There’s so much going on in Molloy, it’s hard to
pick a single thing to write about. Some things I really wanted to touch on is
the lack of a determined setting – England? Ireland? Somewhere with hills. And
so far, the majority of what we’ve read has taken place while Molloy is riding
his bicycle (not a bike. Bicycle), which I think is blog post-worthy. But,
finally I decided on something much more important: poop.
Well, not poop in general. Molloy has many, many
allusions to the body (particularly his), but they are all grungy and generally
always unhygienic. Especially when he decides to spend a few lines talking
about carrying around newspaper to wipe with – but not after every poop, only
sometimes, if he feels like it. Molloy also uses phrases like “pain in the
balls” (52), refers to the back of the moon as “her arse” (52), and talks about
festering wounds if he were to remove his own testicles with shears. Beckett is
definitely using a lot of grotesque, anatomical(ish) imagery – but why? One
theory I want to propose occurs on page 52, after a particular nasty stream of
narration, in which Molloy mentions in passing, “What I liked in anthropology
was its inexhaustible faculty of negation, its relentless definition of man, as
if he were no better than God” (52). This implies an equality between man and deity
(and, if man is defined, mankind has a single definition – everyone is the
same). This, paired with the clear lack of distinction between the “characters”
A and C, supports the theme that everyone is the same, which leads me to
believe that perhaps Beckett is trying to convey that everyone has bodily
functions, therefore we should have no problem discussing them (Molloy
certainly has no hesitation with it).
I think Molloy’s “birth” on page 20 is also worth
commenting on, but this is already a long post. But it might be a good place
for comments to stem from.
This is just a preliminary swing at the significance of the emphasized use of gastronomic anatomy, but Malloy seems to have a tenuous or perhaps fluid understanding of the world external to himself. In this context perhaps he can only be sure of his own bodily functions and thus this is what is brought up as a touchstone of reality. Of couse this raises the question: why chose this specific part of one's anatomy. Perhaps because it is, like you suggest, something everyone does. But that still does not explain why this process instead of breathing, or sex, or death.
ReplyDeleteI wrote a really epic comment on this post and when I hit publish it disappeared. How annoying. The abbreviated version goes like this. Pooping takes a certain amount of both conscious and unconscious effort. Breathing is unconscious. Sex requires more conscious effort. Pooping just happens, but also requires you to prepare for it in a certain way.
ReplyDelete...my other comment was so much better...
Personally I thought the descriptions of poop and festering wounds and balls all further demonstrate Molloy's lack of civility and represent his lifestyle as a hobo. By relating matters that are not usually discussed with others, Beckett is able to portray Molloy as detached from the rest of the world and culture in general. Molloy's lifestyle is filthy and whether he is aware that he is a hobo or not, his use of such blunt crude language shows us that he has embraced his status (or lack thereof) in the world. Breathing, sex, and death, while all natural, can possess positive characteristics, which is why I don't think Beckett discusses them in detail. Death can be seen as honorable, breathing as pure, and sex as pleasurable, but what is positive about shit? Poop is poop is poop. It's pure waste from a working system, no longer needed or wanted. Could this not apply to Molloy as well?
ReplyDeleteGoing off of Brad's comment, I feel that the idea that Malloy has become distanced from human society in his lifestyle is emphasized by the "proposals" that Louesse makes on page 63. In these proposals we get the feeling that Louesse has, in her mind, come to view him as a replacement for the dog that he run over. Because of his appearance, behavior, and hygiene (and probably because she is at least a little unhinged), Molloy is no longer a person, so much as a dog. A mut, a stray, something that needs to be taken care of in return for companionship
ReplyDeleteSomething I think especially interesting about Molloy's fecal awareness, although it may be a stretch: shitting and pissing for Molloy are most present to us through two sensations that seem to dominate his general awareness of the external world: smelling and feeling. Also maybe that shit/piss travels through and out of the body, as Molloy does X--the movement of bowels is perhaps the only moment of physiological analogy with Molloy's interaction with the outer world, his incessant peripatetic concerns for both himself and others (we see him throw away the food offered by the social worker).
ReplyDeleteI also like Brad's comment, about Molloy existing as "pure waste from a working system," and feel that this can connect with my interest in Molloy's favored sensational emphases. If he exists as the waste of society, his embodiment of it would mimic that of shit, of foul, exaggerated smelling, of the feeling to pass something, and the passing itself.
Musings of vagaries, maybe, hopefully it translates though.
In response to Brad's comment: Instead of interpreting that his crude language is representative of the embracement of his status in the world, it could actually be indicative of his misunderstanding of social norms. Beckett's intent could be to put us in the mind of an individual entirely unaware of the taboos and expectations for what should or should not be discussed in public. This allow us to question codes of conduct as well as sympathize with a socially unconscious or potentially autistic (I know it's quite a stretch) character.
ReplyDeleteSorry This comment comes so late, I completely forgot to write it yesterday (oops!) Anyway, I wanted to comment on the quick reference in this post about the bicycle (not bike)'s importance. Specifically, I wanted to comment on the fact that Molloy has his bicycle in jail. The scene (on page 33) is this: "It was I and my bicycle. I began to play, gesticulating, waving my hat, moving my bicycle to and fro before me, blowing the horn, watching the wall." I just think it is interesting the extent to which Molloy really does seem to be on his bicycle at all times. I wonder as well if this scene couldn't also be an example of the way in which Molloy seems to be distanced from society- he's playing with his bicycle by making shadows on the wall...
ReplyDelete