Through the character of Julian, O'Connor seems to critique people that hold high-minded ideals and principles but do not live them out. Rather, it seems that abstract principles obscure people's ability to see exactly what is in front of them.
Throughout the story Julian thinks he is so much better than everyone but is he? He has “sympathy” for the “Negro man” who enters the bus but only wants to talk to him in order to “teach [his mother] a lesson that would last her a while” (14). It’s no wonder then that he “had never been successful at making a Negro friend” (15), who he sought out on principle but not to befriend as an equal. In fact, it seems no one is equal to Julian who lives apart from even the people around him by escaping into his “mental bubble” (11). He cares for no one, no thing except for his “principles”, which “rescue” him from “sensing…innocence,” and abstract notions of justice (17). Most prominently, Julian cannot recognize his mother’s state of innocence. Despite clearly racist attitudes, Julian’s mother does not see herself as such. She believes she is “gracious” toward “Negroes” and finds nothing wrong with this. Moreover, his mom asserts that “they should rise, yes, but on their side of the fence” (7), a belief held so deeply that she cannot recover from her physical convergence with the “Negro woman.” Rather, she returns to her childhood mentality, asking for her wet nurse Caroline, revealing her innocence all along to Julian. No longer in his protective mental bubble, Julian finally shows concern to late for his “’Mamma’” (22). He scrambles toward the light but cannot reach them as they move seemingly farther and farther away, epiphany slipping from his grasp.
Perhaps, Julian is a "false" martyr. O’Connor compares him to St. Sebastian as he leans “pinned to the door frame” (4) and references his time going on the bus as “be[ing] sacrificed to [his mother’s] pleasure” (3). However, O’Connor hints at his being more a false martyr when walking with his mother to the bus he is “saturated in depression, as if in the midst of his martyrdom he had lost his faith” (5). For what is a martyr without faith?
I like that you recognized Juian's mother's plea to call her wet nurse, Caroline, as a manifestation of her innocence. I think this story is largely influenced by O'Connor's own experiences (as most of them are)-grappling with a superiority complex upon returning home to her farm after college, and coping with her judgmental attitude towards her mother and less educated community. These were tumultuous times! and the generational gap is very apparent.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your comparison of Julian to a false martyr. Though he had seemingly noble convictions of progressive thinking (a.k.a. not being racist in the South), he forgot the other forms of love and respect that he had surely been taught by his mother. Julian forgets that it is important to be pure of heart and intention in all walks of his life, and that being outwardly against racism does not justify his disrespectful contempt towards his mother. As a complete side not, I half wonder if Julian thought maybe he could be a martyr if they killed him quickly, like the young girl in "A Temple of the Holy Ghost". Ha, only joking...
ReplyDeleteThis post is a great contrast to Father Rodrigues in Silence. Julian acts as if he is a martyr due to the actions of his mother and the educational level he think she has surpassed everyone else. This makes him self righteous and the opposite of what a Catholic martyr is. I believe through my faith that in order to be a martyr, you must be able grow along your journey in your faith. Using this analysis, this makes Rodrigues a martyr because he was able to overcome his superficial idea of a missionary and really grow as a character. I would argue that he did not exactly grow in his faith, but I think he was able to help other people grow too through his trials and tribulations, for example Kichijiro. Even if Kichijiro always returned to the priest because of guilt or a set up, I felt the sense, like Binx, that he was longing for something greater than what he had, and I believe through his interactions with Rodrigues, he is able to grow in his faith with God.
ReplyDeleteI like that you bring up Silence and Fr. Rodrigues's martyrdom. I think that his idea of martyrdom changes dramatically through the novel. Rodrigues thinking of himself is as a martyr is very self-conscious and purposeful from the beginning of Silence. His whole purpose of being a missionary, at the beginning, is to be able to be a martyr and to die for the faith. He thinks this is the hardest most glorious act an individual can do. But I would argue that his idea of martyrdom changes and develops dramatically through his journey as a missionary. Where he begins very focused on the self and on physical suffering, Rodgrigues finds by the end a deeper and harder martyrdom. One where he had to sacrifice what meant most to him, not his life (which he was ready to give), but his faith. Although he did not (I think) give up the faith or stop believing he had to live as though he had, in disgrace, in order to stop the suffering of the people he thought he was saving. He learned a lot and I think grew immensely in his faith.
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