If you did not have a chance to share your ideas during today's Loved One discussion, please share your thoughts here. Consider some of the following questions:
1. Is Dennis heartless or realistic? Did he love Aimee?
2. Does Waugh criticize British as well as American culture?
3. Why does Waugh begin and end with a suicide?
4. What is Waugh's main target in this satire?
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13 comments:
Hello everyone,
I'm going to discuss question one! So: Is Dennis heartless or realistic? And did he, in fact, love Aimee?
I have this horrible habit of seeing characters, particularly those who least deserve it, in the best of light. Abigail Williams of The Crucible, in particular, is possibly my favorite literary character of all time, but Dennis has begun to rank pretty high up there as well. So my question becomes: does Dennis have to be heartless OR realistic? Couldn't he be many things? If you view him as more than a literary character, as an actual person, it would not make sense to classify him in such a manner. I would say that Dennis is unemotional, reserved, and very blunt. Does he NEED a heart? Aren't lots of people trained, by years of little affection and the sternness of society, not to trust their hearts? I find that Dennis' greatest proof of humanity lies in his highly capable BRAIN. If you examine the last chapters of the book, with Aimee's death, you can see Dennis is disturbed by the news of her death: " What makes you think she is dead? She was perfectly well at suppertime last night." However, he gathers this feelings, and even makes a joke about the nutburgers, which I see as a way of holding back the emotions that are not found acceptable in this time; he is using his brain to protect himself. After Joyboy leaves, Dennis goes out into the per cemetery, "with his own thoughts which were not a thing to be shared with Mr. Joyboy." To me, this comes across as a an attempt to escape from the feeling that Dennis cannot face and will not handle. He is a man, a British man, at that, and such emotion is unacceptable. I find this to be Waugh's greatest satire; Joyboy, overflowing with tears, who feels nothing at all, and Dennis, silent and alone with dead pets, has quietly and calmly "adding his bit,; something that had long irked him, his young heart" to Aimee's ashes.
All these points considered, I do not think Dennis loved Aimee. For Dennis to love, he would have to regard the woman as an intellectual equal, worthy of his thoughts and confidences. Dennis loves with his brain, and although he can feel affection for a woman who does not have one, a solid bond such as love requires brilliance.
Megan,
You raise excellent questions, and your logic in analyzing Dennis's character is insightful. You wonder whether or not Dennis even needs a heart--indeed, you suggest man's humanity might be defined solely with his brain. A common thematic idea in literature examines man's "passion vs. reason," and asking whether or not man needs to balance these two parts of his existence is an important question to ask. So let me ask you another question: Why does Dennis blackmail Joyboy? If he is simply trying to surpress his emotions, why would he resort to a behavior which could potentially create a strong reaction?
You also ask why it matters if we classify Dennis as heartless OR realistic. Again, your question is valid--is it important to categorize Dennis's behavior? I included this question on the discussion sheet because Dennis is faced with so many instances of heartless behavior when he comes to America and he sees the motivation behind each act of heartlessness, starting with the callous treatment of Sir Francis. So if he sees man's inhumanity to man, and still treats Aimee inhumanely by toying with her then burning her at the place she despises most, what does that say about his character?
One of the characters I was looking at in defining Dennis' character is my FAVORITE BRITISH BRAINIAC EVER, Sherlock Holmes. Mr. Holmes undoubtably leads his actions and his emotions with his brain; however, he has a deep love, respect, and regard for the humanity that is so different from him. I saw Dennis as sort of an anti-Holmes, I suppose; ruled by the mind, but without the innate love of people that drives Holmes to act for good.
I found Dennis' move to blackmail Joyboy confusing, particularly because one could argue Dennis' feelings there so many different ways. Is he just desperate to get away from the materialistic, cold society he found in America, and sees Joyboy's money as the best way to do this in style and avoid disgrace or talk? Far more likely, though, is that Dennis is letting his hatred of Joyboy's whole industry, the emotionless of his emotions, and his creepy coldness out in this single vicious act. Or, very humanly, Dennis could just want to gain something more from his American experience than "an artist's load."
This may be a stretch, but is Dennis' inhumanity simply misconstrued in the story? A person, in such a heartless atmosphere, might serve to ignore all emotions to keep from being broken. Dennis is half-fascinated and half-repulsed with the entire world of Whispering Glades, and I saw his barrier of no feeling as a buffer between him and treatement that would break a person. I saw parallels to 1984 in Dennis' treatement of Aimee; rather than loving her, wanting her, or caring for her, I felt he needed someone else on earth, anyone really, to share in what he was witnessing and be beside him in the coldness he could not stomach. Perhaps he wasn't toying with her at all...maybe he was simply taking what it was she was able to give? Another pair of eyes?
