Subject: Re: Moviegoer and despair
From: David Alan Beck (dabeck@IUPUI.EDU)
Date: Wed Nov 24 1999 - 21:59:56 EST
Marshall,
I agree that we may be dealing with the "teleological suspension of the
ethical." But here is another curve in the discussion: According to Percy,
Sutter Vaught leaps past the ethical and into the religious, at the end of
The Last Gentleman (at least, according to Percy). Is it possible that
Binx makes a similar leap?
As much as I enjoy The Moviegoer, I sometimes think that it is the less
developed of his novels (just my opinion). And maybe that adds to the
ambiguity. I have posted two contradicting statements from Percy: one says
that Binx skipped the ethical and the other that he passed through all
three spheres (or stages).
On the other hand, some of his novels, for example Love in the Ruins,
seem to show rather clearly a move to the religious sphere, however
tenuous that move may be.
Enough for now.
Have a great Thanksgiving! (Cultivate those intersubjective
relationships!)
David Beck
"Our life is a faint tracing on the surface of mystery, like the idle,
curved tunnels of leaf miners on the face of a leaf."
- Annie Dillard
from "Pilgrim at Tinker Creek"
On Tue, 23 Nov 1999, Marshall Smith wrote:
> Dear David and Rhonda:
>
> Many thanks for the informative conversation. I am enjoying the chess game
> greatly.
>
> Maybe Binx doesn't dwell too emphatically in the ethical stage because of
> Kierkegaard's concept of the "teleological suspension of the ethical." In
> that sense, a quick leap from the aesthetic to the religious would be viable.
> Perhaps Binx never articulated, implicitly or otherwise, a goal of existing
> in the ethical realm.
>
> On the Faulkner issue, I vote for a desire to confuse english majors and
> instructors, but above all interviewers. The bourbon is a close second.
>
> To my mind, an almost daily movement between the three spheres is
> self-evident, so I think the most recent quote you've unearthed, David, is
> the one I would hang my hat on. Percy's philosophically accurate portrayal
> of characters would have required such a movement. However, in the context
> of Kierkegaard's spheres, my existence may be unusually undefined.
>
> Happy Thanksgiving to all, and thanks for the good converse.
>
> Marshall Smith
>
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b28 : Thu Jan 11 2001 - 12:52:23 EST