Jack's a Celebrity.

One of the things which makes Ma and Jack's lives harder in Room after their escape is the fact that they have become famous, with the media trying to get people interested in their story by twisting public perception of their time in Room, and ordinary people becoming fascinated with them, especially Jack, and their story. Much of this fame is portrayed as a hindrance to Ma's and Jack's adjustments to normal life, as they try to hide from cameras and keep out of the public eye. Jack, on the other hand, appears unphased by the attention he gets.

There are several instances where we see Jack interacting with his fame without a full understanding of what's happening: Ma carries him past the "vultures" into the police station, he sees himself and Ma on TV, he signs autographs for people at the mall, etc. In none of these instances do we see him opposed to his stardom, which one could argue is because of his lack of familiarity with the concept of fame and what it may mean for his life. However, I would argue the opposite: It doesn't take Jack long to comprehend what his fame means, and, though he clearly does not grasp the effects it could have, he understands it clearly enough to enjoy it.

The first time Jack has the opportunity to recognize his new fame is when he watches the television in the doctor's office right after the escape. He sees himself and Ma on TV, and it greatly intrigues him. In this instance, Jack's fascination is likely a result of his inaccurate understanding of television, but he was still quite interested in seeing himself to the point that he became somewhat frustrated that the receptionist turned the television off. This is where we first see the trend which persists throughout the novel of other people becoming extremely concerned about Jack's fame and his own recognition of it while he only finds it enjoyable.

During this first encounter, Jack likely doesn't realize that there are thousands of other people watching him on the television as well, so his lack of concern does not yet reflect an affinity for his fame. However, subsequent encounters indicate that once he understands that people recognize him, his appearance, and his unique experiences, he has no problem with it, even attempting to take advantage of his popularity. This can be observed as he is taken out with Deanna and Paul, and he intentionally reveals his identity despite having been told that it was important conceal it. In this case, he uses his fame to spite Paul and Deanna and get the book he wants. It works extremely well, as he gets what he wants and appears not to suffer any negative effects, which is likely what he wished and expected.

This shows Jack's ability to recognize his fame and use it to his advantage, but the incident which proves his affinity for his fame and the public's recognition of him is the incident at the mall with his grandmother. For the few moments during which she is separated form Jack, he is discovered by people who figure out who he is, and he willingly signs autographs. Jack's narration of this scene includes mostly direct quotes, indicating that he is not totally sure of what his fans are thinking or why they're so interested in him, but he notes that they were his new friends, which, along with other instances with strangers, indicates that he enjoys socializing with new people. Since his stardom helps him meet new people and create bonds he considers friendships, from his limited perspective, public recognition of Jack can only be to his benefit.

From a broader perspective, one could argue that Jack's fame is problematic for his development, but I would again argue the opposite: his fame is neither beneficial nor problematic. As Jack must adjust to an entirely new world with oodles of new concepts and norms to learn, learning to deal with fame is not as shocking as it would be to a normal child. It's only another thing to which he must adjust, and to him, it likely doesn't stand out as something any stranger than the rest of the things he doesn't understand. In light of the numerous other things facing Jack, fame is only a small hindrance which he won't have additional trouble adjusting to. Therefore, the fact that he enjoys his fame in the process of learning to navigate it is as beneficial to Jack as he believes it is.

Jack's Things

In Room, when Jack begins to experience life in the outside world, it is clear that there are a tremendous number of things about how the world operates that he doesn't understand. One of these is the idea of ownership; at first, he struggles with the idea that something which exists can be someone's other than his and Ma's, since everything in Room, which used to be the extent of his world, was shared between them. However, even before he leaves Room, he begins to take something for himself, and he continues to do so after they escape.

The first object that Jack takes ownership of is Ma's bad tooth. Once it came out, it was simply lying around Room, and Jack didn't quite take full possession of it at first. He treated it much lie anything else in his limited world: it wasn't his or anyone else's, it was simply there, so it was his and Ma's to enjoy. While he values the tooth more than most other things in Room, since it came from Ma, he doesn't see it as specifically his. Even as he tucks the tooth into his sock in preparation for escaping, he doesn't yet convince of it as his possession, rather as a part of Ma, the thought of which gives him some courage. Interestingly, however, he does demonstrate some unwillingness to give it to Officer Oh, which points to the conclusion that he understood that he had a right to keep it before Ma told him that some things belong to other people.

