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Mythic Mailer in An American Dream: Difference between revisions
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<blockquote>Deborah, his wife, is the dragon-guardian at the threshold to that other land. She is the "Great Bitch," maimer and castrator, a figure mythical heroes have faced as long as their quests have been recorded. Once we see Deborah as a mythological figure in a visionary world, we will not be marooned on the literal issue of Mailer's sexist portrayal of women ... {{sfn|Begiebing|1980|p=62}}.</blockquote> | <blockquote>Deborah, his wife, is the dragon-guardian at the threshold to that other land. She is the "Great Bitch," maimer and castrator, a figure mythical heroes have faced as long as their quests have been recorded. Once we see Deborah as a mythological figure in a visionary world, we will not be marooned on the literal issue of Mailer's sexist portrayal of women ... {{sfn|Begiebing|1980|p=62}}.</blockquote> | ||
Was Deborah so evil that her murder was not a act of greater evil on the part of Rojack? Or was Deborah a victim of evil and Rojack's act less than heroic--indeed, pathological? Deborah's father, Barney Kelly, describes Deborah's conception. While having sex with Deborah's mother, he claims: '"I took a dive deep down into a vow, I said in my mind; "Satan, if it takes your pitchfork up my gut, let me blast a child into this bitch! ""{{sfn| | Was Deborah so evil that her murder was not a act of greater evil on the part of Rojack? Or was Deborah a victim of evil and Rojack's act less than heroic--indeed, pathological? Deborah's father, Barney Kelly, describes Deborah's conception. While having sex with Deborah's mother, he claims: '"I took a dive deep down into a vow, I said in my mind; "Satan, if it takes your pitchfork up my gut, let me blast a child into this bitch! ""{{sfn|Mailer|1964-65|p=240}}. Deborah's birth was a result of that satanic vow. Cursed from the beginning, Deborah, at age fifteen, again falls victim to her satanic father. He enters an incestuous relationship with her. Kelly describes his initial lust for her: "I felt an awful desire to go to her room: my teeth were literally grinding, my belly was a pit of snakes. It was as if the Devil had come into the room at that instant and was all over me ..."{{sfn|Mailer|1964-65|p=250}}. Because the story is narrated only through Rojack's perspective, we never really know how complicitious Deborah actually was. But we do know that her conception and upbringing contributed to whatever degree she was evil. | ||
Shortly after he kills Deborah, Rojack himself discusses his own confusion over the essence of Deborah's nature and his own: | Shortly after he kills Deborah, Rojack himself discusses his own confusion over the essence of Deborah's nature and his own: | ||
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Freedom is an integral part of the American dream. Mailer's use of setting, plot, theme, and protagonist supports the mythic aspect of the American dream. What is the American dream and how does it pertain to myth? David Madden admits that a concise, conclusive definition of the American dream is "elusive", but he ventures to declare: | Freedom is an integral part of the American dream. Mailer's use of setting, plot, theme, and protagonist supports the mythic aspect of the American dream. What is the American dream and how does it pertain to myth? David Madden admits that a concise, conclusive definition of the American dream is "elusive", but he ventures to declare: | ||
<blockquote>there are two major American Dream myths: the Old Testament idea of a paradise hopelessly lost, followed by endless nightmare suffering; and the New Testament idea of a paradise that a new American Adam will eventually regain. | <blockquote>there are two major American Dream myths: the Old Testament idea of a paradise hopelessly lost, followed by endless nightmare suffering; and the New Testament idea of a paradise that a new American Adam will eventually regain.{{sfn|Madden|1970|p=xxxix}}</blockquote> | ||
Maxwell Geismar argues that "The American Dream has been our ruling myth, as a culture and in the literature which both reveals and helps to shape our culture" | Maxwell Geismar argues that "The American Dream has been our ruling myth, as a culture and in the literature which both reveals and helps to shape our culture"{{sfn|Geismar|1970|p=45}}. However, according to Robert Heilman, the word "dream" itself has many connotations. There is the dream which is an end in itself; the dream that is analogous to idea; the dream as vision; the dream as illusion; and the dream as obligation{{sfn|Heilman|p=4-5}}. He concludes that the American dream is a vision with a dualistic nature{{sfn|Heilman|p=9}}. The dual aspects of the American dream include the idealistic ability to leave the corruption of the old world behind, combined with the limitless, democratic rise to "material or political or spiritual" success{{sfn|Heilman|p=8}}. | ||
