When he arrived in Chicago with Kate, Binx mentions he was there before with his father and Scott. What seems like an impromptu trip to Chicago felt more like him attempting to get closure on a part of his life; in turn, a portion of his search. As it may seem like a stretch for me to claim it as seeking closure, Binx only came to Chicago once before and he wasn't even five-years old then. He was unable to see the city for what it actually is and leave the lingering sentiments to move on--to end. Another way to look at it is the "escape" from the malaise. The spur-of-the-moment trip to Chicago also held the underlying "living in the moment" concept. Quite possibly due to the influence of movie-going Binx does, I felt that this decision to go to Chicago was to re-live a similar plot (or subplot) of a film he had seen. Just like any narrative, life needs a plot twist, even if the reasoning is not understood.
At first I disliked the novel in its entirety, however, I couldn't understand why. It wasn't until our first day discussing it I found that I am quite similar to Binx. And just like him, I am on a "search". As a branch of his main objective ("the search") aside from the aforementioned closure, acceptance from the stages of grief seems plausible. The excerpt of Kierkegaard before the book started says, "... the specific character of despair is precisely this: it is unaware of being despair.". As the novel progresses Binx goes from being unaware of his "everydayness" and the trip to Chicago appears to support the idea he is now aware of it. With that in mind, the epilogue shows with his marriage to Kate he decided to accept the malaise and settle for all that comes with.
So, has Binx completed his "search" regardless of failure or success? By going back to the ambiguity of his search, the statement, "As for my search, I have not the inclination to say much on the subject." leaves the answer open once more, if not more so. Perhaps he found some answers to life-long questions that weren't directly a part of the "search", but were instrumental to help him define it. So, in that strict sense, he has not failed or succeeded in the "search". However, without any definite indication, the "search" could still be on-going. Life will present more questions to him (as it will to us all) and he will continue to search for the answers.
Throughout the book, it seems that if Binx is taking part in any sort of "search" it is a search to understand who he is and where he ought to be. Though his trip to Chicago does seem like an impromptu move that might be a big equation in his search, he does not speak of the search much while he is there. He does visit his hero, the man who rescued him when he first felt the pull of "the search." Perhaps this led Binx to feel more significant in the world, witnessing the importance of his role in this man's life. Maybe this experience lead him to consider his importance in other people's lives. He is not an "anyone anywhere" to these people. His hero sees him as a great accomplishment and life-long friend. His aunt sees him as a great analytical mind with huge potential in life. Kate sees him as someone who will always be there for her and help make her strong when she is doubting herself. It is possible that his search concluded because he realized the only way to avoid being "anyone anywhere" is to forge personal connections with people who can identify you as a "someone" even if he is not the someone they think he is. It seems like Binx was unable to find a place in the world for himself. By succumbing to the labels people place on him, he achieves some sort of identity. However, this surrender to the "everyday" goes against everything he was searching for. Perhaps he finally realized that the everyday isn't so bad after all if he takes time to appreciate the unique happenings in every day life.
ReplyDeleteThose are good points about there being no absolute answer and the search being ongoing so long as one is alive. I certainly agree. Perhaps it goes to show how life holds a different path for everyone. Of course, this could create a lot of controversial questions when it comes to morality and religion. I remember the professor mentioning how Percy did not like labels. Maybe he is trying to say there is no absolutely correct morality or religion even.
ReplyDeleteAs for the “everydayness,” I think it shows how we are all human in the end. And again going back to that idea of existentialism where once one acknowledges one’s own existence, he/she can either commit suicide or seek out the meaning of their existence. But so long as one keeps alive, one is bound to a sort of everydayness. After one decides suicide is not an answer, it is beyond one’s grasp to decide whether life goes on, and often even exactly how a life goes on. That is why Kate feels so elated knowing she has the option of suicide. In short, I don’t think it is really possible for Bink – let alone anybody – to completely break from everydayness. There will always be sleeping and waking, eating, etc. some iota of a schedule. “Everydayness” is yet another ambiguous term in the end.
That’s another good point about the Chicago trip being seen as closure on a part of his life. It very well could be, because while in Chicago he visits his old friend Harold. Not only was this man a friend but somebody who saved his life. So going to Chicago is not just a sort of break from the “everydayness” but forces him to reminisce about a point where his own life could have ended, on top of the depressing memory that the only other time he visited the city was with his now dead father and brother. I do not find it too much of a stretch to say there is closure to be sought in Chicago, both for Binx and Harold. Binx observes “It is too much for Harold…the sudden confrontation of a time past, a time so terrible and splendid in its arch-reality; and so lost-cut adrift like a great ship in the flood of years…that time and the time after, the strange ten years intervening…” He later says “It would be better for him to be rid of…me.” And almost like a ghost or fading memory, Harold drops off Kate and Binx and “tears off into the night.”
I agree with you for the most part when you stated that... 'It was paradoxical of him to say he does not want to fall victim of "everydayness" malaise since he went with the motions of "everydayness" pretty often...' Binx was comfortable working his job and going to the movies. Nothing seemed to change. His life was moving along without any significant bumps other than death, and his own struggle with existing, but that was accepted early on as a part of life when his older brother Scott died of pneumonia and Aunt Emily delivered the news to him. He vicariously lived his life through movies. Overall I did not like the book entirely because it did not really keep my attention, but, after understanding it for its significance at the time in which it was written I found a different appreciation for the subject in which Percy addressed. He found a way to reach readers who take books, much like movies, and replace their everyday existence by escaping into a world in which someone else has created for you. Its fun to do but it does not necessarily mean you are doing something significant with your life.
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