Once in the outside world, Jack is still gaining an understanding of what it means for something to belong to him or someone else, but we see him taking full advantage of his knowledge that things can belong to him. He gathers some "treasures", including Ma's tooth, a maple seed, and a heart that fell off a bag, which he keeps for himself. Eventually, we see him refer to these objects as "my treasures", and he refers to the backpack Paul and Deana get him as specifically his as well, showing that he comprehends his ability to have control and ownership of them.

This would appear to point to a better understanding from Jack of the concepts he hadn't been introduced to in Room than might be assessed at first, but we also see that hes conception of property is limited as he doesn't understand how people are supposed to attain things such that they can belong to them. This is demonstrated by his unintentional shoplifting of the Dylan book. What this shows is not only his lack of a complete understanding of the functions of the outside world, but also the potentially problematic certainty he has of the things he thinks he understands, such as his ownership of the book, which immediately gets Paul and Deana into trouble. While this may be  typical of a five-year-old, situations like this do not bode well for Jack's adjustment to the real world.

A Friendly Bet

A topic which has been largely neglected in our discussions of A Lesson Before Dying is the bet which Sheriff Guidry and Henri Pichot have over whether Grant will be able to turn Jefferson into a man before his execution. The fact that we have not touched on this much is not surprising, since Gaines mentions it just as infrequently. However, it is a powerful representation of the themes this book expresses.

This bet clearly shows the contrast between the care that Emma, Lou, Grant, and other members of the black community feel for Jefferson, as demonstrated in numerous ways throughout the book, and the lack of interest beyond the potential for personal gain that the Sheriff and his wife, Pichot, and whites in general have for Jefferson. Even though Pichot bets in favour of Jefferson's successful progression, his lack of interest in the outcome outside of the case of whiskey he bets demonstrates his lack of sincerity and his involvement in the system which caused Jefferson's predicament in the first place. Largely, his and the Sheriff's intention in allowing Grant to visit Jefferson in jail is for their own enjoyment. Meanwhile, Emma's intention in sending Grant to convince Jefferson of his humanity is to benefit him and those who don't see him as a hog and don't want him to die as one.

The bet also has a more depressing implication. Grant's goal in making Jefferson a man is not only to make Emma happy; he also wants Jefferson to stand up against the system which named him a hog and killed him. Though Jefferson does this, it appears to be of little consequence, as he stands up against the system only long enough for it to kill him officially. The bet is another example of the futility of Jefferson's walk to the chair. Though it is not shown or considered in the book, it is safe to assume that Guidry, who bet against Jefferson, would not have given in to Pichot right away. He likely argued that walking to the chair was not an accurate measure of Grant's and Jefferson's success. Even if he had defined walking as the definition of Jefferson's humanity months before as he made the bet, the fact that the "official" definition is made by a white man who, as sheriff, is as integral to the oppressive system as anyone could be, means that the system continues unscathed after Jefferson's success.

What Gaines does by keeping this bet out of the centre of attention of the reader for the vast majority of the book is that he makes it a more perfect representation of the system of oppression. The whole book is about fighting against the system, which is done as the system continues to operate. As personal struggles and hopes of success begin to gather attention, less mind is payed to the perpetual nature of the system, since putting a dent in its function seems possible. However, just as the bet rears its ugly head once more in Jefferson's diary before his death, the system's integrity goes on despite the months of effort Grant has put in and the success Jefferson had. 

An Unlikely Hero

In As I Lay Dying, the case could be made that almost any of the Bundrens is a hero in the sense that they undergo a hero's journey, including, I believe, Addie. Her journey involves her death.

The first step of the hero's journey is existing in the ordinary world, which, for Addie, means living. Next, she must be called to death, which her father does. As she recalls, her father told her that living is to prepare for being dead for a long time. Her refusal is not an outright refusal; rather, she spends significant time unsure of how best to prepare to be dead, and assumes that hitting children is the way to do it. She finally accepts her call to prepare for death when she has Darl and decides to take revenge on Anse by making him take her to Jefferson when she dies. She mentions that that was when she realized that her father had been right, even if he couldn't have known it. This is both an acceptance and a modification of her quest: she accepts that she should prepare for death by deciding to use her death to hurt Anse. After she has Jewel and two other children, she feels that she can get ready to die, and then she does.