This utopian aspect of the American dream, the belief that "Weakness and flaws are construed to be outside in circumstances, not within; in the world around, in other people, not in the human nature that one shares" | This utopian aspect of the American dream, the belief that "Weakness and flaws are construed to be outside in circumstances, not within; in the world around, in other people, not in the human nature that one shares" {{sfn|Heilman|p=9}}, has driven Rojack to his attainment of the materialistic American dream. At forty-four he discovers that this dream is, in reality, a nightmare, a spiritual wasteland. The corruption within the human spirit has led him up this false trail and left him without a center. At the time of his epiphany he says: "I was nothing but open raw depths at that instant alone on the balcony"{{sfn|Heilman|p=11}}. In order to succeed at the real American dream--to find spiritual fulfillment in a free atmosphere--he must plunge down within himself into those open depths, the realm of his subconscious which speaks most clearly in the dream. ''<u>An American Dream</u>'' concerns this juxtaposition: this sense of the corrupt American values system and the personal, humanistic dream synonymous with the freedom to pursue inner fulfillment. Inner fulfillment is accomplished through the unification of the subconscious and conscious selves. Only through this spiritual delving into the dreamworld of the subconscious will Rojack find the courage and knowledge necessary to aspire to the edenic American dream. | ||
New York City, considered by many to contain the essence of America, is the paradise lost, the urban wasteland in the novel. Rojack is the hero who recognizes its disguised corruption and sets out to conquer it through a personal quest of self-redemption. He is the American Adam who sees the battleground, recognizes the venom of the Kellys and their consorts, knows that cosmic paradise is far off and assumes responsibility for the battle to attain it. Mailer's hero believes in the "possibility of redemption, resurrection, recreation out of the mature wisdom gained in Adam's fall" | New York City, considered by many to contain the essence of America, is the paradise lost, the urban wasteland in the novel. Rojack is the hero who recognizes its disguised corruption and sets out to conquer it through a personal quest of self-redemption. He is the American Adam who sees the battleground, recognizes the venom of the Kellys and their consorts, knows that cosmic paradise is far off and assumes responsibility for the battle to attain it. Mailer's hero believes in the "possibility of redemption, resurrection, recreation out of the mature wisdom gained in Adam's fall"{{sfn|Madden|1970|p=xii}}. Philip Bufithis states it another way: "He has been launched into the world by a power greater than himself, and it is his purpose to help actualize that power through the exertions of his own creative will" {{sfn|Bufithis|1978|p=68}}). Like the great mythic heroes before him, Rojack is prepared to delve deeply within himself to find the strength to do battle with cosmic powers. | ||
Rojack is particularly American in his pursuits. This country was settled by people who had dreams of personal autonomy and fulfillment and would push further West, often destroying whoever got in their way, whether it was native Indians, Asian laborers, or black slaves. This violence manifested the original sin brought over from Europe, an unrelenting pursuit of material success--the false American dream---which turned this country into a nightmare for many. Rojack is a realistic epitome of this nightmarish success story. In order to begin his pursuit of spiritual success, he commits murder. Ironically, this act again perpetuates the original, inherent evil of mankind in his new journey just as the pioneers brought with them their flawed human natures as well as their noble dreams to settle this land. Deborah's murder haunts Rojack's parapet ritual and results in its partial failure just as the violence in American prevents the country from attaining its potential spiritual success. Mailer's love and concern for his country are evident in most of his work, but they are especially dominant in ''<u>An American Dream</u>''. | Rojack is particularly American in his pursuits. This country was settled by people who had dreams of personal autonomy and fulfillment and would push further West, often destroying whoever got in their way, whether it was native Indians, Asian laborers, or black slaves. This violence manifested the original sin brought over from Europe, an unrelenting pursuit of material success--the false American dream---which turned this country into a nightmare for many. Rojack is a realistic epitome of this nightmarish success story. In order to begin his pursuit of spiritual success, he commits murder. Ironically, this act again perpetuates the original, inherent evil of mankind in his new journey just as the pioneers brought with them their flawed human natures as well as their noble dreams to settle this land. Deborah's murder haunts Rojack's parapet ritual and results in its partial failure just as the violence in American prevents the country from attaining its potential spiritual success. Mailer's love and concern for his country are evident in most of his work, but they are especially dominant in ''<u>An American Dream</u>''. | ||
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The specific American dream to which Mailer refers in the title of his book is ambiguous, although it certainly suggests mythic significance. The relationship between dreams and myth is important to note. Dreams and myth have long been interactive. Kenelm Burridge describes this relationship: | The specific American dream to which Mailer refers in the title of his book is ambiguous, although it certainly suggests mythic significance. The relationship between dreams and myth is important to note. Dreams and myth have long been interactive. Kenelm Burridge describes this relationship: | ||
