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Mythic Mailer in An American Dream: Difference between revisions
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Mailer's complicated interlacing of fantasy and reality is a product of the 19th-century American romance as defined by Nathaniel Hawthorne in his preface to The House of the Seven Gables: | Mailer's complicated interlacing of fantasy and reality is a product of the 19th-century American romance as defined by Nathaniel Hawthorne in his preface to The House of the Seven Gables: | ||
<blockquote>When a writer calls his work a Romance, it need hardly be observed that he wishes to claim a certain latitude, both as to its fashion and material, which he would not have felt himself entitled to assume had he professed to be writing a Novel. The latter form of composition is presumed to aim at a very minute fidelity, not merely to the possible, but to the probable and ordinary course of man's experience. The former--while, as a work of art, it must rigidly subject itself to laws, and while it sins unpardonably so far as it may swerve aside from the truth of the human heart--has fairly a right to present that truth under circumstances, to a great extent, of the writer's own choosing or creation. | <blockquote>When a writer calls his work a Romance, it need hardly be observed that he wishes to claim a certain latitude, both as to its fashion and material, which he would not have felt himself entitled to assume had he professed to be writing a Novel. The latter form of composition is presumed to aim at a very minute fidelity, not merely to the possible, but to the probable and ordinary course of man's experience. The former--while, as a work of art, it must rigidly subject itself to laws, and while it sins unpardonably so far as it may swerve aside from the truth of the human heart--has fairly a right to present that truth under circumstances, to a great extent, of the writer's own choosing or creation.{{sfn|Hawethorne|1961|p=vii}}</blockquote> | ||
Mailer presents his mythic truths by using elements of romance supported by mythic structure. The mythic truths of the work--getting in tune with the universe and listening to one's inner voice--support the mythic structure of Rojack's quest (although Mailer truncates this form when Rojack fails to return from South America). Romance, in its looseness and freedom, is more like classical myth than the novel, which pretends to be real, although Mailer puts elements of both into ''<u>An American Dream</u>''. | Mailer presents his mythic truths by using elements of romance supported by mythic structure. The mythic truths of the work--getting in tune with the universe and listening to one's inner voice--support the mythic structure of Rojack's quest (although Mailer truncates this form when Rojack fails to return from South America). Romance, in its looseness and freedom, is more like classical myth than the novel, which pretends to be real, although Mailer puts elements of both into ''<u>An American Dream</u>''. | ||
<blockquote>My brain had developed into a small manufactory of psychic particles, pellets, rockets the length of a pin, planets the size of your eye's pupil when the iris closes down. I had even some artillery, a battery of bombs smaller than seeds of caviar but ready to be shot across the room. | One of the improbable elements of romance Mailer uses is Rojack's arsenal. In his battle, the hero Rojack does not use a real bow and arrow as weapons; he uses "psychic darts." When he is sitting in the bar listening to Cherry sing, he discusses his weapons: | ||
<blockquote>My brain had developed into a small manufactory of psychic particles, pellets, rockets the length of a pin, planets the size of your eye's pupil when the iris closes down. I had even some artillery, a battery of bombs smaller than seeds of caviar but ready to be shot across the room.{{sfn|Mailer|1964-65|p=97}}</blockquote> | |||
When his psychical weapons hit their targets, he raises his mental shield to block retaliation. | When his psychical weapons hit their targets, he raises his mental shield to block retaliation. | ||