After she dies, Addie makes Anse's journey less enjoyable and more difficult by stinking quite badly, perhaps making bacteria her ally, but I feel that she does considerably more than that. It is my (outlandish) interpretation that Addie may have influence from beyond the grave, which she uses to produce the storm which floods the river Anse has to cross and causes the wave of inconveniences which follow. This ability is hinted at in the last two paragraphs of Addie's narration, where she says that she could get ready to die after she had implied that she had lived much of her life trying to prepare for death. She may have meant that she was plotting Anse's problems. In the final paragraph, she mentions that, to people like Cora, sin and salvation are just words. Contrasting this to her statement that "words are no good" implies that she wants to use more than words; she prepares events for Anse's displeasure.

If she indeed causes problems for Anse after death, then her ability to do so would be the supernatural aid of her hero's journey. The problem is that, though she may find personal pleasure in taking revenge from beyond the grave, Addie never seems to complete her heroic journey. Though her literal travels end, Anse's suffering ends with it. Perhaps she is content at this point, and her return to the ordinary world is simply being buried.

We Don't Like Telemachus.

It's basically unquestioned that the most disturbing moment in The Odyssey is at the end of Book 22, when Odysseus and Telemachus have finished killing all the suitors, and they proceed to kill the female slaves who had slept with the suitors. The reasons for the disgust this scene creates are strong and numerous, but we have mostly attributed Homer's decision to include such a brutal killing to the difference between our views of this manner of murder and the views of Ancient Greece. However, I believe that he includes many of these horrific details to make it clear that Odysseus and especially Telemachus aren't perfectly moral heroes; perhaps, we aren't supposed to like Telemachus at all.

The strongest example which I believe points to this conclusion is the discrepancy between the emphasis Homer puts on the suitors and the slave girls. As we have discussed, he spends several books showing us the crimes of the suitors, which are likely meant to make us hate the suitors as much as Odysseus does. He shows us over and over that they deserve death, as they treat Odysseus, disguised as an old beggar, extremely poorly in his own halls, refuse to give him a taste of his own food, and throw his own stools at him. All the while they show no sign of redeeming qualities, even when given the chance. Homer clearly intends that the suitors look evil and deserve what they have coming. In contrast, he spends almost no time describing the crimes of the slaves Odysseus has killed, giving little more reason for their slaying than their disloyalty. At times, he even seems to stick up for them, as Odysseus notes that the suitors made them do the things he kills them for, and Homer compares them to birds being caught in a trap as they simply try to fly to their nests. The reader has little reason to believe that they should deserve a punishment as great as death, let alone the a more torturous death than the suitors received.

This brings us to Telemachus. While Odysseus made the decision that the slaves deserved to die, a decision we see that he had made well in advance, it it was Telemachus whose spontaneous "initiative" worsened their deaths. Odysseus tells Telemachus to "hack at them with long swords", which is roughly equivalent to what he did to the suitors. Telemachus, who develops into a hero through the course of the poem, develops one more step by insisting that the slaves not die a clean death. In my view, this is the step that draws into question whether we should continue to support him. His heroism flourishes at the same times as his father's, during the battle with the suitors, as he killed several of them in support of Odysseus and as revenge. Yet, he only shows "initiative" when none is needed, when he has the slaves trapped. He brings his development as a hero and as a warrior too far, taking revenge on those who Homer appears to believe don't deserve it. If I am correct in this assessment, then it should be clear that Homer means for us to lose all our appreciation for Telemachus as a hero.

Athena's Plan

We have discussed Athena's role in the section of The Odyssey where Odysseus wakes up on the shores of Ithaca. It was largely agreed upon that she has a great admiration for Odysseus and his cleverness in his deceit and trickery, and that her role is partially, if not mostly, as an audience to his schemes, as evidenced by her compliments to him and telling him to apply his skills to trick the suitors and dispatch with them rather than plotting for him as she did for Telemachus. However, I feel that this is somewhat a simplification of her role and that, in fact, she has plans of her own for Odysseus.

