If someone today were to ask me what I felt about The Moviegoer, I’m not sure if I could give him or her a straight answer. Part of me wants to like Binx and in turn, the book while another part wants to denounce everything about it. Binx’s desperate need to feel validated and important is a universal trait that everyone can relate to somehow. However any deeper that, I can’t connect with Binx in a way I would want to connect with the main character of a novel. In the beginning, I saw Binx as a womanizer, arrogant, and headstrong. The first time I remember saying “I don’t really like Binx” is when he is talking about his car and how he disliked driving it because he became invisible, and my dislike was deepened through his relationships with his secretaries.
Though he said he hated the war, it made him feel validated and animated. Through his combat experience, he learned a lot about himself and decided to start his search when he noticed the dung beetle crawling on the battlefield. After all, he says that people are most alive in times of catastrophe or chaos. Kate feels the same way Binx does about tragedy and connects to him much better than Sharon. Binx talks with both Sharon and Kate about the war and his feelings surrounding it. Where Kate thrives in the idea that she would do well in war, Sharon says she would hate to be involved. Kate, in-turn becomes Binx's alter-ego in the story.
The way he interacts with other characters tells the reader how multifaceted Binx is. He is addressed by many names (John "Jack" "Binx" Bolling), and with each name comes a different personality. As Binx, he is more true to himself (as he is with Kate). Binx is a dreamer and introspective. However, Jack (who he is with Sharon and others) is slightly more outgoing and superficial. Jack is the classic story of wanting what he cannot have, but when he gets what he wants, he loses interest quickly. Looking at it this way, I begin to dislike Jack much more than I dislike Binx.
“The search” Binx is on is never clearly defined. He isn’t on a quest looking for one specific thing. He desperately searches for certification in which he typically finds watching movies (because movies that take place in your neighborhood makes you someone, somewhere and not anyone, anywhere). Binx’s life is full of complete uncertainty from religion to politics to love interests.
Towards the end of the book, Binx starts to grow on me. I begin to understand where he is coming from as I get to know him through the pages. His interactions with Kate and Lonnie save him as a character and the first time I remember actually liking Binx was in first interactions with Lonnie. Yet, I am highly disappointed with the ending of the book. It seems as if Binx gives up his search and falls into an ordinary lifestyle. He has everything that he would have earlier described as malaise or dead. Nonetheless, the more I think about it, the more I question if he finds what he is searching for all along. Perhaps Binx’s search for validity and certification truly ends when he finds his niche in life that he saw in a negative light towards the beginning of the book.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I enjoy your views on Binx as a complicated character. Because Binx displays such varied personas, it is difficult to pin him down to one idea, even to the point of liking him or hating him (which I think is what makes him such a great character). I think it is interesting that you noticed that each different persona that Binx assumes corresponds to the different names that he goes by. I too tend to dislike the "Jack" persona, as he is the most arrogant and self-absorbed in that set of shoes, yet I think it is also important to relate the name back to his father. There is a scene early in the novel when Aunt Emily refers to Binx's father as Jack and then promptly refers to Binx as Jack in an entirely different tone. It's strange that Binx would be at his more arrogant and self-absorbed side when acting under his father's name, especially since he probably relates most to his father through their shared searches.
ReplyDeleteI was also a bit disappointed in the ending of the novel. I can certainly empathize with Percy, though, because finding any suitable ending would have been nearly impossible. Binx's search leads readers to expect so much that any ending - answer or no answer - would ultimately be a letdown. I do appreciate the ambiguity, however, because it allows us each to find our own ending to our own searches instead of settling on one for us.
I liked how you separated each of Binx’s characters and described what you did and did not like about each of them. I did not give as much thought to that aspect of the book so it was nice to read what you said. What I gather from his multiple personalities (read: not multiple personality disorder) is that way showing how unhappy he is with himself. Binx tries to please everybody so he does what he can to be well-liked. As we discussed in class, he has a way of saying things to people in a way that will not offend them. Although I am not a very outspoken person, I do believe that there is a difference between tact and dishonesty. A person who does not always say what he feels, like Binx, strikes me as someone who is unsure of himself. A person who is unsure of himself is often unhappy.
ReplyDeleteI agree that towards the end of the book Binx is more endearing. Although his interactions and conversations with Lonnie were not the first time I liked Binx, I do agree that at that point in the book he is much more likeable.
In regard to the conclusion, I do agree that “It seems as if Binx gives up his search and falls into an ordinary lifestyle.” I said that I did not think he completely moved out of the aesthetic stage of existentialism. In fact, I think it is possible that he will relapse into that state. In the end I am not sure if he found what he desired, but I think it is less likely than more likely.
I didn't connect with Binx either. He was much to depressed and somewhat annoying to me. He was so discontent with his life that he was missing out on the good. I personally found the novel to be too slow of a read for me to bare.
ReplyDeleteYou made a good point about how he is different when referred to as Binx or as Jack. It's true that he is himself when he is Binx, especially around those who are close to him. Though his search was never clearly pointed out to the reader, I do think his search had something to do with self-identity and self-worth, looking for his purpose in life. He realizes he is getting older and feels the need to know if the life he is living now is the life he wants. I really like your last sentence and agree with it. Seems a little strange to me, did he just finally give up?
h
ReplyDelete