At first glance, my favorite passage so far doesn't seem very interesting -- I mean, Bolden's watching a woman cut carrots, it's not earth-shattering. But his thoughts here reveal a lot about his outlook on life, which impacts, and foreshadows, his later madness.As Bolden watches her cook, he ruminates on the nature of our actions, commenting on her skill that, "As with all skills he watches for it to fail. If she thinks what she is doing she will lose control. He knows that the only way to catch a fly for instance is to move the hand without the brain telling it to move fast, interfering." Bolden himself is clearly skilled, in playing jazz, in socializing, and at this point, in staying sane (if that can be called a skill). He's holding himself together. All of these skills eventually fail him, as he expects them to, when he loses control of himself and his life later in the story. It's difficult to pinpoint exactly when his descent into madness begins, but this passage certainly casts some light on it. From Bolden's perspective, people lose control when they think about their actions, when they allow rational thought and introspection to -- as Bolden puts it -- interfere.
Is this interference what spells the end for Bolden? Perhaps. He seems happy and sane initially, going about his life without interruption, without any significant choices or thoughts. His happy state is unstable, though, and he knows it is, perhaps even wants it to be, to prove himself right and explore darker parts of his life. In this way, Bolden's perspective is almost a self-fulfilling prophecy; He thinks his life will change, and his acknowledgment of other possibilities makes them certain.
While the author is foreshadowing Bolden's eventual downfall, he may also be commenting on the nature of people and existence. This passage can, of course, be read many ways, and I'm no expert on existentialism, just a student reading about carrot pieces. Maybe all people are doomed to lives of ignorance, or unhappy awareness. Maybe intellectuals are cursed with low productivity. Maybe we should be introspective to process, and by extension, truly live our lives. Or perhaps people need to lose control, to act without thinking, to be truly human. I don't know. What do you think?
Nice start here. You're certainly honing a style of your own; however, I think you might try revising some of these titles based on the criteria we established in class.
ReplyDelete