The first thing which struck me while rereading this section at the end of Book 13 was Athena changing Odysseus's appearance. Even though she had told him to think of ways to strike the suitors, she didn't simply tell him what was happening in his house and left him to his plots, which a reader could only assume were likely to have been successful. Instead, she inserts herself into the situation further by giving Odysseus a new appearance. There are two significant aspects to this action. First, this is entirely Athena's idea, no input from Odysseus was given, which contradicts the idea that she simply wants to watch him do his stuff and enjoy the show. Second, while she could just as well have given him a disguise, she chose to do something to his appearance which Odysseus could not undo himself when the time came. Athena would be required again to change him back into his original guise, which implies, though does not require, that she had some indication already of when she would need to do that. In other words, she likely had a plan for how Odysseus would set up and approach the suitors before she changed his appearance.

Athena even hints at her plan by telling him what effect the change will have, to make the suitors and Telemachus see him as ugly, and telling him who to go to first. While it could be argued that she is only giving him initial conditions which will set up a show she wants to see, the more obvious explanation (to me) is that she is setting up a situation which is likely to guide Odysseus towards carrying out a plan she has already finished plotting. It is unlikely that she would have given him a first step to take (talking to the slave) if she wanted to see the full extent of his creativity in action, even if the majority of her plan is to allow his abilities to lie carry him forward from that point forward. 

The Ideal Hero

I've really never been one for a hero's journey plot. They're so common that they can no longer support a good story on their own. To keep them interesting in their pure form, a writer must work extremely hard to produce interesting characters and an interesting setting, which is something I think most writers fail at. They tend to either make a story that's still dull or make one suitable to the writer's fantasies but too far removed from reality to draw me into it. That said, it is common to find stories which come somewhat close to the traditional hero's journey while still straying from it enough to inject it with some interesting aspects. It's also possible to claim that enough elements of a hero's journey are present in stories which are clearly not what Campbell had in mind to classify them as nearly a hero's journey. The hero I believe has had the most influence on me fits into this category.

That hero is a character played by the incomparable Catherine Tate (which is part of the reason I was attracted to her character) on the brazenly over-rated television show Doctor Who. As the arc of a hero's journey can only be observed (or, honestly, contrived from) her first appearance on the show, I will focus on the first episode with the character of Donna, which happens to be a Christmas special. That episode goes like this: Donna walks down the isle at her wedding and is mysteriously sucked into the Doctor's time machine somewhere in space (her "call to adventure"), and she demands to be brought back to the church (her first of several "refusals of the quest"). They land somewhere not near the church, and Donna does some more yelling at the Doctor before she borrows ten quid off a lady for cab fare. Meanwhile the Doctor notices that there are many Santa Clauses around which are actually killer robots, and one of them is driving Donna's cab. So, he gets into his space ship and flies along-side the cab so she can leap into it (her first reluctant "acceptance of the call", sort of). After a short excursion, they go to Donna's wedding reception, where more robot Santas try to kill her family (a "test"). The Doctor tries to get to the bottom of what's going on, so he, Donna, and her betrothed go to their work, where they discover a secret basement (and Donna has another "acceptance" moment) and a big red spider lady who wants to use Donna to feed her children and eat the earth. Then, her future husband reveals that he's working for the spider lady, and the Doctor uses the robots' remote control to drain the River Themes into the spiders' pit and drown them while Donna tells him when to cut it out ("supreme ordeal"). With everything mended, Donna stays behind with more knowledge, experience, and maturity ("return home").

What I find appealing about this particular iteration of the hero's journey is Catherine Tate's character. Even though Donna is arguably not the main hero in this story, she did manage to go from ordinary and "not clever" to helping to save the world, which makes her somewhat heroic, all the while retaining the thing that makes all of Catherine Tate's characters great: her endless spunk. In my view, if you can rescue the universe from destruction, that's great for you, but a true hero can do it and express her displeasure in a sassy way simultaneously.

An ordinary hero often seems irreconcilable with an ordinary person's life: they begin as an utter looser and finish almost godlike, and, all the while, their persona doesn't make them the sort of person you'd like to have a coffee with. Donna, on the other hand, would be the ideal person to invite over for a cup before and after her ordeal. She's relatable in that she excels in humour and frustration (often at the same time), and she's awesome in that she has the experience of time travel and is an outright hero.

This is the sort of character that is supposed to be the subject of a hero's journey. She's someone who most anyone would instantly admire as a person, yet she still needed to mature at the beginning of her story. As she did that, all her best characteristics flourished, and her life became more meaningful than it was before. This shows the reader what a story should: the average person can become great due to circumstance or whatever, and they can keep those traits that made them great before.