Reflist}} | |||
===Works Cited=== | ===Works Cited=== | ||