Again--you ask good questions and give plausible explanations for Dennis's motives. But consider the opening of the novel more carefully. The British,especially Sir Ambrose, seem openly condescending toward American customs and take advantage of opportunities to flaunt their superiority. Dennis, however, seems fascinated and later amused by American customs and American women. The reader identifies with his reactions to most of what he sees, but when he starts to take advantage of Aimee's naivete, he begins to appear as patronizing as Sir Ambrose, flaunting his superior intellect in seeing American customs for what they really are. Rather than opening Aimee's eyes to the truth of the facades that surround her, he manipulates her into believing she must keep a pledge that is actually meaningless and blackmails Joyboy out of convenience rather than sincere loathing. Dennis's savagery appears more civilized and subtle, but he has victimized Aimee nonetheless.
Hi there Mrs. Ferrill,
I have a new idea!
Maybe the goal of the Loved One is to illustrate different ways that people are heartless and how this heartlessness destroys society. Aimee is so defined by society and unable to think for herself that she acts mechanically, rather than humanly. Dennis is clever and able to see how the world works around him, and he spins this to his advantage. Sir Ambrose cares so much about what others think of his people, his situation and himself that he drowns all logic and sense in an obsessive drive for an ideal. Joyboy has no connection with reality and strives only to make the world (or, in his case, the dead) more beautiful; because he cannot identify with deeper emotions, his own are shallow and unsensitive. Perhpas Waugh is trying to show that everyone can be heartless, in the right circumstances, and that this can happen without realization if society isn't careful? Does that sound a little more plausible?
By George, I think you've got it! Visit the Period 5 Class Blog (also linked on my page) and read Chelsea's column--then read my response.
Certainly you are close to defining the "spiritual disease" both Waugh and T.S. Eliot disparage. Good thinking!
Chelsea's observations about soul are so grand! I think I was looking at the novel and trying to FORCE Dennis to have a soul, when really overwhelming evidence points to the contrary. Sigh, time to give up the epic battle I wage for the underdog characters!
What I found so strange about the attitude towards death in the novel was the thought that death wasn't even an escape. It was just an END, really, "stinking of formaldehyde and painted like a whore." There is no particularly religious aspect, and it almost seems as though the "purity" of death has been clouded up. If life is materialistic and hardly tangible, and death is perverted, what is left? That seems like a question Waugh was reaching towards.
Bravo! Some critics point to a thematic idea called "The Religion of Death," which pervades the novel. Death is an end in and of itself--there is nothing else--no hope of any afterlife--no hope of spiritual connections between people--no desire to live beyond what's tangible. The idea is depressing, but I think Waugh gives us a warning of what we might become, not what we actually are. Anyway--it's been fun chatting with you about this book, Megan, and I hope you have the opportunity to see Brideshead Revisited!
As I was sitting down to write my take-home essay, I was re-reading portions of The Loved One and I came across a phrase that profoundly changed my outlook on the novel. On the last page it says "it was the moment of vision for which a lifetime is often too short". Up until this point, I had considered the ending fairly depressing, but the discovery of this passage changes my mind a little bit. Is Waugh suggesting that there is still hope for Dennis' future? To me it implies that the events of the novel did have some impact on Dennis' character in the end if they are the inspiration for "a vision". I also think it suggests the possible beginning of a transformation that Dennis might undertake.
Does anyone else take away a similar feeling from that line or am I completely misreading it?
Hey guys!
I know this may be the wrong blog to ask this question but are the characteristics of a hollow man that make him hollow? I am getting confused when comparing him to Dennis because I feel Dennis acts in a way a hollow would not, however, (sorry Megan) I just feel like he is empty and heartless. The hollow man would act if it were for his own benefit, which is the reason why Dennis acts in the first place. Do hollow men sit back and watch while what they want is taken or do they act and move to grab their desires? A person cannot be completely self-consumed without acting in some way even if it is for himself. If a person were to just sit there, they would be self-absorbed but everyone would know their selfish nature and their disguise would be ruined.
Sorry I would have asked these questions sooner it just took me a little while to process the poemJ
Keri B
I think that although Dennis may realize life is too short he will not change because he is stuck in his ways and is a hollow man, who sees a way out but cannot quite escape his cycle of addiction. With Dennis moving back to England, maybe he will change and the American culture was what made him heartless and hollow. At the beginning of the novel Dennis seemed somewhat of a normal person. However, as he adjusted to American culture he became more self centered and cruel. Maybe that is one of Waugh’s criticisms: that American culture can change people for the worse and we are just breeding horrible, selfish people. Well I am sorry this passage is so depressing and normally I really don’t think this pessimistic, but The Loved One and satire makes me assume the worst of American society.
KariB-
I am viewing the line the same as you and that Waugh is instead trying to implement change and convince us to change before we become this twisted and warped world he presents. Rather like Orwell's 1984...
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