<blockquote>Myths and dreams are interdependent in the sense, first, that much of the content of dreams tends to become articulate in myth, and myths, or parts of myths, are retold in dreams. Secondly, though myths and dreams are intimately related to truth the relationships are not of the same kind. Myths contain truths, dreams are avenues for perceiving the truths which are later embodied in myths | <blockquote>Myths and dreams are interdependent in the sense, first, that much of the content of dreams tends to become articulate in myth, and myths, or parts of myths, are retold in dreams. Secondly, though myths and dreams are intimately related to truth the relationships are not of the same kind. Myths contain truths, dreams are avenues for perceiving the truths which are later embodied in myths {{sfn|Burridge|1972|p=129}}.</blockquote> | ||
According to Andrew Gordon, dreams "are not detached from the rest of our mental life, but on the contrary are psychical acts of the deepest significance, because they put us in touch with the shadow land of the unconscious" | According to Andrew Gordon, dreams "are not detached from the rest of our mental life, but on the contrary are psychical acts of the deepest significance, because they put us in touch with the shadow land of the unconscious"{{sfn|Gordon|1977|p=100}}. Carl Jung defines this common dream world as the collective unconscious, "a sphere of unconscious mythology whose primordial images are the common heritage of mankind"{{sfn|Jung|1989|p=664}}. When the dreams are filled with an imagery common to all human beings, they become archetypal. Thus, Jung's primordial images are called archetypes, each "a figure---be it a demon, a human being, or a process--that constantly recurs in the course of history and appears wherever creative fantasy is freely expressed"{{sfn|Jung|1989|p=665}}. Myth has pervaded literature since man could fantasize. | ||
No one knows exactly where myth originates. The aesthetic beauty of the ancient Greek and Roman myths attests to human beings' desire to create meaning and harmony in our existence. This need arises from our deepest emotions (Cassirer 24). Different degrees of emotion lead to multiple levels of myth. Chase categorizes them in three ways: folktales and folklore, legends, and "the myth proper, an explanation or dramatization of nature or society" (36). A modem myth would most easily incorporate this last category because the word "modern" implies a break from the past, whereas folktales and legends are often ties to the past. | No one knows exactly where myth originates. The aesthetic beauty of the ancient Greek and Roman myths attests to human beings' desire to create meaning and harmony in our existence. This need arises from our deepest emotions (Cassirer 24). Different degrees of emotion lead to multiple levels of myth. Chase categorizes them in three ways: folktales and folklore, legends, and "the myth proper, an explanation or dramatization of nature or society" (36). A modem myth would most easily incorporate this last category because the word "modern" implies a break from the past, whereas folktales and legends are often ties to the past. | ||
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How does a modern myth develop? Joseph Campbell describes the evolution of myth: | How does a modern myth develop? Joseph Campbell describes the evolution of myth: | ||
<blockquote>The material of myth is the material of our life, the material of our body, and the material of our environment, and a living, vital mythology deals with these in terms that are appropriate to the nature of knowledge of the time. | <blockquote>The material of myth is the material of our life, the material of our body, and the material of our environment, and a living, vital mythology deals with these in terms that are appropriate to the nature of knowledge of the time.{{sfn|Campbell|1990|p=1}}</blockquote> | ||
''<u>An American Dream</u>'' is a dramatization of 20th-century New York City. This intensely urban conglomerate talks on mythic dimensions as the setting for Mailer's mythic dialectic: the existential strengths of good and evil. Chase addresses the need for mythic literature to encompass this dialectic: "the creative artist must recapture a certain magical quality, a richness of imagery, a deeper sense of primeval forces, a larger order of aesthetic experience" (110). In ''<u>An American Dream</u>'', Mailer develops a modern myth which incorporates all these elements. By placing Rojack in New York City, Mailer puts his hero in a well-known urban area. This setting creates an antithetical environment from which Rojack can flee towards the ultimate spatial end, the jungles of South America. Tony Tanner emphasizes Mailer's incorporation of metaphor in the settings: | ''<u>An American Dream</u>'' is a dramatization of 20th-century New York City. This intensely urban conglomerate talks on mythic dimensions as the setting for Mailer's mythic dialectic: the existential strengths of good and evil. Chase addresses the need for mythic literature to encompass this dialectic: "the creative artist must recapture a certain magical quality, a richness of imagery, a deeper sense of primeval forces, a larger order of aesthetic experience" (110). In ''<u>An American Dream</u>'', Mailer develops a modern myth which incorporates all these elements. By placing Rojack in New York City, Mailer puts his hero in a well-known urban area. This setting creates an antithetical environment from which Rojack can flee towards the ultimate spatial end, the jungles of South America. Tony Tanner emphasizes Mailer's incorporation of metaphor in the settings: | ||